RiSM Internship for Students in Process/Mechanical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Technology, Pharmaceutical Sciences or Physics (Basel, 9-12 months)

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The Position

Pharmaceutical & Solid State Development is part of Pharma Technical Development and situated in Basel, Switzerland. 

Our key expertise is the development of robust and economic processes for drug substances with tailor-made solid state properties and patient centric formulations for the synthetic molecule portfolio of projects from early clinical studies to commercialization. We advance the design and delivery of transformative medicines by combining particle engineering, characterization, and formulation development - ensuring optimal drug performance, manufacturability, and patient-centric solutions from molecule to medicine. 

As an intern you will support the department Pharmaceutical & Solid State Development in the systematic assessment of compaction simulator parameters that induce tablet defects (e.g., lamination, capping) on late stage projects to improve scale-up reliability to industrial rotary press manufacturing.

The Opportunity

• Review of the relevant literature applicable to tablet compaction simulation, compaction defect mechanisms, and scale-up to rotary presses.

• Training and operation of compaction simulation and tableting equipment (e.g. StylONE compaction simulators).

• Execution of systematic compression experiments using speed-sensitive and speed-insensitive generic materials while assessing in-die/out-of-die properties and internal macrostructure.

• Collection and evaluation of process parameters and defect data on specific late stage portfolio projects.

• Writing of final report

Who you are

You are a University student (or you graduated within 12 months prior to the start date)  preferably in the subject of Process/Mechanical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Technology, Pharmaceutical Sciences or Physics and have an interest in technical and analytical issues. Furthermore, you are interested in using and sharing your knowledge as part of your Internship in a modern working environment. Your further profile for this position:

• Reliable and accurate working style in a non-GMP environment.

• Hands-on approach to lab work as well as data analytics

• Self-sufficient, problem solving-oriented work habits

• Team-oriented and decision-making personality

• Good knowledge of MS-Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Python

• Proficiency in English and German is a plus  

This internship opportunity is one of a number of positions we offer in the department per semester and is suitable for writing a Bachelor/Master/Diploma thesis. 

The interviews will take place on an interview day with all considered candidates and representatives of the department.

Your complete application includes the following documents:

• A Current CV and a Motivation Letter

• A certificate of enrollment (if you are currently studying)

• For Non-EU/EFTA citizens: Due to regulations, you must provide a certificate issued by your university stating that an Internship is mandatory for your studies and you must be enrolled during the entire duration of the internship

• The RiSM task (see below)

Application process

The application deadline is 23.08.2026. All successful final candidates will be invited to a virtual interview day which will take place on 14.10.2026.

The Internship will start in May 2027 (with the flexibility to start by July at the latest) and has a duration of 9 months, please indicate your preferred start date in your application.

More information about the Roche Internship program in Synthetic Molecules (RiSM) and other opportunities within this program you can find here.

Are you ready to apply? We are looking for someone who thinks beyond the job offered - someone who knows that this position can be a rare springboard to many other opportunities

Additional information  (RISM Task)

Assume you are a scientist that has the task to improve the tableting compression conditions to avoid fracture defects on a defined formulation and you are asked to use a punch with a non symmetrical cross section (e.g. elliptic). How would you proceed to perform the experiments, particularly the determination of the optimized compression force of the punch? Please use the information provided in the following article (Mazel V., Garcia C. & Tchoreloff P., Effect of geometrical features on the capping behavior of biconvex tablets, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Volume 645, 2023, 123365, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123365.) to answer the questions. As additional information the following paper is recommended (Li et al, Advancing the understanding of tablet capping and lamination: a systematical review, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 696, 2026, 126827, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2026.126827). We anticipate receiving your answers in the form of a slide deck suitable for presentation to a project team (maximum of 5 slides, PDF format) alongside your application.

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.

Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.