Entrepreneurial PhD position – Microfluidic Perfusion Instrument for Retinal Models

Entrepreneurial PhD position – Microfluidic Perfusion Instrument for Retinal Models

Publication Date

October 13, 2026

Contract

CDD

42,000 € /year (48,000 € with family allowance, if eligible)

Start

April 2027

Your microfluidic SME partner for Horizon Europe

We take care of microfluidic engineering, work on valorization and optimize the proposal with you

Do you want to experience more than the academic world?
You want to combine entrepreneurship and a PhD?
You feel ready to jump into an interdisciplinary research project?

IMPORTANT: You must not have lived, worked or studied in France for more than 12 months in the 3 years before your start date, and you must not already hold a PhD (see full eligibility criteria below).

About the MIC

Our vision

A major technological revolution is underway in the world of biotechnology, which is accelerating progress in medicine like never before. Microfluidics is one of the cornerstones of this revolution.

Our mission

To accelerate the biotech revolution by developing innovative microfluidic prototypes within EU consortia, transforming them into market-ready products, and fostering the creation of deep-tech startups.

Our company

The Microfluidics Innovation Center (MIC) is a French SME based in Paris, created in 2011 and fully independent since 2024. Ten deep-tech startups have been spun out of our technologies to date. We are passionate, selective and demanding. In return, we offer you a dynamic and challenging work environment, and the possibility of career and personal development with no other limits than your own.

Our culture

• No ordinary job, no ordinary days. We act We think like generals and act like wildlings. We always seek to innovate in a way no one else would. Our vision and our passion drive us, as well as our clan and our mission.
• No single player either, we care about and for one another. Together, we are crossing an ocean to fulfill our mission; only sticking together will let us withstand the storms

About the PhD position

A PhD at MIC has little to do with a typical PhD. You will be immersed in an SME with a strong entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, and you will be part of the action from day one.

Your mission

To bring a new product to the market before the end of your PhD. Besides the science, you will learn hands‑on how to identify a market, get in touch with end‑users, translate their needs into engineering specifications and a real product, and secure the IP at every step. This experience will allow you to learn the basics of entrepreneurship and market‑driven research.

The scientific project

PANDORA is an MSCA Doctoral Network of 13 PhD students studying the role of the complement system in Age‑related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the main cause of blindness in the elderly, and developing new ways to model and treat it. Your project is the development of a benchtop microfluidic instrument that keeps living retinal tissue alive outside the body for weeks. Unlike conventional static culture, where the medium is exchanged by hand every couple of days, your platform will recirculate the medium continuously through a closed loop, and you will build it from MIC’s flow control technology, integrating sensors and feedback loops to give full control of the culture microenvironment. A key research question is how to recreate the low‑oxygen conditions of the diseased retina, turning the platform into a disease model in its own right. You will validate it with consortium partners on retinal organoids and living retinal explants, including combination drug treatments, and evaluate its path to market.

Your main project will be carried out at our MIC headquarters in Paris under the supervision of Dr. Lisa Muiznieks.

Your profile to become the rockstar of the team

• You have a master’s degree (or equivalent) in physics, engineering (bioengineering, mechatronics, engineering physics etc) or related fields.
• Ideally experience with one or more of the following:
• Cell culture (3D cultures or organoids)
• Sensors or electronics
• Python
• CFD simulations
• 3D CAD and 3D printing
• Strong interest in applying AI‑based approaches on technical subjects (experience desirable)
• You are scientifically rigorous, creative, practical and results‑driven.
• Fluency in English (IELTS 6.5 or equivalent for non‑native speakers)
• Knowledge of French is a plus, but not required.
• You can think “outside the box” to find simple solutions to complicated problems, you like to tackle complex problems and bring your own proposals to the team.
• You don’t like routine, you take initiative and you’re able to quickly adapt to changes in direction.
• You want a job tha