The Soft Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich develops robots that are soft, musculoskeletal, and partly alive, including artificial muscles, dexterous robotic hands, biohybrid systems, and the simulation and learning methods that drive them. Our work is published in journals such as Nature and Science Robotics and reaches the real world through industry collaborations and spin-offs. The lab is part of the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT) and is located in the CLA building on the Zentrum campus. About 25 researchers from all over the world work here, led by Prof. Robert Katzschmann. This role represents the lab toward company leadership and funding bodies, shapes collaborations, and works directly with the professor.
Tasks
- Build and maintain research partnerships with companies by identifying firms whose research interests match the lab's, developing first contacts into funded collaborations, and keeping partnerships productive over years in coordination with the professor and researchers.
- Drive grant acquisition by tracking funding opportunities at the SNSF, in Horizon Europe, and at foundations, pursuing them together with the professor, co-writing and coordinating proposals, structuring applications, building budgets and work packages, and writing administrative sections.
- Manage running projects, including reporting, budget control, milestones, deliverables, and coordination of European consortia, working closely with lab administration.
- Serve as the interface to the ETH Research Contracts Group, ETH Transfer, the Grants Office, and departmental controlling, preparing contracts and agreements.
- Support the scientific operation of the lab by coordinating activities across projects and keeping project documentation on track.
Requirements
- You are a proven relationship builder.
- You bring experience from business development, industry liaison, technology transfer, or corporate research collaborations, and you speak to company leadership as a peer.
- You hold a doctorate in engineering or natural sciences, or you bring equivalent professional experience.
- You can represent our research credibly toward corporate R&D teams.
- You have worked with competitive research funding; experience with SNSF and European instruments is preferred; experience coordinating an EU consortium is a plus.
- You are organized and reliable with budgets, deadlines, and reporting, and you keep several projects moving in parallel.
- You communicate clearly in English, in writing and in negotiation.
- German is a plus, not a requirement.
Benefits
- A role with genuine ownership, deciding together with the professor which partnerships and funding lines to pursue.
- Direct access to research that companies want: artificial muscles, dexterous hands, biohybrid systems, and embodied AI.
- A young, international team of about 25 researchers on the Zentrum campus, and the wider ETH network of transfer offices, centers, and spin-offs.
- Employment conditions of ETH Zurich, including flexible working hours and support for further education.
- Childcare support via the kihz foundation and ETH subsidies, paid maternity and paternity leave per ETH policy, and 5 weeks of vacation per year.
- The position is offered on a one year fixed-term contract, with possible extension to a long-term role.
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Über uns
Das Team
The lab consists of about 25 researchers from all over the world, led by Prof. Robert Katzschmann, and collaborates with the wider ETH network of transfer offices, centers, and spin-offs.