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The Position

The RiSE program (Roche Internships for Scientific Exchange) is a highly competitive student research program at Roche. It offers the most talented postgraduate PhD and medical degree students the opportunity to be fully integrated into our interdisciplinary and international industry R&D environment. As a RiSE student you will enhance your competencies, gain valuable work experience with us, and eventually become part of a world-wide network of RiSE Alumni.

The Neuroscience and Rare Diseases Discovery and Translational Area (NRD DTA) is developing medicines for a range of serious neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, autism, spinal muscular atrophy, and Huntington’s disease.

Your role will be to apply and validate advanced statistical methodologies to build Virtual Control Groups (VCGs)
from historical data and assess their value. The usage of VCGs could lead to a significant reduction in animal usage in cutting-edge preclinical neuroscience research

You will be hosted and mentored by several Roche scientists who will guide you through your research and provide you with the needed work infrastructure and collaborative network. Further information about VCG for in vivo studies can be found in ( doi.org/10.14573/altex.2310041 ) or in ( doi.org/10.1016/j.namjnl.2025.100065 ).

The Opportunity

• Systematically review methodologies for Virtual Control Group (VCG) generation, including the use of matching algorithms, Bayesian methods, and reference ranges computation methods.

• Conduct exploratory analysis of a large historical data repository to define the necessary matching criteria for VCG creation.

• Explore, apply, and validate advanced statistical approaches for VCG generation using programming software (R or Python) and a high-performance computational cluster.

• Collaborate effectively with interdisciplinary experts across Roche, regularly communicating progress, empirical results, and problem-solving strategies during internal meetings with your mentors.

• Synthesize and disseminate scientific findings to the department and external research community, for example by developing preliminary guidelines or contributing to the drafting of a manuscript for publication.

Who You Are

You’re someone who wants to influence your own development. You’re looking for a company where you have the opportunity to pursue your interests across functions and geographies. Where a job title is not considered the final definition of who you are, but the starting point.

• Enrolled in a PhD in Mathematics, Statistics program or in a scientific field with a strong statistics focus (e.g. Neuroscience) or medical degree program at a university and looking to expand your experience with an industry internship (Graduated PhD students can't be considered for the role. Furthermore, you must be enrolled at university for 50% of the duration of your stay at Roche, PhD thesis can’t be defended in the first half of the internship)

• Expertise in data wrangling, quantitative methods, statistical modeling and with a high level of statistical programming proficiency. Practical experience using programming software (R or Python) is essential.

• Experience in cross-disciplinary problem solving, and an understanding of concepts related to scientific experimentation, reproducibility, and biological relevance.

• A curious mindset, can-do attitude, and a demonstrated ability to deliver high quality results with urgency.

• Open to seek, receive and give feedback, with excellent interpersonal and communication skills to bridge distinct scientific domains.

• Able to synthesize complex findings into clear, actionable guidelines through presentations or other documentation.

Additional information

Title of the internship: Leveraging historical data for virtual control groups in preclinical neuroscience research

The 12 month internship can start between January and April 2026 – please clearly indicate your preferred starting date of internship on your motivation letter.

Applications need to include a CV and a cover letter, as well as a letter from your academic supervisor supporting your application to the RiSE Program. Please include details of any code repository that exemplifies your programming skills.

Please note that due to regulations non-EU/EFTA citizens have to provide a certificate from the university stating that an industry internship is mandatory as part of the university training.

Join us as a RiSE student in the NRD DTA and take the opportunity to revolutionize drug development by leveraging advanced statistical methodologies to create and validate Virtual Control Groups, while collaborating with leading experts at the Roche Innovation Center Basel and the Center of Excellence for Computational Science.

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Who we are

A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.

Let’s build a healthier future, together.