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EPFL | Tang Lab
A world-leading university specializing in science and engineering, EPFL is one of Switzerland’s two federal institutes of technology. It provides a world-class environment for research and education, powered by cutting-edge infrastructure—including the Laboratory of Biomaterials for Immunoengineering (Tang Lab). The Tang Lab is always seeking talented and highly motivated individuals to join the team.
We invite passionate and qualified candidates to apply for our PhD and postdoctoral positions. As a member of our team, you will conduct pioneering research at the intersection of biomaterials and immunoengineering, with access to state-of-the-art facilities and a collaborative, international environment.
PhD Candidates
Tang lab’s research aims at developing novel strategies to engineer immunity-disease interactions, an emerging field called ‘immunoengineering’, through chemical, metabolic, and mechanical means in order to treat cancer safely and effectively with immunotherapies. We are actively looking to recruit PhD students who are interested in this new field and would like to work in a highly interdisciplinary environment.
Highly motivated and talented students (bachelor or master) with excellent academic achievements in a major field of Immunology, Cancer Biology, Bioengineering, or a closely related discipline, are encouraged to apply for EPFL doctoral programs (EDBB or EDMS or EDMX, see http://phd.epfl.ch/programs for details).
Candidates with only a four-year Bachelor Degree are also considered (depending on the undergraduate institution and study/research performance there).
Postdoctoral Positions
Two postdoctoral positions open immediately
Two full-time postdoctoral positions in mechano-immunology and cancer immunotherapy for an ERC Consolidator project (ERC-CoG-MechanoCAR) are immediately available in the Tang lab (tang-lab.epfl.ch) at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. This project (5 years) aims at uncovering the mechano-sensing and mechano-transduction mechanisms of CARs and further developing novel mechanical reprogramming strategies to enhance CAR-T cell therapies for cancer. The salaries and benefits for postdoctoral researchers are internationally competitive at EPFL. The working language is English.
Tang lab’s research focuses on developing novel strategies to engineer the multi-dimensional immunity-disease interactions, an emerging field called ‘immunoengineering’, through metabolic, chemical, and mechanical means in order to treat cancer safely and effectively with immunotherapies. For more information, please see our website and the recent publications.
Current immunotherapy strategies focus on targeting and controlling biochemical signals of immune system. Approaches exploiting biophysical and mechanical cues for immunomodulation are largely underappreciated. The Tang lab pioneers a new paradigm to exploit mechanical immunoengineering strategies to develop novel immunotherapies for enhanced efficacy and safety. We uncovered that cancer cell softness hampers T-cell mediated killing, a new type of immune checkpoint of mechanical basis distinct from biochemical ones, such as PD-1 and CTLA-4. Stiffening cancer cells through cholesterol depletion is an effective biomechanical intervention leading to enhanced cytotoxicity of T cells and efficacy of adoptive T-cell therapies (ERC-STG-MechanoIMM; Nat. Biomed. Eng. 2021, Nat. Nanotech. 2024).
Postdoc position 1 – mechano-immunology
The candidate will investigate the mechano-sensing and mechano-transduction of CAR-immune cells. Through international collaboration, the candidate will exploit various biophysical tools to study the mechanical input and output of these cells in the context of the tumor microenvironment and other diseases in vitro and in vivo. The candidates are expected to have strong expertise and experimental skill in at least of the relevant fields: mechano-immunology, biophysics, mechano-biology, and cancer immunotherapy.
Postdoc position 2 – CAR-T cancer immunotherapy
The candidate will explore new strategies of mechanical immunoengineering for the development of next-generation CAR-immune cell therapy to overcome the immune suppression in cancer. The candidate will use synthetic biology tools applied in CAR engineering to enhance the cytotoxic potential and function of CAR-T cells in advanced mouse tumor models and patient-derived organoids. The candidates are expected to have strong expertise and experimental skills in immunology, cancer immunotherapy, synthetic biology, mouse studies, and patient-derived models.
Requirements:
- Being willing to work in a highly interdisciplinary environment.
- Having track-record in publishing peer-reviewed journal articles as the first author in tier 1 journals
- Being self-motivated.
- Having good communication skills (writing and speaking in English).
Responsibilities:
- Take the lead of the project and prepare regular reports
- Publish research results in tier 1 journals
- Assist PI in grant writing
- Present data at conferences and lab meetings
- Help PI on leading the organization and maintenance of the lab
- Train junior lab members
Application process
We will begin reviewing applications immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Priority will be given to applications received by 15th February 2026:
Step 1: Interested postdoc candidates please apply by filling the Google form using the link (application will not be considered if a google from is not submitted):
Step 2: After filling the Google form, please send an email to Prof. Tang (Subject: Postdoc application for an ERC-CoG project-[Your name]) attaching your curriculum vitae, a cover letter, and the names/contact of three referees to Prof. Li Tang.
For detailed information about these postitions, please see our job opening description.
Highly ranked worldwide, EPFL is one of two federal universities in Switzerland and one of Europe’s most vibrant and cosmopolitan science and technology institutions. It offers an exceptional research and training environment with state-of-the-art facilities. Among these is the Laboratory of Biomaterials for Immunoengineering (Tang Lab), located on the second floor of the MED building. You can take a virtual tour of the lab by navigating on EPFL Virtual Tour: ME&MED → Menu → Laboratory of Biomaterials for Immunoengineering (Tang).