PhD FindDoctoral opportunities · PhDFind
Menu
中文

IOB Vision Science and Translational Neuroscience PhD / MD-PhD Programme (2026 call)

Project 2096 · Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel; University of Basel degree · PhD / MD-PhD Programme

Application workspace

Save this opportunity and prepare around its actual requirements. Confirm deadlines and eligibility at the original source.

Read the research report View the recruitment source
Country or region
Switzerland
Application deadline
2026-11-16 (confirm the exact time with the source)
Funding
Employment; salary starts at CHF 50,000 gross/year as of 1 January 2026, with annual increases and social benefits. Average duration five years is not a guaranteed funding term. No tuition; University of Basel semester fee CHF 350 may be reimbursed by IOB.

The research opportunity

IOB Vision Science and Translational Neuroscience PhD / MD-PhD Programme (2026 call)

Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB) · Basel, Switzerland

Program and research fit

IOB recruits for a PhD and an MD-PhD training route in vision and ophthalmic research. The call is program-level: it does not assign an individual thesis, laboratory, supervisor or method. Representative areas include quantitative visual physiology linking retinal computation with eye movements and behaviour; theoretical and computational neuroscience; and retinal and central visual circuits. Applicants should identify a suitable research group and explain the fit in the motivation letter. Prior contact with group leaders is not required.

IOB is the host and employer; the University of Basel awards the degree, and all candidates must enrol there. The PhD route requires a recognised degree that qualifies the applicant for doctoral study, such as an MSc or equivalent in natural sciences, medicine or engineering. The MD-PhD route is for medically qualified applicants pursuing substantial biological research and requires a medical degree that qualifies them for formal clinical training. A degree not yet awarded at application may be submitted later, but must be obtained before the project starts. Strong English is required; no numerical test threshold is stated in the call.

Employment and funding

The published starting salary is CHF 50,000 gross per year as of 1 January 2026, with annual increases and social benefits. The program gives an average duration of five years; this is not a guarantee of a five-year contract or funding term. There is no program tuition. University of Basel students pay a standard CHF 350 semester fee, which IOB may reimburse. Visa or permit needs depend on nationality; IOB offers assistance after acceptance.

Application and selection

The 2026 programme information lists a deadline of 16 November 2026; it does not state the exact portal closing time. Successful candidates typically start between March and the end of the following year; confirm the year and your individual start date. Submit one application through the IOB portal. Typical materials are a CV listing two referees and any publication links, a motivation letter naming the chosen track and research-group fit, and transcripts/certificates/diplomas. The application portal should be completed in English. The notice also says academic documents must be in a Swiss official language; confirm whether English documents need translation.

Referees should hold a PhD and have recent direct collaborative work with the applicant. The notice says they must meet the same deadline, while also saying IOB may contact them after an offer; ask whether letters must be submitted by the deadline. The usual selection route is a 30-minute online panel in December, including a 10–15-minute presentation on current research, followed by an on-site interview day in Basel around mid-January. IOB covers invited candidates’ travel and accommodation; decisions are usually sent about 2–3 weeks later. These are typical timings, not an individual schedule.

Program details

Research and application brief

Report generated: . This date does not confirm that recruitment remains open.

Information updated: . Recheck the original notice before applying.

Show report contents

IOB Vision Science and Translational Neuroscience PhD / MD-PhD Programme (2026 call)

Research Focus and Programme Fit

IOB offers an employed route into vision research that connects neural circuits and computation with eye disease and clinical questions. A doctorate could involve quantitative physiology, theoretical neuroscience, genetics or other institutional directions, but the current call does not allocate a thesis topic, laboratory or technique. The attraction is a focused visual-science environment with a structured curriculum and clinical exposure. The decision depends on finding an available group and a feasible project, rather than treating admission as access to every platform.

The 2026 programme information lists a 16 November deadline but no exact portal closing time; successful candidates typically start between March and the end of the following year. Current availability and individual start dates remain unconfirmed.

The published salary starts at CHF 50,000 gross annually, as of 1 January 2026, with annual increases and social benefits. This is employment compensation, not a tax-free stipend. The average five-year completion time is not a promise of a five-year employment contract. The 16 November 2026 closing date is confirmed; a precise portal closing time is not established by the official body reviewed. The immediate useful step is to clarify the document-language and referee-submission rules, then submit one carefully checked portal application. Pre-application contact with group leaders is not required. Programme details

Research Problem and Doctoral Work

What the programme investigates

The common scientific problem is how visual systems generate useful information and why their function fails in eye disease. The institute describes work across retinal and central circuits, molecular mechanisms, patient phenotypes and translation. These span distinct types of evidence: a model of neural coding, an observation in healthy human vision and a disease-related biological result do not answer the same question. No individual doctorate is expected to reproduce this entire research spectrum. Research overview

A useful programme-level comparison is:

Representative direction Research question and work family What the call does not establish
Quantitative visual physiology, Felix Franke group Relating retinal computation to eye movements and behavioural control; quantitative physiological and behavioural analysis A funded vacancy in that group or a guaranteed particular recording platform
Theoretical and computational neuroscience, Rava Azeredo da Silveira group Neural population coding, inference and the mathematical constraints on perception; mostly modelling and analysis, sometimes human experiments A purely computational placement, a particular dataset or named co-supervisor
Retinal and central visual circuits, Botond Roska group Cell-type and circuit understanding of the retina, thalamus and cortex, linked to visual dysfunction A clinical trial, a guaranteed therapy project or approval to conduct any specific procedure

These are examples for comparing interests, not three posts to apply to separately. Other listed groups cover ophthalmic genetics and clinical research; the programme does not publish a definitive participating-lab vacancy list in the material reviewed. Groups and platforms Quantitative visual physiology Theoretical and computational neuroscience Visual circuits

Likely work and useful questions

An applicant can compare a biological hypothesis, the evidence that could test it, relevant existing data and the support needed to deliver a thesis. Possible outputs include a reproducible analysis, a tested model or a quantitative characterisation of a visual phenomenon, depending on the eventual project. These are analyst examples, not advertised deliverables or publication promises. Access to patient cohorts, biological material, specialist equipment and unpublished data must be agreed for the actual project. The institute's open atlas and analysis tools demonstrate a culture of shared resources; they do not confer rights to all internal data. Open resources

The three papers illustrate a productive field frontier: combining explanations across anatomical structure, physiological signals, behaviour and theory. The hard scientific task is choosing an appropriate bridge between levels, rather than assuming that successful measurement or modelling establishes a treatment. Reproducibility, model comparison and the distinction between healthy and disease systems are sensible preparation themes. Research planning here remains at the level of questions and evidence, not experimental protocols.

School, Programme and Field Context

IOB is the research host and employer in Basel, Switzerland; the University of Basel awards the degree. IOB does not award degrees. All programme candidates must enrol at Basel. General university rules require a recognised qualifying degree, faculty-specific admission and continuous matriculation; being selected by IOB is not a substitute for academic admission. The exact faculty, degree designation and applicable credit or thesis regulations should be specified in the offer. The MD-PhD track is for medical graduates pursuing substantial biological research, not an automatic grant of Swiss clinical practice rights. Programme details Basel doctoral admission

The programme overview describes a four-to-five-year curriculum, while its detailed page gives an average duration of five years. These are educational descriptions, not individual completion or funding guarantees. In year one the published curriculum includes matriculation, selecting a second supervisor, a doctoral agreement, the first PhD Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting, lectures and practical training. Years two and three include further committee meetings, technical courses and seminars; years four/five include further PAC meetings, thesis writing and defence. The curriculum also lists an annual IOB Research Retreat and approximately one scientific conference or event per student each year. Clinical exposure is listed at the University Hospital Basel Eye Clinic. Exact exposure, assessment requirements, rotations and committee composition for an individual placement remain to be confirmed. Curriculum

Basel's official table reports QS 2027 overall 150, THE 2027 overall 111 and ARWU 2026 overall 91. These are university-wide indicators, not IOB rankings or ophthalmology subject ratings. No directly applicable current IOB or vision-science subject ranking was independently established. For this call, the specialised groups, primary studies and actual supervisory capacity are more informative than inferring a laboratory score from an overall rank. University ranking table

Research Groups, Papers and Support

Representative group environment

Franke's published group remit connects early visual processing with eye-movement control. Azeredo da Silveira's group studies information representation through statistical and mathematical models, with experimental collaborations and some human behaviour work. Roska's group links retinal and central-circuit organisation with visual dysfunction. These descriptions support different preparation routes; they do not verify current student load, weekly feedback, group culture or a reserved opening. Preferred groups may be stated in the motivation letter without contacting their leaders beforehand. Group directory Programme details

Three independent original studies

Bucci and colleagues, 2025: The foveal synchronisation study combines human retinal measurements, behavioural observations and modelling. Its account relates different axonal paths to conduction speed and the temporal alignment of visual signals. It demonstrates a way to connect structure, physiology and perception; it is not a trial showing restored sight or proof that every disease follows the same compensation. For an applicant it provides a concrete example of cross-method reasoning and collaboration involving Franke, Roska and Cowan. The publisher abstract, citation and selected introductory/results passages were read; this was not a complete methods or supplementary-material review. Original study

Nghiem and colleagues, 2025: The fixational-eye-movement paper compares a retinal-coding model with healthy human acuity and eye-movement measurements. It examines conditions in which tiny movements can help or harm fine-detail discrimination, rather than presuming that all movement is beneficial. Its value is the explicit connection between a theory and measurable behavioural variation. A theoretical result or near-optimal model regime is not a recommended eye exercise or a demonstrated patient treatment. The author-hosted published PDF's first page and opening results were read, not all eight pages or supporting information. Original study

Müllner and Roska, 2024: This mouse visual-thalamus study reports specialised retinal inputs and visual responses in inhibitory interneurons. It challenges an indiscriminate integration account and links input organisation with functional selectivity. It supplies an example of circuit-level hypothesis testing, not evidence that a programme applicant will conduct this study or that the result transfers directly to human disease. The indexed original abstract and full bibliography were read; direct PMC access returned verification rather than a usable full paper. No full scientific reading is claimed. Original study abstract

These are three distinct research papers with different questions and DOIs. Multiple methods within one paper do not count as separate studies; preprints, abstracts or online and issue dates of the same work are not added again. The examples assess programme research breadth, not a confirmed personal supervisory team. Institutional publications

Facilities and project feasibility

The current directory lists organoid, scientific-computing, single-cell-genomics, clinical-data/statistics and clinical-trial support alongside research groups. This gives a credible route to specialised expertise. It does not establish individual allocations, staff effort, training prerequisites or sample access. Interview discussion should identify the first feasible question, the available data or material, the person's own contribution and a contingency if access or acquisition is delayed. Publication permissions and collaboration responsibilities also need to be clear. Groups and platforms

Employment, Application and Basel Costs

Contract and fees

The advertised base is CHF 50,000 gross per year as of January 2026, with annual increases and social benefits. Obtain the actual starting-year scale, employment percentage, renewal and performance conditions, deductions and funded end date in writing. Five years is the programme's average duration; it must not be multiplied by the base salary and presented as a guaranteed award value. The listing does not establish the individual's net pay, pension position or tax liability. Programme employment terms

IOB states that its programme charges no tuition. Basel charges doctoral candidates CHF 350 per semester, which IOB says can be reimbursed. Reimbursement conditions and timing still matter. The university separately lists an administrative application/change fee of CHF 100; whether it applies or is reimbursed in this route should be checked. The ordinary student CHF 850 semester fee is not the doctoral fee. IOB fees Basel fee schedule

Living-cost interpretation

The university's version 1.2026 sample budget gives roughly CHF 2,050–2,150 monthly for a student living away from parents. It includes an ordinary-student fee allocation and a health item based on subsidised premiums for people under 25. It therefore cannot be copied unchanged into a paid doctoral employee's budget. The same document warns employed students to allow for advance tax payments; insurance assumptions change with age and circumstances. It is a dated planning example, not an individual Basel 2027 quote. 2026 sample budget

Actual housing availability, utilities and deposits require personal offers. University enrolment does not make all health insurance free: its general insurance page describes only limited automatic accident-invalidity protection and places wider insurance responsibility on students and doctoral candidates. Budget for actual health cover, deductible exposure, relocation, permits and deposits, then compare recurring costs with an employer's net-pay estimate. No reliable personal saving figure follows from gross salary minus a general student budget. Insurance guidance

Submission and selection

16 November 2026 is the closing date, not the day applications open. The programme body gives no verified precise clock; a separate time entry gives 17:00 Europe/Zurich, but the programme body does not confirm it; verify the portal time directly. Submit through the official career-portal route, once only; email applications are not considered. The email address for a later-awarded degree is a narrow exception for that document, not an alternative application method. Mandatory upload fields and referee triggers remain unconfirmed. Current call and procedure Official portal entry

The stated documents are a CV with two referees and publication links where applicable, a motivation letter naming the PhD or MD-PhD track and preferred group, and academic certificates/diplomas/transcripts. The page asks for these academic documents in a Swiss official language, while portal information must be in English. It says notarised versions are unnecessary at this stage. Do not assume English certificates are automatically accepted or commission an unnecessary translation without clarifying what the programme actually requires.

Both referees should hold a PhD and have recent direct collaborative experience with the applicant; academia and industry are accepted. Include their role, email and telephone in the CV and inform them they may be contacted. One paragraph gives them the same deadline; another says the programme reserves the right to contact referees after an offer. The page does not reconcile whether letters, details or responses must arrive before 16 November. Ask the programme office about the trigger and required action rather than inventing a definite letter workflow. Required materials and referees

Eligibility and completeness are first assessed by programme management, then selected files by group leaders. The usual December online panel lasts 30 minutes, including a 10–15-minute presentation on current research. Leading candidates may be invited onsite around mid-January of the following year; IOB covers invited travel and accommodation according to the invitation. Decisions usually follow onsite interviews by 2–3 weeks. Successful starts are described as March through the end of the following year; confirm the year and personal start window. These usual stages are not a guaranteed personal timetable. Selection process

Applicant Background and Preparation

Required conditions

A recognised Master's, MD or equivalent in natural sciences, medicine or engineering must be obtained before starting. A pending degree can be supplied later under the published instruction, but this does not create a bachelor's-only entry route. The PhD track requires a degree that formally permits doctoral entry; the MD-PhD track requires a medical qualification enabling formal clinical training. Recognition by Basel and the relevant faculty remains necessary. The instructions contemplate applicants requiring Swiss visas or permits and do not state a nationality restriction; recognition of an individual Chinese degree must still be assessed. Strong English is required and is the working language; no programme-specific IELTS/TOEFL score or blanket test waiver was found in the reviewed instructions. Eligibility Academic admission

Evidence of research readiness

For computational interests, a clear model, quantitative validation and reproducible code can demonstrate reasoning. For physiology or disease-oriented interests, explain the research question, the person's contribution, data interpretation and limits. These are preparation suggestions, not additional official prerequisites or unsolicited required attachments. A generic enthusiasm for neuroscience is less informative than explaining why a particular visual question connects to a preferred group. The motivation letter can state preferences without implying a guaranteed match. Preparing a concise current-research presentation is directly relevant to the published interview format.

Career and Field Implications

The programme develops capabilities relevant to academic vision science, quantitative neuroscience and translational research. Basel's university innovation office offers entrepreneurship education and connections among research, startups and industry. This is ecosystem evidence, not a verified IOB placement rate, salary outcome or guaranteed job. Patient exposure does not confer clinical licensure, and IOB permit assistance is not a guarantee of immigration approval or a future right to remain after graduation. Innovation and career context Programme details

Next Actions and Questions to Verify

Before applying

Clarify the exact portal closing time, academic-document languages and translation requirements, and whether referees must submit letters or respond before the deadline. Confirm track-specific degree recognition and the intended completion date of a pending degree. Compare group publications and state a preferred group in one portal submission; no preliminary PI contact is required. General process questions can go to phd-program@iob.ch, while the application itself remains portal-only.

At interview

Ask which groups actually have capacity in this call and how matching is decided. Establish the thesis question, existing data/material access, training and technical support, feedback arrangements, the second supervisor and PAC process. Discuss clinical exposure, relevant ethical permissions, the first-year feasible output and a fallback if a key dependency is delayed. Confirm the actual year of the start window and onsite reimbursement arrangements.

Before accepting

Obtain the exact Basel faculty and degree route, academic conditions, salary scale and employment percentage, contract length/renewal and funded completion plan. Confirm semester/admin-fee reimbursement and project research costs. Request a realistic net-pay and benefits explanation from the employer and prepare a personal housing/insurance/relocation budget. IOB's support with permits is valuable; the conditions for the individual's nationality and employment remain to be resolved through the formal process.

Evidence and Sources

The programme information in this report is dated 22 October 2026; vacancy status and any later policy changes have not been confirmed. This is one programme call; the papers are institutional examples and their authors are not assigned supervisors. Each reading scope remains stated individually.

Programme, institution and research environment

Original research: full ordered bibliographies and reading limits

  • Annalisa Bucci; Marc Büttner; Niklas Domdei; Federica B. Rosselli; Matej Znidaric; Julian Bartram; Tobias Gänswein; Roland Diggelmann; Martina De Gennaro; Cameron S. Cowan; Wolf Harmening; Andreas Hierlemann; Botond Roska; Felix Franke. Synchronization of visual perception within the human fovea. Nature Neuroscience 28(9):1959–1967 (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-025-02011-3. Online 2025-07-16; issue 2025-09. Primary source. Reading: Publisher abstract, selected introductory/results text and bibliography; not complete scientific full text or supplementary materials.
  • Trang-Anh E. Nghiem; Jenny L. Witten; Oscar Dufour; Wolf M. Harmening; Rava Azeredo da Silveira. Fixational eye movements as active sensation for high visual acuity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122(6):e2416266122 (2025). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2416266122. Online 2025-02-04; issue 2025-02-11. Primary source. Reading: Published primary PDF first page and opening results; no complete eight-page or SI reading. Issue 11 February corroborated by indexed PubMed metadata; direct PubMed body returned empty shell.
  • Fiona E. Müllner; Botond Roska. Individual thalamic inhibitory interneurons are functionally specialized toward distinct visual features. Neuron 112(16):2765–2782.e9 (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.06.001. Online 2024-06-24; issue 2024-08-21. Primary source. Reading: Direct PubMed original abstract and bibliography; PMC body blocked by verification. No full scientific reading.

Registration, fees, costs and career context

Sources

The listing may come from a university or recruitment platform. Check the notice and official sources in the report for current application requirements. View the recruitment source

Explore opportunities with related research or the same country, prioritising similar funding where relevant. Recheck each notice before applying.

University of Fribourg · Switzerland

PhD in Lipid Delivery: How Digestion Changes Lipid Interfaces and Drug Delivery

A university notice describes four years of funding; the employer listing calls the appointment temporary full-time at 40 hours per week but gives no contract duration. Individual salary, doctoral fees, insurance and travel or other covered costs are unspecified and should be confirmed.

2026-12-01 (confirm the exact time with the source)