PhD – Develop Novel Lab‑on‑a‑Chip for Single‑Cell Analysis & Sorting

About the role

Join Bosch's research team to work on cutting‑edge life‑science solutions. The PhD position focuses on developing a novel dielectrophoresis (DEP) chip for the analysis and sorting of single cells.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and evaluate innovative concepts for semiconductor‑based DEP chips, defining robust electrical, microfluidic and thermal operating parameters.
• Investigate physical limits of chip miniaturisation and explore manufacturing routes compatible with Bosch’s CMOS technology.
• Design and fabricate a functional demonstrator using semiconductor manufacturing processes and integrate it into a microfluidic system.
• Characterise the prototype and perform proof‑of‑concept experiments with a representative bioassay using living cells in physiological media.

Required profile

• Excellent Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Microsystems Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Physics or a comparable field.
• Detailed knowledge of classical MEMS, microfluidics and biomedical engineering, with expertise in microfluidic and electrical design for lab‑on‑chip systems.
• Experience modelling physical cell interactions at the microscale and knowledge of (optical) signal processing.
• Hands‑on experience with cleanroom processes; very good written and spoken German and English.

Required skills

• Dielectrophoresis (DEP) chip development.
• Semiconductor manufacturing (CMOS compatible).
• Microfluidic system integration.
• Electrical, microfluidic and thermal parameter optimisation.
• Modelling of cell interactions and optical signal processing.
• Cleanroom processing techniques.