EPFL School of Life Sciences Summer Research Program

Join one of the research groups and experience what it means to be part of the thriving science community in Switzerland. The program is open to students in biology, biophysics, chemistry, bioengineering, bioinformatics, quantitative biology, and related fields.

The École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) is a public research university located in Lausanne, Switzerland. It specializes in natural sciences and engineering.

It is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, with three main missions: education, research and innovation. The QS World University Rankings ranked EPFL as the 14th best university in the world across all fields in 2021, whereas the THE World University Rankings ranked EPFL as the world's 19th best school for engineering and technology.

To be considered for the EPFL School of Life Sciences Summer Research Program, you must:

• Be currently enrolled in a university in biology, biophysics, chemistry, bioengineering, bioinformatics, quantitative biology, genetics courses, or other life sciences-related programs.

• Have a minimum GPA equivalent to a 3.75/4.0 grade or higher.

• Have completed at least two years of undergraduate work up to the first year of a master’s degree before the start of the program.

• Show a strong interest in pursuing a career in life sciences.

• Join on-going research in a lab of the EPFL School of Life Sciences

• Learn new techniques while studying a research topic related to current health issues

• Improve critical thinking and experimental design

• Prepare for future independent research as a graduate student

• Experience the excitement and challenges of scientific research gaining insight into what a research career entails

Stipend, housing and travel costs

• Each student receives CHF 3,600 for the two-month period which covers housing and living costs.

• Housing is reserved and paid for out of the stipends beforehand. You will have approximately CHF 1,700 left to live on. 

• Students are housed in Lausanne near the EPFL campus.

• Students usually have single rooms and share a kitchen and bathroom facilities with their fellow SRP participants. We cannot make special housing arrangements.

• The majority of travel costs to and from Switzerland is covered. The program reimburses up to CHF 1,000 for overseas flights and CHF 500 for shorter distances.

• Students working in Geneva labs will receive a larger stipend to cover most of their travel to and from the program in addition to their extra travel costs to go to Geneva to work. 

To apply, candidates must be ready to submit the following documents;

• Your CV (1-2 pages)

• Your motivation letter (maximum 750 words)

• The explanation of lab choices (2-3 sentences per lab)

• University transcript or school official list of classes and grades

• Two letters of recommendation

• Basic life sciences understanding is essential; previous lab experience is a plus

• Altug Lab – BioNanoPhotonic Systems

• Antanasijevic Lab – Virology and Structural Immunology

• Barth Lab – Protein and Cell Engineering

• Bastings Lab – Programmable Biomaterials Laboratory

• Blokesch Lab – Molecular Microbiology

• Brisken Lab – Hormones: Keys to Breast Cancer Prevention and Therapy

• Dal Peraro Lab – Biomolecular Modeling

• Gallini Lab – Empowerment of healthy cells to prevent skin cancer

• Gönczy Lab – Cell and Developmental Biology

• Hummel Lab – Defitech Chair of Clinical Neuroengineering | Geneva

• Ijspeert Lab – Biorobotics

• Jeschek Lab – Synthetic and Applied Microbiology – Lonza Chair of Sustainable Biosynthesis

• Kim Lab – Molecular and Synthetic Neuroengineering

• Kozicka Lab – Proteostasis and Molecular Therapeutics

• La Manno – Brain Development and Biological Data Science

• Maerkl Lab – Biological Network Characterization

• Manley Lab – Experimental Biophysics

• A Mathis Lab – Computational Neuroscience & AI | Geneva

• Maynard Lab – Regeneration and Neurogenomics

• McCabe Lab – Neural Genetics and Disease

• Nakatsuka Lab – Chemical Nanotechnology

• Navarro Lab – Neuroimmunology and Aging – Giorgi-Cavaglieri Chair in Immunology of the Aging Brain

• Paoli Lab – Microbiome Immunity and Ecology

• Persat Lab – Microbial Mechanics

• Priestley Lab – Neurobiology of Memory

• Radenovic Lab – Nanoscale Biology

• Ramdya Lab – Neuroengineering

• Sakar Lab – Microbiorobotic Systems

• Schrimpf Lab – NeuroAI

• Stellacci Lab – Supramolecular Nanomaterials and Interfaces Laboratory

• Tang Lab – Biomaterials for Immunoengineering

• Thomä Lab – Paternot Chair in Cancer Research

• Van de Ville Lab – Medical Image Processing | Geneva

• van der Goot Lab – Cell and Membrane Biology

• Westmann Lab – Systems and Synthetic Evolutionary Biology

To apply for the EPFL School of Life Sciences Summer Research Program, interested and qualified candidates should click the button below.