Thank you!

The response was overwhelming and truly meaningful for our team. We received around 100 strong applications, all closely related to our work and driven by a shared interest in making research more participatory. We spoke with about 20 applicants by phone and held 5 online interviews.

Choosing was not easy, as we see real potential for future collaboration with several candidates, and we’re keeping that door open.

A heartfelt thank you as well to all colleagues and friends who helped spread the word about our open positions.

We’d love to stay in touch and meet you, if we haven’t already, so feel free to join one of our activities, follow us on social media, and come say hi anytime. We’ll keep our website updated with future opportunities

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Founded and run by passionate scientists, DISSCO is a Swiss association that helps democratise science by making it participatory, accessible, and impactful. We work with scientists, researchers, and knowledge professionals across Europe to engage diverse audiences in their projects – sharing not just results but the process of discovery itself.

We’re looking for a Project Assistant to grow our Zürich-based team and support internationally funded initiatives at the intersection of science, culture, and society. You will work closely with a senior project manager and collaborate with a network of external freelancers to shape citizen science activities, creative engagement formats, and EU research projects that connect people with science in meaningful, playful ways.

Start date: middle of January 2026, by arrangement.
Workload: 20–40%
Location: Based in Zürich or able to work regularly in-person; flexible remote within Switzerland / coworking options available
Contract: Part-time; position can be entered at internship or junior level; self-employed (freelance) applicants welcome. Duration aligned with ongoing project cycles (minimum 4 months), with potential extension.

Your Role

• Plan, implement and monitor project workplans, timelines and deliverables; ensure work packages finish on time.

• Manage communications, logistics and coordination with  your senior project manager, external experts and EU partners.

• Organise and facilitate partner meetings, workshops, walkshops and events; ensure timely follow-up.

• Contribute to project development and co-design participatory activities (learning formats, storytelling).

• Assist with proposal and report writing, funder deliverables and basic budget/time tracking.

• Support communications and outreach: prepare presentations and coordinate with designers and audio producers.

Projects You Will Support

Pollen Watch – Tackling Allergies, Empowering Communities

A citizen science project exploring how pollen, climate, mobility, and daily routines affect health. Participants use portable sensors and workshops to co-create knowledge about environmental exposure and climate resilience. As a Project Assistant, you will support the building of the citizen scientist community, organize playful measurement campaigns and other events, and assist with the communication and dissemination of these activities.

Roads4All  – From behaviour to policy – building a traffic safety culture for all.
Roads4All is a research project aimed at  making European roads safer, more inclusive and sustainable by addressing the cultural and behavioural roots of traffic safety. Through five real-life “Living Roads” in Estonia, Croatia, Greece, Italy and Serbia, the project co-creates and tests interventions using behavioural science, participatory arts, virtual reality, simulators, and policy dialogue.
You will support creative engagement formats such as walkshops, a stand-up comedy academy, audiostorytelling activities, community workshops and mobility-related public engagement.

Your Profile

Background & Experience

• Bachelor or Master degree completed (thesis developed).

• At least 1 year of experience in project coordination or management.

• Experience with international or EU-funded projects is an advantage.

Skills

• Excellent organisational and planning abilities.

• Strong English skills (spoken & written); German is a plus.

• Confident public speaker and comfortable representing projects.

• Competent with tools like Google Workspace, Trello, Notion, Slack, etc.

• Able to manage timelines, deliverables, and expert input across partners.

What you bring

• Proactive, solution-oriented mindset.

• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a small team.

• Cultural awareness and motivation for public-interest, creative, or science engagement initiatives.

• Curiosity, playfulness, and enthusiasm for participatory approaches.

What we offer

• Meaningful work in a mission-driven, international environment.

• Hands-on experience in Swiss and European research and innovation projects.

• Flexible part-time working conditions with remote options.

• A clear development pathway: internship entry possible; junior-level responsibilities from the start.

• Opportunity to co-create creative, participatory, and impactful public-engagement formats.

How to Apply

Please complete the application form and upload your CV directly within the form: [here]

For any questions, please contact Evgenia Tsianou info@dissco.ch or  +41 78 878 95 7three.

Only candidates with a valid Swiss work permit can be considered.

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