PhD Positions

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Apply to do your Ph.D. in our joint academic program between ETH Zurich, Switzerland and the Max Planck Society, Germany. We are currently accepting applications to join our program in 2027.

In our highly competitive CLS doctoral training program, fellows are co-supervised by one advisor from ETH Zurich and one from the MPI for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart / Tübingen, the MPI for Informatics in Saarbrücken or the ELLIS Institute Tübingen. Each CLS fellow has a primary location (chosen based on interests and match) and conducts a mandatory 12-month exchange at the other location. All CLS Ph.D. fellows register as graduate students at ETH Zurich and, upon successful completion of their Ph.D. project, will be granted a doctoral degree by ETH. Fellowships are fully funded. The program language is English.

Applicants should have a strong interest in doing basic research in areas such as:

AI for Science, AI Safety, Bio-inspired Robotics, Biomechanics, Causal Inference, Computational Biology, Computer Graphics, Computer Vision, Control Systems, Deep Learning, Digital Humans, Earth Observation, Educational Technology, Efficient AI, Explainable AI, Haptics, Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Robot Interaction, Imaging Technology, Machine Learning, Medical Informatics, Medical Robotics, Natural Language Processing, Neuroinformatics, Optimization, Physical AI, Probabilistic Models, Reinforcement Learning, Robotics, Security and Privacy, Smart Materials, Social Questions, Soft Robotics, Statistical Learning Theory, Visual Analytics.

Faculty participating in this call include:

Zurich: Andreas Krause*, April Wang*, Benjamin Grewe, Celestine Mendler-Dünner, Christian Holz*, Daniel Razansky, Florian Dörfler, Gunnar Rätsch, Julia Vogt, Konrad Schindler, Marc Pollefeys, Menna El-Assady, Mrinmaya Sachan, Niao He, Quentin Boehler, Robert Katzschmann, Siddhartha Mishra, Siyu Tang, Stelian Coros
Stuttgart/ Saarbrücken/ Tübingen: Alberto Comoretto, Antonia Georgopoulou, Antonio Orvieto*, Bernt Schiele, Bernhard Schölkopf, Buse Aktaş, Chelsea Rose Sidrane, Christian Theobalt, Jakob Macke, Jonas Geiping, Kashyap Chitta, Katherine Kuchenbecker, Konstantin Rusch, Maksym Andriushchenko, Maximilian Dax, Moritz Hardt, Philipp Müller, Rediet Abebe, Renate Sachse, Sahar Abdelnabi, Shiwei Liu.
(*only available as co-advisor for the one-year exchange)

For further information and to submit your application through our online application portal, visit https://learning-systems.org/apply. The application deadline for all parts of the application is midnight (23:59 CET) on November 02, 2026.

Where to apply

Website: https://learning-systems.org/

Requirements

• Research Field: Computer science — Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent
• Research Field: Engineering — Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent
• Research Field: Mathematics — Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent
• Research Field: Neurosciences — Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications: Applicants must hold or expect to hold an excellent degree at Masters level in a relevant subject and must be enthusiastic about spending an exchange year during the Ph.D. at the location of their co-advisor.

Specific Requirements: The program language is English. Excellent written and spoken English is essential.

Languages: ENGLISH — Level: Excellent

Additional Information

Benefits: PhD students profit from joint supervision by ETH Professors and MPI Directors and Group Leaders, ultimately obtaining their doctoral degree from ETH Zurich. With these unique opportunities, CLS offers young academics in the field of learning systems the chance of outstanding collaborations and exchange early in in their careers. The highly competitive fellowship program offers enriching activities including retreats and workshops. Fellowships will be fully remunerated through employment contracts with the hiring institution.

Eligibility criteria: We value diversity at our institutions. If you feel that you meet our requirements, we encourage you to apply.

Selection process: For further information and to submit your application through our online application portal, visit https://learning-systems.org/apply. The application deadline for all parts of the application is midnight (23:59 CET) on November 02, 2026.

Website for additional job details: https://learning-systems.org, http://www.is.mpg.de

Work Location(s)

• Number of offers available: 8 — Company/Institute: ETH Zurich — Country: Switzerland — City: Zurich — Postal Code: 8092 — Street: Rämistrasse 101
• Number of offers available: 4 — Company/Institute: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems — Country: Germany — City: Tübingen — Postal Code: 72076 — Street: Max-Planck-Ring 4
• Number of offers available: 4 — Company/Institute: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems — Country: Germany — City: Stuttgart — Postal Code: 70569 — Street: Heisenbergstr. 3
• Number of offers available: 2 — Company/Institute: Max Planck Institute for Informatics — Country: Germany — City: Saarbrücken — Postal Code: 66123 — Street: Saarland Informatics Campus

Contact

City: Stuttgart
Website: http://www.is.mpg.de, https://learning-systems.org/
Street: Heisenbergstr. 3
Postal Code: 70569
E-Mail: cls@is.mpg.de