PhD Researcher in Digital Health and Rehabilitation

Develop an AI-driven mobile platform and conversational agent to support home-based stroke rehabilitation.

Best for:Best for computer science or software engineering graduates with a strong background in machine learning, mobile app development, and an interest in digital health.

ETH Zurich · Singapore, Singapore · R1 · First-stage researcher

More professors at ETH Zurich

Digital HealthNeurorehabilitationLarge Language ModelsMobile ApplicationsRehabilitation Robotics

Deadline

Until filled

rolling

Funding

—

fixed-term

Start date

flexible

Fixed-term

Location

Singapore

Overview

This PhD position is offered by the Singapore-ETH Centre within the Future Health Technologies Programme. The researcher will focus on designing and developing a digital health platform featuring an LLM-based conversational agent to complement a soft robotic hand orthosis for post-stroke patients. Responsibilities include defining technical requirements, building a cross-platform mobile application integrated with rehabilitation hardware, and evaluating the intervention through a clinical trial in collaboration with local partner hospitals. The successful candidate will work in an interdisciplinary, international environment and contribute to research dissemination in top journals and conferences.

PhDDigital HealthLLMMobile App DevelopmentMachine LearningNeurorehabilitationSingapore-ETH CentreExoskeleton

What you'll do

Identify technical and functional requirements for a digital health intervention based on literature reviews and stakeholder feedback.
Develop and validate machine learning and large language model architectures to enhance patient motivation and adherence.
Build a cross-platform mobile application and integrate it with backend infrastructure and physical rehabilitation hardware.
Establish methods for embedding the digital platform into routine clinical and home-based rehabilitation workflows.
Plan, coordinate, and execute clinical studies with post-stroke subjects in collaboration with partner hospitals.
Collaborate closely with researchers developing companion soft robotic hand exoskeleton technologies.
Supervise master's students, technical staff, and interns.
Publish research findings in peer-reviewed journals and present outcomes at international conferences.

Requirements

Degree required: Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Health Sciences and Technology, Information Systems, Informatics, or related fields

Degree offered: PhD

Language: English; strong verbal and written proficiency

Instruction: English

Required skills

Solid theoretical foundations and practical application experience in machine learning
Proficiency in Python programming and machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow
Demonstrated experience in mobile application development, ideally for mHealth applications
Familiarity with Python and JavaScript/TypeScript including frameworks like React Native, Django, or FastAPI
Strong verbal and written communication skills in English
Ability to work independently and drive interdisciplinary research projects

Nice to have

Prior hands-on experience integrating large language models into applications via prompt engineering or API integrationExperience with retrieval-augmented generation techniquesFamiliarity with cloud computing platforms such as AWS for application deploymentPrior exposure to clinical research or working with patient populations

Eligibility

Hold an eligible Master's degree prior to appointment
Meet admission requirements for doctoral studies

Funding & terms

Type

Unknown

Amount

—

Duration

fixed-term

Programme

Future Health Technologies Programme

Singapore-ETH Centre

How to apply

Prepare your motivation letter, CV with references, and academic transcripts as PDF documents. Submit your complete application exclusively through the online application portal linked on the job description.

Documents required