项目介绍

2026年5月1日

About us

A PhD position to study the transcriptional/gene regulatory mechanisms that drive endocardial development and valve morphogenesis using mouse embryo and cardiac organoid models is available in the Osterwalder Lab (Cardiovascular Diseases Program) at the Department for BioMedical Research (DBMR) of the University of Bern.

The Department for BioMedical Research (DBMR) is a leading research institution of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Bern and committed to fostering the careers of young academics. It is active in both basic and applied sciences with the goal to bridge the gap between bench and bedside, promoting an integrative perspective to clinical research with a strong emphasis in the development of translational approaches and extensive interaction and collaboration between laboratory-based and patient-oriented clinical research.

The PhD project explores the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive heart development and congenital heart defects, with a focus on endocardial cell biology. Endocardial cells are essential for shaping the heart by regulating myocardial growth, forming trabeculae, and undergoing endothelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition (EndMT), which generates precursors of cardiac valves and septa. Disruption of these tightly coordinated processes underlies common congenital defects affecting cardiac chambers, valves, and the outflow tract. The project will investigate cardiac transcription factor (TF) -driven gene regulatory networks that coordinate endocardial processes during development and aims to identify essential cis‑regulatory elements (enhancers) that control spatial and temporal gene expression of endocardial/EndMT effector genes. By dissecting how combinations of TFs and enhancer architectures govern endocardial and EndMT lineage decisions, this work aims to elucidate an essential component of the genomic regulatory wiring underlying cardiac morphogenesis and yield mechanistic insight into congenital heart disease.

Our group combines developmental genetics with functional genomics to investigate how transcriptional enhancers regulate cardiac TFs. We aim to uncover mechanistic links between gene networks, heart development, and human cardiac disease, ultimately improving diagnostics and informing future therapeutic strategies. This project involves a range of advanced molecular and cell biology techniques, including CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, transgenic reporter analysis, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) culture, iPSC-derived cardiac organoids, fluorescence and confocal microscopy, chromatin conformation capture, as well as (single cell) epigenomics/transcriptomics.

Your Profile

The successful applicant should hold an MSc degree in either Molecular, Developmental or Epigenetics/Chromatin Biology and be highly motivated and committed to perform discovery-oriented research. Experience in mouse genetics, stem cell culture, genome engineering and NGS-related techniques will be of advantage. The project will involve research with embryos isolated from mice.

We Offer

A stimulating research environment in one of the leading life science institutions of the University of Bern that is equipped with state-of-the-art research facilities. The successful applicant will be able to apply novel molecular biology techniques by leading an innovative research project at the interface of developmental biology and functional genomics and will be enrolled in a Graduate School program (http://www.gcb.unibe.ch/). The position is funded through a project grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (http://www.snf.ch).

Application and Contact

Please send a single PDF file including a letter of motivation, CV with complete publication list, certificates and grades for bachelor and master theses, a summary of the master thesis and the names and email addresses of three referees by email to marco.osterwalder@unibe.ch

The deadline for submitting your application is May 20th 2026.