CV Scientist: Example and Template
A complete Swiss CV example for Scientists in research, pharma, and life sciences - with methods profile, publications, and third-party funding.
Currently 90 open Scientist positions in Switzerland, across 9 cantons, 14 of them from the last 7 days. roche 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 Scientist position in Switzerland?
Usually a doctorate (Dr. sc. nat., PhD) from a Swiss university or an MSc with several years of laboratory experience.
For positions titled "Scientist" in pharma, biotech, and academia, employers usually expect a completed doctorate in life sciences, chemistry, physics, or a related field - typically from ETH Zurich, EPFL, or a cantonal university. List the degree exactly as it was awarded (Dr. sc. nat., Dr. sc. ETH, PhD), supplemented with the department, supervisor, and dissertation title. With an MSc profile, position yourself through years at the bench: many companies deliberately fill "Scientist I" grades with experienced MSc graduates or with EFZ lab technicians who have gone on to complete a university of applied sciences degree (BSc FH Life Sciences, e.g., Wädenswil or Muttenz).
Mention foreign qualifications together with the country of origin and, if available, recognition by Swiss ENIC. This does not replace formal recognition, but it saves the HR department from having to ask. If you require a residence or work permit, state your status in the header (for example, "Permit B, EU/EFTA"). For non-EU nationals, this is a key selection criterion and belongs at the top, not in the cover letter.
Additional qualifications are often decisive for Scientists: the LTK Module 1 for animal experimentation, GLP or GMP training including data integrity per ALCOA+, radiation protection expertise for handling radioactive nuclides, or biosafety level 2 induction. List these credentials separately with the year - they determine whether you're allowed into the lab on day one without retraining.
How should I present publications and work experience in the CV?
Separate work experience (with impact and figures) from a dedicated publications and third-party funding list.
Describe each position with a short context sentence (research area, team size, funding) followed by three to four quantified bullet points. Instead of "conducted cell culture experiments," write "CRISPR screen with 18'000 sgRNAs across 3 cell lines, 12 validated hits." Figures that convince for Scientists: number of compounds screened, throughput per day, assay variability (CV), reduced measurement times, cost per data point, number of students supervised, budget responsibility in CHF.
Publications belong in a separate list - not in the experience blocks. State first, co-, and senior authorships clearly, with DOI, year, and optionally impact factor or citations. With more than ten publications, list five selected works and refer to ORCID or Google Scholar. Add patents, conference presentations (distinguishing talk from poster), and third-party funding secured with funding body and amount, for example "SNSF Project Funding, CHF 450'000, co-applicant."
An industry CV differs from an academic one: for a position at a pharmaceutical company, shorten the publications section and highlight method transfer, quality documentation, collaboration with CRO partners, and project timelines. For an application to a university or for an SNSF Ambizione grant, the opposite applies: there, committees expect a complete publication list, teaching experience in semester hours, and supervision achievements.
How long should the CV be, and does it need a photo?
Two pages for industry applications, three to four pages including publication list for academic positions - a photo is customary in Switzerland but optional.
For Scientist positions in industry, keep the main body to two pages: profile, skills and methods, work experience, education, certificates, languages. Attach the publications and third-party funding list as a third page or as a separate document. Academic applications may be longer; structure them with clear subheadings so the committee can find your key messages within two minutes.
A professional portrait photo remains common in Switzerland and is expected by many HR departments, though it is not legally required. Also standard are year of birth, place of residence, nationality or permit status, and language skills with CEFR level. Omit information on marital status or religion. Submit references, diplomas, and doctoral certificate as PDF attachments - Swiss employers actually check these.
Languages are doubly relevant for research positions: English is the working language in the lab and in publications, while German or French matters for dealings with authorities, safety training, and collaboration with technical staff. State both with level. Only mention a salary expectation if requested in the job posting; realistic ranges for Scientists with a doctorate are roughly between CHF 100'000 and CHF 130'000 depending on region and industry, with lower figures at universities according to cantonal salary scales.
Where Scientist are hired in Switzerland
How the 90 open positions are spread across the cantons.
Figures as a table
| Canton | postings |
|---|---|
| Basel-Stadt | 19 |
| Waadt | 11 |
| Genf | 10 |
| Zürich | 8 |
| Aargau | 5 |
| Zug | 4 |
| Neuenburg | 2 |
| Freiburg | 2 |
Which languages the postings require
Of 80 postings that state a language — in brackets, those requiring professional level.
Figures as a table
| Language | postings |
|---|---|
| English | 80 (78) |
| French | 8 (8) |
| German | 6 (4) |
Who hires Scientist in Switzerland
Employers with the most open positions. Staffing agencies are excluded.
Figures as a table
| Employer | postings |
|---|---|
| roche | 18 |
| adaptyv | 7 |
| Solvias | 4 |
| CSL | 4 |
| onrunning | 4 |
| lonza | 3 |
Full-time or part-time?
How the positions are advertised.
Figures as a table
| Workload | postings |
|---|---|
| Vollzeit / plein temps | 48 |
| Teilzeit / partiel | 1 |
| Temporär | 1 |
The CV in full
To read through and reuse.
Dr. Annina Zumsteg
Scientist Molecular Biology, Dr. sc. nat. ETH Zurich
Scientist with seven years of experience in preclinical cell biology and assay development at the interface of academic research and industry. I build robust in vitro models, validate assays according to GLP principles, and translate raw data into decision-ready reports for project teams. Nine first-author and co-author publications (cumulative impact factor 61), CHF 780'000 in third-party funding raised from SNSF and Innosuisse projects.
What sets me apart
Assay validation, not just assay execution: I validate cell-based potency assays according to ICH Q2(R2) criteria (precision, linearity, robustness) and document them so they withstand audits by Swissmedic inspectorates and internal QA.
Third-party funding experience: Four submitted project proposals (SNSF Project Funding, Innosuisse Innovation Project), three of which were approved - including budget planning, milestone planning, and reporting to the funding agency.
Bridge between academia and industry: I transferred academic screening methods into an industrial pipeline, increasing throughput from 96 to 1'536 data points per day without letting assay variability (CV) rise above 12 percent.
Data analysis with code, not copy-paste: Reproducible analysis pipelines in R and Python (Bioconductor, scikit-learn), version-controlled in Git; as a result, all figures in my publications can be regenerated from raw data.
Key achievements
Redesigned screening cascade. Completed primary screening of 24'000 compounds in 11 weeks, hit rate of 0.8 percent with a false-positive rate under 5 percent; reduced cost per data point by 34 percent.
Secured and led SNSF project. Wrote a project proposal worth CHF 450'000 (4 years) as co-applicant, approved in 2022; resulted in two publications and one doctoral thesis completed on schedule.
Method transfer into GMP environment. Transferred potency assay from research to quality control: qualified 3 analysts, demonstrated comparability across 60 duplicate determinations, shortened batch release time by 2 working days.
Experience
Scientist, Cell Biology — Helvetica Biotherapeutics AG, Basel, since 03/2021
Preclinical research, team of 14, target indication oncology; working in a GLP-adjacent environment with mandatory ELN documentation.
- Built 3 primary 3D spheroid models, thereby reducing in vivo studies by 2 animal experiments per year (3R principle, co-responsible for cantonal animal experimentation permit)
- Responsible for an assay budget of CHF 320'000 per year, achieved CHF 41'000 in savings through reagent consolidation
- 5 co-author publications and 2 patent applications (EP) in 4 years
- Technical supervision of 2 EFZ lab technicians and 3 Master's students, reduced onboarding time from 12 to 7 weeks
Postdoc, Molecular Oncology — Institute for Translational Medicine, Aarau Cantonal Hospital (fictitious), 09/2018 - 02/2021
SNSF-funded postdoc project on resistance mechanisms, collaboration with 2 external groups.
- Conducted CRISPR screen with 18'000 sgRNAs across 3 cell lines, identified 12 validated resistance genes
- First-author publication in a journal with impact factor 11.4, 87 citations to date
- Independently secured CHF 180'000 in third-party funding (cancer-league-type foundation, fictitious)
- Established institute-wide scRNA-seq pipeline, used by 4 research groups
PhD Candidate, Biochemistry (Dr. sc. nat.) — ETH Zurich, Department of Biology, 10/2014 - 08/2018
Dissertation on protein-protein interactions in signalling cascades, supervised by a chair with 22 staff members.
- Completed dissertation in 46 months (department median: 52 months), grade magna cum laude
- 2 first-author publications and 6 conference contributions, including 3 talks (e.g., Life Sciences Switzerland Annual Meeting)
- Supervised 4 term papers, teaching assistant for a lab course with 60 students over 6 semesters
- Established an SPR measurement method, reducing measurement time per interaction from 6 to 2.5 hours
Education
Dr. sc. nat., Biochemistry / Molecular Biology — ETH Zurich · 2018
MSc ETH, Biology, Major Molecular Health Sciences — ETH Zurich · 2014
BSc, Biology — University of Bern · 2012
LTK Module 1 (FELASA-accredited, laboratory animal science) · GLP fundamentals training incl. data integrity (ALCOA+) · Good Clinical/Laboratory Practice refresher, SGCP course · Project management IPMA Level D