Faculty of Law of the University of Zürich
One Doctoral Position embedded in an SNF-Project 80 %
Start of employment is in autumn 2026 (max. 4 years), with flexibility to accommodate the needs of the selected candidate.
For a project supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) with the title «Health Privacy 2.0: Legal Implications of new digital policies for health data control», one Research Assistant/PhD position is available. The project analyses selected health policies concerning the digitalisation/datafication of the healthcare and biomedical research sector, to investigate whether and how these change the conception of privacy in the medical domain. The project and the position are fully financed for the duration of up to 4 years. Employment according to internationally competitive SNSF standards.
This project offers a unique opportunity to work on a crucial policy area in the legal domain (digitalisation in health) and to develop multiple research skills at the crossroads of law, bioethics and the social sciences. Indeed, the project in which the PhD position is embedded addresses both how new digital health policies are conceived in the legal domain (law-in-the-books), and also how they play out in the real world (law-in-action): how do they affect the work of health databases and medical registries? How do abstract rights and duties towards data use affect the real world of healthcare and biomedical research? How are private and public powers in the digital health domain being reshaped?
Your responsibilities
In collaboration with the Principal Investigator of the project and a national and international network of collaborators, the doctoral researcher will join an interdisciplinary research group (with expertise in law, bioethics, and social sciences) to conduct cutting-edge research and develop a solid scientific profile in the field. His/her duties as a doctoral researcher will include:
- Familiarising with the project in which this PhD position is embedded, as well as with the literature on legal developments in digital health and biomedical research in Switzerland and the European Union.
- Conducting a literature review on how different theoretical concepts related to data governance (e.g. data solidarity, data altruism, etc.) have developed and influenced lawmaking in digital health.
- Selecting a concrete case study of a digital health policy and/or regulated digital health infrastructure in Switzerland, in order to conduct both policy analysis and empirical research (through stakeholder interviews).
- Publishing research results in (inter)national academic journals and disseminating findings through workshops and conferences.
- Writing a cumulative doctoral dissertation based on the individual articles developed during the PhD.
- Following basic doctoral training courses (limited amount of ECTS credits)
The work of the doctoral researcher will be coordinated by the Principal Investigator of the project, who will offer both comprehensive supervision, but also the space to develop his/her own intellectual curiosity and academic independence.
Your profile
Candidates should ideally come with a background in law, health policy and/or in the social sciences (Master's degree), but with a particular interest in policymaking in health. Also profiles in neighbouring disciplines (e.g. Science and Technology Studies, Public Health) may be considered, as long as you demonstrate your interest in this specific topic and in the interdisciplinary research approach of this position. The willingness to pursue a PhD in law (or Biomedical Ethics and Law) is essential.
Ideally, applicants already have some experience with either legal analysis (reading and understanding legal and policy sources, systematising their content etc.) and/or empirical work (especially conducting interviews).
Although the research team is international, and the outputs of research can be in English, the knowledge of an official language of Switzerland (German, French or Italian) is highly desirable, since the doctoral researcher's work (both policy and empirical) should consider especially the Swiss context.
Other important skills are the capacity to work in a team, to organise your own work, and to possess an interest in scientific writing. The workplace of the PhD candidate will be in Zurich, but there is flexibility in terms of organising the presence at the office.
Information on your application
We offer:
- A highly engaging, contemporary and socially relevant research topic.
- A diverse and multidisciplinary research group with motivated colleagues and an established national and international network, passionate about topics at the intersection of medical law, health policy, data governance and digitalisation.
- Strong support for your professional development and career progression.
- Close supervision and financial support for your academic work, with the aim of completing a PhD.
- A PhD salary in accordance with SNSF standards (see website), which is internationally competitive. In addition, there is an opportunity to apply for mobility funding during the project.
Please send your application via email to [email protected] – or by clicking on the link below. Applications are evaluated on a rolling basis. Shortlisted candidates will be notified in early June and interviews will be in July.
Your application should contain all of the following five documents:
(i) A motivation letter including your interest for the PhD position and your strengths and skills in relation to the project (max 2 pages).
(ii) Your CV (including name and contact details of two academic referees).
(iii) A short note on your research interests within the topics of this position (max 1 page).
(iv) One writing sample (e.g., Master's thesis, Bachelor thesis, past coursework, etc.).
(v) Your most relevant degree certificate and grade transcript (usually the most recent degree).
