项目介绍

2025年3月26日

The Institute of Forensic Medicine in Zurich represents the continuous evolution from traditional forensic medicine to modern forensics, encompassing disciplines such as medicine and imaging, genetics, pharmacology and toxicology, hair analysis, and traffic medicine, with a constant focus on providing clarity. The Department of Forensic Medicine & Imaging conducts live examinations, legal inspections, and autopsies on behalf of the public prosecutor’s office.

A 3-year (can be eventually extended up to 4) PhD student position is available in the Forensic Machine learning Technology Center (ForMaLTeC) within the Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine at University of Zurich (Switzerland).

The team at ForMaLTeC focuses on the forefront of computational methods in forensic sciences. In particular, the people are interested in developing new methods that can directly benefit forensic scientists and crime investigators. See the center’s website for more details (https://www.formaltec.ch).

Your responsibilities

Through the analysis of illicit substances, forensic experts can identify and classify drugs seized in criminal investigations, aiding in the prosecution of drug-related offenses and elucidating connections between seized material. Precision in the similarity score between seized batches is central in drug profiling. Through this project, the PhD candidate will have the possibility to develop novel and more accurate approaches in drug profiling. A possible direction of the project is the development of deep learning algorithms to open new possibilities in analysing mass spectrometry data by combining multiple data sources.

The candidate will be enrolled in the Drug Discovery Network Zurich program (https://www.ddnz.uzh.ch/en.html) as PhD student. The project will be carried out in close collaboration with the department of forensic pharmacology and toxicology at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, the Forensic Institute in Zurich, and other computational groups. As part of their employment at the University of Zurich, the candidate will have teaching duties and is expected to help in the lab.

Your profile

The candidate must hold a Master’s degree in chemistry, pharmacy, or any related natural science disciplines. The candidate has to be proficient in English and be able to follow discussions in German. The successful candidate should be highly motivated working in a computational environment while developing his/her programming skills. Good knowledge about deep learning and computational chemistry/toxicology are an advantage.

Information on your application

How to apply
Interested applicants are welcome to submit their resumé (CV, diplomas, description of their research experience, and names of two academic references), including a motivation letter, as one pdf document.

Questions about the job

PD Dr. Akos Dobay