CV Research Associate: Example and Template
This is how research associates in Switzerland document third-party funding, publications, teaching and research infrastructure on two to three pages.
Currently 32 open Research Associate positions in Switzerland, across 5 cantons, 12 of them from the last 7 days. Kanton Bern advertises the most.
CV example — two-page template
This template is editable straight away — or upload your existing CV and it is carried into this layout automatically.
What qualification is required for a position as a research associate?
Typically a Master's degree from a Swiss university, ETH or university of applied sciences; university hospitals and postdoc positions additionally require a doctorate.
State your qualification exactly as it appears on your diploma: MSc ETH in Biology, MSc UZH in Psychology, Dr. sc. nat., Dr. phil., Dr. sc. med. or PhD. Add the dissertation title, supervisor and grade, as appointment and hiring committees genuinely read this information. For a foreign diploma, indicate recognition by swissuniversities or the SBFI, and note the recognition status in brackets.
For positions in applied research (aF&E) at universities of applied sciences, practical experience matters alongside your qualification: ZHAW, BFH, FHNW or HES-SO often expect experience with Innosuisse projects, industry partners and technology transfer. At universities and ETH, on the other hand, SNSF funding instruments (project funding, Postdoc.Mobility, SNSF Starting Grants), publications and teaching experience take priority. Adjust the order of your CV sections accordingly.
Additional professional qualifications make your dossier verifiable: a GCP course under ICH E6(R2) via SCTO, LTK Module 1 for animal experimentation, radiation protection expertise under StSV, biosafety training under ESV, or a CAS in Higher Education Didactics. For data-focused positions, a Data Steward course (DLCM) and an ORCID ID with a complete publication list are more convincing than a generic statement about your IT skills.
How should I present research experience, third-party funding and publications in my CV?
Structure your CV in four blocks: positions held, third-party funding, publications and teaching, each supported by figures rather than lists of tasks.
Describe each position with context and impact: group size, budget, study design and your contribution to it. Instead of 'contributed to research projects', write 'built a cohort of 486 participants across 4 centres, drop-out below 6 percent'. State clearly whether you were the applicant, co-applicant or a team member, as these roles are clearly defined in the SNSF context and are checked.
List third-party funding as its own section, including funder, instrument, amount in CHF and duration: 'SNSF project funding, CHF 720'000, 2023-2027, co-applicant' is more informative than a lump sum. Add Innosuisse contributions, foundation grants, Horizon Europe participation or travel grants. Those who have not yet secured their own funding should list contributions to applications (statistical section, data management plan, budget) and the resulting approval.
For longer dossiers, the publication list belongs in a separate appendix; key figures suffice in the CV itself: number of peer-reviewed articles, first authorships, h-index, ORCID link and three to five selected works. Ensure a DORA-compliant presentation, as signed by many Swiss institutions: content and your contribution (CRediT role) count for more than the impact factor. Document teaching with weekly teaching hours, module names, student numbers and evaluation results, along with supervised Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral theses.
How long should the CV be, is a photo required, and what Swiss conventions apply?
Two to three pages for the CV plus an appendix for publications and teaching, with a photo and clear information on permit status and availability.
Three pages are acceptable for postdoc and senior positions; for entry-level positions, keep to two pages and attach publication, teaching and presentation lists separately. Make sure the first 20 lines cover your profile, qualification, methodology and third-party funding - hiring committees often review 60 to 120 dossiers per vacancy. Complete applications to academic institutions also include a cover letter, a research statement and, depending on the position, a teaching statement.
A professional portrait photo remains customary in Switzerland and is rarely viewed negatively; omit it only for anonymised procedures, which some institutions use for equal opportunity purposes. State your place of residence, nationality or permit type (B, C, L, cross-border commuter G) and your earliest possible start date. For international applications to Swiss institutions, mention language skills according to CEFR level, as teaching and committee work are often conducted bilingually.
Only state salary expectations if requested, and base them on cantonal salary scales: research associates with a Master's degree typically start at around CHF 85'000 per year depending on the institution, while CHF 100'000 to CHF 130'000 is common with a doctorate and project responsibility. Be transparent about fixed-term contracts, which are normal in research, and explain gaps (maternity leave, time abroad, mobility fellowship) in one line. List references with name, role and institution, after having informed these people.
Where Research Associate are hired in Switzerland
How the 32 open positions are spread across the cantons.
Figures as a table
| Canton | postings |
|---|---|
| Bern | 5 |
| Basel-Stadt | 2 |
| St. Gallen | 2 |
| Zürich | 1 |
| Freiburg | 1 |
Which languages the postings require
Of 26 postings that state a language — in brackets, those requiring professional level.
Figures as a table
| Language | postings |
|---|---|
| German | 26 (26) |
| English | 13 (9) |
| French | 9 (4) |
| Italian | 3 (0) |
Who hires Research Associate in Switzerland
Employers with the most open positions. Staffing agencies are excluded.
Figures as a table
| Employer | postings |
|---|---|
| Kanton Bern | 9 |
| Swiss Federal Administration | 3 |
| Kanton Basel-Landschaft | 3 |
| Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO | 2 |
| CAS in Medication Safety University of Bern | 2 |
| Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF | 2 |
Full-time or part-time?
How the positions are advertised.
Figures as a table
| Workload | postings |
|---|---|
| Vollzeit / plein temps | 26 |
| Teilzeit / partiel | 5 |
| Temporär | 1 |
The CV in full
To read through and reuse.
Dr. sc. nat. Livia Steinmann
Research Associate / Postdoc, Dr. sc. nat. (Biomedicine) – Clinical and Translational Research
Research associate with nine years of research experience at a university hospital and a university of applied sciences, specialising in clinical cohort studies and reproducible data management. As applicant and co-author, I have secured a total of CHF 2'340'000 in third-party funding from SNSF project funding, Innosuisse innovation projects and foundation grants. 18 peer-reviewed publications (7 as first author), study lead in accordance with ICH-GCP, and 4 hours per week of teaching in the Biomedicine Bachelor's programme.
What sets me apart
Third-party funding dossiers from A to Z: I draft SNSF project applications in the mySNF portal, including data management plans based on FAIR principles and budget planning; success rate of 4 out of 7 submissions, well above the SNSF average of around 40 percent.
Human research regulation: Confident application of HFG, KlinV and ICH-GCP: 9 study protocols submitted to the cantonal ethics committee via the BASEC portal, with a median approval time of 7 weeks and no substantive conditions.
Reproducible data science: Analysis pipelines in R and Python, version-controlled in GitLab and scaled on the HPC cluster (SLURM); all 7 first-author papers with publicly deposited code and data on Zenodo, open access in line with the swissuniversities strategy.
Bridge between clinical practice, academia and industry: In Innosuisse projects with 5 industry partners, I coordinated work packages across three language regions and translated clinical questions into prototype requirements.
Key achievements
Secured CHF 720'000 in SNSF project funding. As co-applicant, drafted the concept, statistical analysis plan and data management plan; project approved for the 2023-2027 period, including two doctoral positions.
Built a multicentre cohort of 486 patients. Recruitment at 4 sites within 22 months, data capture in REDCap with a query rate of 1.8 percent and a drop-out rate below 6 percent.
Doubled publication output. Introduced standardised analysis templates and weekly data reviews; increased the group's publication output from 4 to 9 articles per year and reduced the median time from data lock to submission from 11 to 5 months.
Experience
Research Associate / Postdoc — Zentrum für Translationale Forschung, Rhonetal Universitätsspital, since 03/2021
Research group of 12 staff, annual budget CHF 1.4 million, focus on cardiometabolic cohort studies.
- Co-authored an SNSF project application worth CHF 720'000, which was approved; additionally secured CHF 180'000 in foundation funding.
- Led a prospective cohort study with 486 participants at 4 centres; monitoring in accordance with ICH-GCP with 0 critical findings across 2 audits.
- 11 publications as co-author and 4 as first author, including 3 in journals with an impact factor above 8.
- Taught 2 hours per week in the Biomedicine Bachelor's programme and supervised 6 Master's theses, with an average evaluation score of 5.4 out of 6.
Research Associate, Applied Research — Institut für Medizintechnik, Fachhochschule Mittelland, 08/2019 - 02/2021
Applied research and development (aF&E) with industry partners, focus on sensor technology and digital health data.
- Co-developed two Innosuisse innovation projects with a total volume of CHF 1'240'000, including CHF 620'000 in federal contributions.
- Led the data analysis work package for 5 industry partners, supporting 3 prototypes through to TRL 6.
- Conducted a validation study with 92 participants, reducing the sensor's measurement deviation from 9.4 to 3.1 percent.
- Redesigned the statistics module for 48 students, reducing the failure rate from 18 to 7 percent.
Doctoral Candidate and Research Assistant — Institut für Molekulare Physiologie, Universität Aarburg, 09/2015 - 07/2019
SNSF-funded doctoral project on inflammatory markers, laboratory with 8 researchers.
- Completed the doctoral dissertation in 46 months, awarded magna cum laude, with 3 first-author publications.
- Prepared and obtained approval for an animal experimentation application under TSchG via animex-ch (LTK Module 1), reducing animal numbers by 24 percent through a refined study design.
- Processed over 1'800 samples using qPCR and multiplex immunoassay, maintaining an intra-assay CV below 5 percent.
- Supervised practical courses for 32 students per semester and supported 8 Bachelor's theses.
Education
Dr. sc. nat., Biomedicine, dissertation on inflammatory markers — Universität Aarburg · 2019
Master of Science, Molecular Life Sciences — Universität Nordwest · 2015
Bachelor of Science, Biomedical Sciences — Universität Nordwest · 2013
Basic GCP course according to ICH E6(R2), accredited by SCTO (2021) · LTK Module 1 Laboratory Animal Science, FELASA-recognised (2016) · CAS in Higher Education Didactics, 10 ECTS (2020) · Data Steward basic course, DLCM / swissuniversities (2022)
Common questions
- What language should I write my CV in as a Research Associate?
- 100% of the adverts are in German — write the CV in German unless the advert itself is in English.
- Where in Switzerland are Research Associate most in demand?
- Spread out, Bern first at 16%, then Basel-Stadt and St. Gallen. Across a language border, apply with the matching version.
- What language level do Research Associate adverts ask for?
- German in 100% of adverts that state a requirement, 100% of them at professional level. "Good knowledge" will not do — give A2 to C2.
- Are Research Associate roles offered full or part time?
- 84% full time, only 16% part time. If you need part time, say so early rather than leaving it open.
- Who hires Research Associate in Switzerland?
- Currently Kanton Bern, Swiss Federal Administration, Kanton Basel-Landschaft, among others. Their adverts are the best word list for your own CV.