Postdoctoral Researcher for SNF-funded StrOntEx and MetaboLinkAI projects F/M

Role Summary

The Human-Centred Health AI research group develops and applies artificial intelligence approaches to advance health, spanning the molecular, individual and societal scales. Our research has three main focus areas: AI for Biomolecules, AI for Evidence, and AI for Humans in Society.

We are looking for a talented and motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to join our interdisciplinary team working at the intersection of computational methods and health science, for the SNF-funded StrOntEx and MetaboLinkAI projects. 

In this postdoctoral position you will work on advanced AI approaches to augment and explain chemical language models and to biologically interpret metabolomics datasets. You will be expected to conduct high quality research in close collaboration with national and international partners of the StrOntEx and MetaboLinkAI initiatives. Specific tasks will include methods development for chemical language model explainability, training and evaluating AI models for functional interpretation of metabolomics datasets, supervision of junior researchers, conducting high-quality empirical investigations, writing and reviewing scientific publications, and other duties including teaching and outreach.  

The position is for 2.5 years, full-time, on-site at the Idiap Research Institute, Martigny, Switzerland. 

Profile

Must have: 

• A recent PhD in a relevant field such as computer science, computational biology or a related quantitative discipline
• Deep biological knowledge in natural products and metabolism
• Good communication skills, enthusiasm and scientific curiosity, with strong interdisciplinary collaborative skills
• Strong programming skills in Python and in Rust
• Experience with analysing biological data, especially with the challenges of sparse data and designing and conducting biologically relevant evaluations
• Experience with biological ontologies and pathway resources
• High level of motivation for academic research work
• Good organisational skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English
• Experience fine-tuning large AI models for domain-specific tasks
• Contributions to open-source projects or publicly available research code

Screening of applications will commence on August 28th 2026.

About Idiap

Idiap is a research institute of national importance that engages in fundamental research, education and technology transfer in artificial intelligence. Idiap offers competitive salaries and conditions in a dynamic, multicultural environment.

Idiap is located in Martigny, 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.

At Idiap, we believe that 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. If you believe that you could excel in this role, but you are not sure you meet all the required criteria, we very much welcome your application.

Langues souhaitées

• Anglais - Niveau avancé

Réf: 49895d7f-fe57-4d0d-92d7-126837be0ea3