Research Assistant (80-100%, m/f/d) “Scaling up monitoring of benthic biodiversity using computer vision” (2‑year position, Eawag‑WSL BiMo Initiative)
Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, is an internationally networked aquatic research institute within the ETH Domain (Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology). Eawag conducts research, education and expert consulting to achieve the dual goals of meeting direct human needs for water and maintaining the function and integrity of aquatic ecosystems.
Eawag and WSL have a vacancy for a Research Assistant in the novel Biodiversity Monitoring (BiMo) initiative, a collaboration between the Matthews lab at Eawag and the Dynamic Macroecology group at WSL. The project focuses on method development and outputs with high relevance for stakeholders and will strengthen capacities at Eawag and WSL for developing and implementing biodiversity monitoring methods.
In this project, you will establish an imaging database of benthic invertebrate specimens from freshwater ecosystems. Benthic invertebrates are a central component of freshwater ecosystems, but the morphological variation and taxonomic complexity hinder high-throughput monitoring of taxonomic and functional diversity. The imaging database will be built from multiple sources, including new images taken from museum‑cultured samples and existing images from global repositories and private research collections. The database will then be used to train robust AI tools for identifying taxa and generating size‑distribution estimates for populations and communities.
This project builds on previous workflows developed for image acquisition and organism segmentation and will be developed further for taxonomic classification and size quantification.
We are looking for a motivated candidate with some taxonomic expertise in macrozoobenthos in general, and important groups such as Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera in particular. Images will be acquired from thousands of specimens and then organized and analyzed using custom Python scripts. Some field work will also be involved to join teams of researchers collecting specimens from Swiss lakes.
The successful candidate holds a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, or Biodiversity Sciences (or a closely related field). You have some taxonomic expertise for macrozoobenthos and zooplankton, can do field work in Swiss alpine settings, and ideally have experience with scripting languages (Python, R), data management, and machine learning. The working language in the groups is English. Fluency in speaking and writing is required.
The project is led by Dr Blake Matthews (Eawag/UZH) and Dr Philipp Brun (WSL), in collaboration with Dr Francesco Pomati (Eawag), Dr Catherine Graham (WSL), Dr Moritz Luerig, and Dr Marco Baity‑Jesi (Eawag). This position will be based in the group of Dr Blake Matthews at Eawag (Kastanienbaum, Kanton Luzern, Switzerland). The position is fully funded for two years and is expected to start in Q1 of 2026.
Eawag is a modern employer and offers an excellent working environment where staff can contribute their strengths, experience, and ways of thinking. We promote gender equality and are committed to staff diversity and inclusion. The compatibility of career and family is of central importance to us. For more information about Eawag and our work conditions please consult www.eawag.ch and www.eawag.ch/en/aboutus/working/employment.
Applications must be submitted by 30 November 2025 and should include a letter describing your interests and their relevance to this position, a complete CV, university diplomas, and the names and contact information for three references (all in one PDF file).
For further information, please contact Dr Blake Matthews. We look forward to receiving your application. Please send it through the application form on our website; any other way of applying will not be considered.
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