PhD Position in Gastroenterology / Mucosal Immunology (100%)
The Department of Biomedicine is a joint effort between the University of Basel and the University Hospitals Basel. It unites basic and clinical scientists to advance our understanding of health and disease and to develop pioneering therapies benefiting the lives of patients in areas of unmet need. With more than 70 research groups and 800 employees, the Department of Biomedicine is the largest department at the University. We are located in the heart of Basel at 6 different locations. Be part of our future!
The Gastroenterology Laboratory in the Department of Biomedicine, headed by Professor Jan Niess, is planning to open a PhD position in early Autumn of 2025. The Gastroenterology Research Group investigates barrier tissues, particularly focusing on the esophagus, which has recently been considered as an immune organ, and the pathways leading to eosinophilic esophagitis.
Your position
The aim of the project is to understand the function of macrophages in the esophagus with relevance to eosinophilic esophagitis. The research project will involve patient-derived samples, including organoids and air-liquid interface cultures, and experimental esophagitis models. Utilized methods include molecular and cell biology, flow cytometry, histology and microscopy, protein work, and bioinformatics.
Your profile
We are looking for candidates who enjoy lab work and who also have the pleasure of interacting with other lab members and other scientists in the Department of Biomedicine. Basic research requires thought, patience, attention to detail, a significant time and energy commitment, and the ability to tolerate frustration. You will work in a highly integrated way as part of a team, while you will also need to push your project forward.
We offer you
We are an enthusiastic research group offering a stable and friendly environment in which doctoral and medical students are encouraged to develop their skills and their understanding, with solid support from experienced senior lab members. The Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel is very well equipped and smartly managed by people who understand what it takes to conduct cutting-edge research, and the community of PhD students here is well supported and socially welcoming.
Interested applicants should contact the project leader, Jan Niess, by email at
Janhendrik.niess@usb.ch, using as a subject exactly the text "gastroenterology PhD 2025"
Please include your CV as a separate file, not larger than 1MB, and, as well as a a five- to ten-sentence description of your most interesting research work (master project or undergraduate project), pointing out the question of the project, the methods used, the obtained results, and your interpretation of the results them. Also, what you learned from the project and how it could be improved.
