Staff Scientist (Ai Lab)

Date Posted: 05/24/2024
Req ID: 37416
Faculty/Division: Faculty of Arts & Science
Department: Acceleration Consortium
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)
Description: The Acceleration Consortium (AC) at the University of Toronto (U of T) is leading a transformative shift in scientific discovery that will accelerate technology development and commercialization. The AC is a global community of academia, industry, and government that leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, materials sciences, and high-throughput chemistry to create self-driving laboratories (SDLs), also called materials acceleration platforms (MAPs). These autonomous labs rapidly design materials and molecules needed for a sustainable, healthy, and resilient future, with applications ranging from renewable energy and consumer electronics to drugs. AC Staff Scientists will advance the field of AI-driven autonomous discovery and develop the materials and molecules required to address society's largest challenges, such as climate change, water pollution, and future pandemics.
This posted position is for a Staff Scientist within the AI and Automation Lab. Expertise in one or more of the following areas is desired: Reinforcement and imitation learningSafe exploration and learningRepresentation learningLearning to search, learning planning heuristicsContinual learning, transfer learning (sim-to-real, real-to-sim), meta-learningDomain adaptationUncertainty quantification, reasoning under uncertainty, POMDPsNeurosymbolic reasoningSimulation-based inferenceThe Staff Scientists involved in the AC are highly skilled and experienced researchers who will work independently to develop the AI and automation technologies required to build robust and scalable self-driving labs, manage these SDLs, and design and implement research programs (based on the direction of the AC's scientific leadership team) that leverage the SDL platforms to discover materials and molecules. Moreover, the Staff Scientists will work collectively, sharing knowledge among each other, faculty, and trainees. This role will report to the Academic Director and Executive Director of the Acceleration Consortium.
The components and duties of the work can include: SDL and Automation Development Working with the AC community, including faculty and partners, to determine the required capabilities of the SDLs to be built. Developing SDL plans to meet user requirements and designing novel instruments for automated material synthesis and characterization. Developing customized hardware and Python software packages to build SDLs. Selecting, procurement, and installation of the equipment required for SDLs.
Research Direction Working independently to develop research programs that leverage the AC's SDLs and supports the research objectives of AC faculty and industry partners. Using SDLs to synthesize and characterize large quantities of candidate molecules, calibrating theoretical models with experimental data, predicting promising candidates with computational tools and machine learning algorithms, and elucidating structure-property relationships of emerging molecules, polymers, solid-state materials, formulations, etc.
Tasks include: Managing the research and development projects of AC's industry partners when implemented in AC labs.Developing plans supporting research collaborations and estimating financial resources required for programs and/or projects.Working with Product Managers to ensure research outcomes meet partner requirements.Promoting AC's research capacity, including delivering presentations at conferences.Collaboration in preparing and submitting research proposals to granting agencies and progress reporting.Preparing manuscripts for submission to peer review publications/journals and stewarding them through the process.MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Education: Ph.D. in chemistry, materials science, life sciences, physics, engineering, robotics, computer science, or related discipline
Experience: Five (5) to 10 years of experience (inclusive of PhD and/or post-graduate work) in accelerated research and development in the area of organic synthesis, organometallic catalysis, and computationalExperience working closely with a Principal Investigator or as a Principal Investigator or as Project Director with responsibilities of managing, developing and executing a major research project in the area of AI and automation, including hardware integration for automation, high throughput experimentation for dataset generation, AI utilization in experimental planning, and workflow establishment for seamless integration of experiments and simulations.Strong experience and expert knowledge of AI and automationExperience with overseeing the activities of a lab.Experience working with industry partners and on industry led research and development projects.Strong experience presenting research at academic conferences.Demonstrated record of academic and/or research excellenceMust have a strong scholarly publication record.Skills: Proficient in general organic synthesis skills, air and/or moisture sensitive techniques, and common analytical instrumentation.Skills in electronic/hardware-oriented programming and machine learningStrong and effective communicator in oral and written EnglishCollegial in working with team members and collaborators.Ability to work independently.All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. Closing Date: 12/31/2024, 11:59PM ET
Employee Group: Research Associate
Appointment Type: Grant - Continuing
Schedule: Full-Time
Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone: $60,304.00 - $150,000 (salary will be assessed based on skills and experience)
Diversity StatementThe University of Toronto embraces Diversity and is building a culture of belonging that increases our capacity to effectively address and serve the interests of our global community. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, Black and racialized persons, women, persons with disabilities, and people of diverse sexual and gender identities. We value applicants who have demonstrated a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and recognize that diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise are essential to strengthening our academic mission.
Accessibility StatementThe University strives to be an equitable and inclusive community, and proactively seeks to increase diversity among its community members. Our values regarding equity and diversity are linked with our unwavering commitment to excellence in the pursuit of our academic mission. The University is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As such, we strive to make our recruitment, assessment and selection processes as accessible as possible and provide accommodations as required for applicants with disabilities.

#J-18808-Ljbffr