Industrial PhD Student position in single molecule analysis

Role: Industrial PhD Student position in single molecule analysis
Location: Gothenburg Sweden
Type of employment: Temporary contract (4 years)
Pay: According to local agreement
Working hours: 100%
Start date: July 2026 or otherwise agreed

Are you a student with a keen interest in single molecule technology and a passion for applying your skills to characterize molecular interactions to support innovation and drug discovery Do you want to leverage your experience to advance the use of optical microscopy to gain fundamental understanding of molecular interactions at the smallest possible level while developing your career within a company that values scientific innovation and transforms ideas into life-changing treatments

We at AstraZeneca together with Chalmers University of Technology have an exciting opportunity for a PhD Student to join our team! This is your chance to work in a strong research environment with an interdisciplinary research topic that spans both academia and industry.

We are seeking a motivated and driven PhD student to join the Biophysics team within the Protein Science Structural Biology and Biophysics department at AstraZeneca and the Applied Chemistry department at Chalmers University. We are looking for a student with passion and experience to develop next generation of biophysical technologies.

AstraZeneca is committed to the development of next generation of innovative medicines. The team at AstraZeneca is based at our vibrant R&D site in Gothenburg Sweden and applies biophysical technologies across a range of different modalities to support drug discovery from target validation to drug candidate. The group at Chalmers University of Technology are pioneers in development of methods for molecular biology and biophysics in particular chemically modified nanostructures.

This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the development of next generations biophysical technologies with the potential to impact on the early phases of drug discovery.

What you will do:
Your role as Industrial PhD student is to enroll in doctoral studies at Chalmers University of Technology Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in a project financed by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research. The project is about developing new methods to probe biomolecular interactions with focus on evaluating new concepts for confinement and optical label-free readout. This will involve utilizing the peculiar optical properties of nanostructures and state of the art instrumentation for optical imaging. The methodology will be explored within the context of drug-target interactions of importance to early drug discovery at AstraZeneca. The work is mainly experimental and the main topic is biophysics.

As an industrial PhD student you will follow the same plan for doctoral studies as purely academic PhD students and the requirements for getting the degree are identical but you will have access to two worlds. Although we expect most of the work to be conducted at the University you will also have access to the Biophysics division at AstraZeneca with associated instrumentation. You will have your main supervisor at Chalmers but also a co-supervisor and a manager at AstraZeneca.

The goal of the PhD education is for you to become an independent researcher with a good understanding of the research field the challenges and the methods used by yourself and others. You will be trained to present your work in writing and at conferences.

Essential requirements for the role:
MSc degree (completed or about to be completed in spring 2026) in Physics or related topics
Familiarity with basic optics and microscopy techniques
Flawless oral and written English communication skills

Desirable requirements for the role:
A genuine and strong interest in science and technology
Capability to obtain information independently and implement new concepts in the daily work without detailed assistance
Hands-on experience with experimental work in optical setups e.g. spectroscopy and imaging
A creative mindset which comes up with and explores new ideas (even if not all are successful in the end)
Independent and critical scientific thinking

Why AstraZeneca
When we see an opportunity for change we seize it and make it happen because any opportunity can be the start of something big. Delivering life-changing medicines is about being entrepreneurial - finding those moments and recognizing their potential. Join us on our journey in finding new ways to work pioneering cutting-edge methods and bringing unexpected teams together!

How to apply
The application written in English is submitted through the application portal of AstraZeneca. Please submit your application as soon as possible but no later than April 24 2026. Applications will be reviewed continuously.

If you would like to know more about the position and the team please reach out to:
Professor Andreas Dahlin Applied Chemistry Chalmers at
Anders Gunnarsson Principal Scientist Biophysics AstraZeneca R&D at

Date Posted

Closing Date