Scientific Collaborator - 100%

With more than 13,000 collaborators representing 160 professions, the Geneva University Hospitals are a reference institution at both national and international levels. To learn more about our institution, take a few minutes to consult our 2025 retrospective by clicking here.

The Department of Surgery provides care for patients 24/7, both elective and emergency cases requiring surgical intervention. It represents a centre of excellence, not only Swiss but also European in several fields and in many of its surgical specialties.

Within this department, the Transplantation Service is tasked with ensuring the assessment, treatment, and medico-surgical follow-up of patients transplanted with solid organs (liver, kidney, pancreas, islets of Langerhans, small intestine, multivisceral transplants). In 2024, the service performed 95 organ transplants, including 50 livers, 38 kidneys, 3 pancreases, and 4 islet of Langerhans transplants. Within the service, the Cell Isolation and Transplantation Laboratory (LITC) is the only centre for isolating human pancreatic islets in Switzerland. Clinically active since 1992, it prepares islets intended for transplantation in compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP/cGMP) and the applicable Swissmedic and FOPH authorisations, and constitutes a hospital-university platform for research, innovation, and training in the fields of cell transplantation and beta cell replacement.

As a scientific collaborator within the LITC, you contribute to the clinical activities of preparation and transplantation of islets of Langerhans as well as to the laboratory’s translational and clinical research projects.

You carry out your duties in strict compliance with standard operating procedures, the LITC quality system, applicable GMP/cGMP requirements, and rules of traceability, biosafety, and aseptic handling in controlled areas. Your activities are performed in accordance with the responsibilities, delegations, and authorisations defined in the quality system.

After completing the required training and obtaining the corresponding documented authorisations, you participate in the on-call service and islet isolation procedures. Within your responsibilities, you review information related to the donor and pancreas and contribute to their verification. You ensure the technical handling of the organ and perform the various steps of isolation: preparation of solutions and materials, dissection, enzymatic perfusion, digestion, collection, centrifugation, purification, counting, purity assessment, and culture setup.

You perform and document the planned quality controls, contribute to the evaluation of their results, and ensure the packaging and preparation of islets for transport and transplantation. Final decisions regarding organ acceptance and batch release are made by formally authorised persons in accordance with the quality system.

You complete and verify preparation, batch, and traceability records, ensuring their accuracy and completeness. You promptly report any deviations or non-conformities and contribute to investigations, corrective and preventive actions, change management, and risk assessment.

You participate in the development, revision, and improvement of standard operating procedures. You also contribute to qualification, validation, training, audit, and inspection activities, respecting the applicable segregation of duties in a regulated environment.

You contribute to LITC research projects in the fields of beta cell replacement, insulin-secreting implants, biomaterials, organoids, preclinical models, immunoprotection, and regenerative medicine. You participate in planning and conducting experiments, analysing and tracing data, as well as preparing reports and scientific publications.

Finally, you participate in supervising students and interns, scientific colloquia, and knowledge dissemination activities.

You hold at least a university Bachelor’s degree or a University of Applied Sciences degree in biology, biomedical sciences, cell biology, biotechnology, or a scientific field deemed equivalent. A Master’s or PhD in one of these fields is an advantage.

Previous experience in isolating human pancreatic islets intended for clinical transplantation in a GMP/cGMP environment is a significant asset.

You have participated in scientific research projects, from experimental execution to analysis and presentation of results. Contribution to scientific publications is an advantage.

You demonstrate proven team spirit and great autonomy. You have a strong interest in clinical and translational research. You are capable of working in a multidisciplinary environment and managing urgent activities requiring precision and self-control.

You possess good English skills, both spoken and written.

The position requires availability to participate in the on-call service, including outside regular hours, nights, weekends, and public holidays.

• Start date: 01.11.2026
• Number of positions: 1
• Activity rate: 100%
• Job grade: 17
• Contract type: Permanent
• Application deadline: 02.10.2026
• Contact for information: Prof. E. Berishvili Berney, responsible biologist LITC, tel. +41 22 379 51 13

Your application must include a motivation letter, your curriculum vitae, copies of diplomas and certificates required for the position, and the last two work certificates.

This announcement is addressed equally to women and men.

Committed to fighting unemployment, the HUG encourages applications coming from the Cantonal Employment Office.

Only applications submitted via the recruitment platform will be considered. Paper and email applications will not be processed.