School: Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Position Description:

• foundation model training, evaluation, and adaptation
• protein structure modeling and docking
• cell state prediction from large-scale perturbation datasets
• multimodal modeling for protein function and cellular state prediction
• familiarity with AlphaFold, RFDiffusion, CellCap, or related models for protein and cellular biology
  
  

• Postdoctoral AI Researchers conduct research under the general supervision of one or more Harvard faculty members.
• The appointment is for one year; reappointment may be possible for up to a total of three years, contingent on funding, project needs, satisfactory performance, and mutual interest.
• This is a full-time, benefits-eligible postdoctoral appointment based at the Kempner Institute at Harvard University.
• Due to the importance of in-person mentoring and collaboration, this position is based on campus, full-time, at Harvard University. Remote work for this position is not possible.
  
  

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD in computer science, statistics, electrical engineering, applied mathematics, computational biology, bioengineering, biophysics, or a related quantitative field required by the expected start date.
• Candidates must have received their PhD on or after September 15, 2024, or be on track to complete all PhD requirements by the expected start date of October 15, 2026.
• Demonstrated expertise in modern AI/ML, including deep learning and hands-on experience with frameworks such as PyTorch or JAX.
• Strong publication record in leading venues such as ICML, ICLR, NeurIPS, RECOMB, ISMB, or comparable conferences and journals, and/or substantial open-source research contributions.
• Demonstrated experience implementing, training, evaluating, or fine-tuning modern machine learning models.
• Strong programming skills in Python and experience building and maintaining research code.
• Demonstrated ability to use modern AI-assisted and agentic coding tools effectively, such as Claude Code, Codex, or similar systems, in research and development workflows.
• Experience in computational biology, biological data analysis, protein modeling, cellular modeling, or related areas.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative research environment and communicate technical work clearly.

Additional Qualifications:

• Experience with foundation model training, post-training, adaptation, or evaluation.
• Experience with protein structure modeling, protein–protein docking, or small-molecule–protein docking.
• Experience with cell state modeling from large-scale perturbation datasets, including Perturb-seq or related data.
• Experience with multimodal modeling for protein function or cellular state prediction.
• Familiarity with models and methods relevant to protein and cellular biology, including AlphaFold, RFDiffusion, CellCap, or related systems.
• Experience with large-scale datasets, distributed training, or high-performance computing environments.
• Expertise in scientific applications of AI/ML in protein biology, cellular systems, and related areas of computational biology.

Contact Information:

Contact Email: KempnerInstitute@Harvard.edu

Equal Opportunity Employer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions or any other characteristic protected by law.

Salary Range:

About Harvard University

Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders in many disciplines who make a difference globally. The University, which is based in Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts, has an enrollment of over 20,000 degree candidates, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Harvard has more than 360,000 alumni around the world. The University has twelve degree-granting Schools in addition to the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, offering a truly global education. Established in 1636, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States.

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