{"id":2235410,"url":"https://alion.io/job/empa-phd-position-on-nanozyme-based-coating-for-antimicrobial-implants","title":"PhD Position on Nanozyme-based coating for antimicrobial implants","company":{"id":95445,"name":"Empa","domain":"empa.ch","url":"https://alion.io/company/604-communication","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Refline","truth_index":null},"role":"Early Careers","role_family":"Early Careers","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Sankt Gallen, Switzerland"],"countries":["CH"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-03T12:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-10","last_verified_at":"2026-10-22T01:16:58Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":48,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":48},"description":"Pensum: 100%\nMaterials science and technology are our passion. With our cutting-edge research, Empa's around 1,100 employees make essential contributions to the well-being of society for a future worth living. Empa is a research institution of the ETH Domain.\nPhD Position on Nanozyme-based coating for antimicrobial implants\nThe Nanomaterials in Health Lab is a truly interdisciplinary environment that conducts pioneered investigations on particle bio-functionalization, particles uptake, accumulation, translocation across biological barriers and their bio-responses. With this we provide key contributions to novel personalized strategies of particles de-sign for drug delivery, imaging or diagnosis. This PhD project will develop stimuli-responsive nanozyme coatings for personalized medical implants. Nanozymes are nanomaterials capable of mimicking the catalytic activity of natural enzymes and can be engineered to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) locally and in a controlled manner. The position is within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network Implant-to-Market (i2M), providing an international and interdisciplinary training environment connecting materials science, biology, medical devices and regulatory science.\nYour tasks\nDesign and synthesize nanozymes: Develop nanozymes, and optimize their physicochemical and catalytic properties. \nDevelop functional implant coatings: Establish reproducible strategies for integrating nanozymes onto implant surfaces and investigate their compatibility with different implant architectures and surface modifications. \nEvaluate antimicrobial activity: Investigate the ability of nanozyme-coated surfaces to inhibit bacterial growth and biofilm formation while reducing reliance on conventional antibiotics. \nInvestigate nano-bio interactions: Study cellular responses to nanozyme-coated implants, including cytocompatibility, macrophage activation, cytokine production and parameters related to osteointe-gration. \nStudy stability, ageing and biodegradation: Investigate the transformation of low-dimensional nanozyme coatings in biologically relevant fluids.\nYour profile\nMotivation and Commitments to dive into an interdisciplinary challenge \nCompleted Master’s degree in biomaterials, chemistry, nanotechnology, or biomedical engineering. \nExperience in nanomaterial synthesis and characterization. \nFamiliarity with cell culture and in vitro assays. \nExperience in catalysis, programming and large data analysis is a plus. \nExcellent communication skills and fluency in English (written and oral).\nOur offer\nThe project is planned for 3 years and will be carried out as a PhD thesis. It is supported by Empa under the supervision of Dr. Giacomo Reina. The candidate will perform research at Empa in St. Gallen with joint affilia-tion to ETH Zürich (D-HEST, Prof. Peter Wick). Desired starting date is upon mutual agreement.\nWe live a culture of inclusion and respect. We welcome all people who are interested in innovative, sustainable and meaningful activities - that's what counts.\nWe look forward to receiving your complete online application including a letter of motivation, CV, certificates, diplomas and contact details of two reference persons. Please submit these exclusively via our job portal. Applications by e-mail and by post will not be considered.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3332,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"master","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[{"language":"English","level":"Advanced (C1)","optional":false}]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Manufacturing","Science & Engineering","Materials Science & Nanotechnology"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-10T23:52:14Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":12,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.356,"p_room":0.35,"age_days":47,"expected_fill_days":21,"reasons":["conf:3","win:tail"],"computed_at":"2026-10-21T05:46:15Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/empa-phd-position-on-nanozyme-based-coating-for-antimicrobial-implants","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/empa-phd-position-on-nanozyme-based-coating-for-antimicrobial-implants.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-22T03:07:20Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":2801,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-23T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":95445},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=95445"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fempa-phd-position-on-nanozyme-based-coating-for-antimicrobial-implants"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fempa-phd-position-on-nanozyme-based-coating-for-antimicrobial-implants"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fempa-phd-position-on-nanozyme-based-coating-for-antimicrobial-implants"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/empa-phd-position-on-nanozyme-based-coating-for-antimicrobial-implants\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fempa-phd-position-on-nanozyme-based-coating-for-antimicrobial-implants"}]}