Postdoctoral position on Large Language Models in ERC AdG project F/M

Role Summary

As part of the ERC Advanced grant BALM, Idiap Research Institute seeks qualified candidates for a postdoctoral researcher position at the intersection of machine learning and natural language processing. This researcher wil investigate memory-augmented large language models (LLMs, RAG) using our recent results in representation learning and knowledge-graph embedding. Together we will leverage and extend our variational-Bayesian theory of how transformers represent information to develop new LLM architectures with improved controllability and interpretability, leading to novel applications and their evaluation.

The successful Postdoc candidate will join the BALM project and the Natural Language Understanding group at Idiap, under the supervision of Dr. James Henderson. The position is planned to be for a duration of 3 years, provided there is successful progress. Starting date is to be negotiated, but expected to be Oct-Dec 2025. 

Application deadline: 6th October 2025

All queries related to the advertised position can be sent to Dr. James Henderson (james.henderson@idiap.ch). Idiap takes gender balance and diversity seriously in our hiring decisions.

Role Profile

The ideal Postdoc candidate should have finished, or be close to finishing, a PhD dissertation on a topic in machine learning, artificial intelligence or natural language processing. She or he should have a strong background in machine learning or natural language processing, with good programming skills. Experience in training LLMs, developing deep learning architectures, or evaluating novel tasks would be a plus.

About Idiap

Idiap is a research institute of national importance that engages in fundamental research, education and technology transfer in artificial intelligence, machine learning and signal processing. Idiap offers competitive salaries and conditions in a young, high-quality, dynamic, and multicultural environment. Idiap is located in the town of Martigny in Valais, a scenic region in the south of Switzerland, surrounded by the highest mountains of Europe, and offering exceptional quality of life, exciting recreational activities, including hiking, climbing and skiing, as well as varied cultural activities. English is the official working language. 

At Idiap we place great emphasis on diversity and we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. Employment at Idiap is based solely on a person's merit and qualifications. Idiap does not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, marital status, pregnancy, or any other basis protected by law.

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