Internships in Fish Ecology and Evolution

Your responsibilities will vary between support during laboratory work and fieldwork. Laboratory work may include genetic analyses, stable isotope analyses, stomach content analyses and/or morphological analyses, depending on the experience and interest of the intern. Fieldwork may include participation in monitoring fish migration through downloads of data from acoustic receivers in the Rhine-Aare River network and electrofishing and tagging of juvenile trout in streams around Lake Lucerne.

Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, is an internationally networked aquatic research institute within the ETH Domain (Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology). Eawag conducts research, education and expert consulting to achieve the dual goals of meeting direct human needs for water and maintaining the function and integrity of aquatic ecosystems.

The Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution (FishEc) located in Kastanienbaum (Lucerne) has vacancies for internships. In the research group ‘River Fish Ecology’, we study the ecology and evolution of fish in riverine ecosystems. We work mainly at the interface between ecology and evolution and realize again and again that these two traditionally separate disciplines are interdependent. More specifically, we are working on adaptation, fish migration and river fish biodiversity at the genetic, phenotypic and community level. The overall objective of our work is to understand the interactions and potential feedback between ecology and evolution.

We are currently looking for interns to work on various projects, including the projects Climate change and fish movement patterns, lake trout migration patterns in Lake Lucerne and adaptive radiation and migration in Arctic charr in Greenland.

The main workplace is at Eawag’s Center for Ecology, Evolution and Biogeochemistry (CEEB) in Kastanienbaum, Lucerne, which besides the Fish Ecology and Evolution Department hosts research group from the Department Surface Waters – Research & Management and offers a beautiful workplace at the shores of Lake Lucerne, a friendly international working climate and a strong cross-disciplinary research environment. Both departments within CEEB share a common interest in understanding the principles of the functioning of aquatic ecosystems and their susceptibility and adaptability to changing environments, and a common concern for sustainable management of ecosystems and biodiversity.

At Eawag, we have a working environment in which people with different experiences, strengths, and perspectives can fully contribute and further develop. Here, you can help us advance! We promote genuine participation, exchange, and mutual understanding. We create structures that enable the compatibility of work and other areas of life, such as care work, and continuously make efforts to reduce barriers.

• Prerequisite for the internship is the enrollment at a university or college during the internship, ideally degree program Biology, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Engineering etc. (bachelor's or master's degree but not yet completed).

• Compulsory for the internship is a matriculation at a university for the whole duration.

• Start and end date of the internship is flexible but would ideally start early in 2027. Duration of internship is between 4 and 6 months and the internship has a 100% workload.

• The application should include an application letter describing your interests and their relevance to this position, a CV and the names and contact information for two references.

• Deadline for applications is 16 November 2026 or until the positions are filled.