Overview

Prof. Marinka Zitnik invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship position at Harvard University.

The selected candidates will lead research in generative AI, multimodal AI, and AI agents, with a focus on reasoning models, world models, large-scale knowledge graphs, and large language models. Fellows will also have the opportunity to apply these methods to address challenges in scientific discovery and precision medicine.

Interested candidates are encouraged to explore our recent publications and research directions before submitting their applications.

Qualifications

We seek highly-motivated applicants with background in one or more of the following areas: AI agents, reasoning models, world models and knowledge graphs, large language models, multimodal learning, and generative AI. Successful applicants will be strong technically as well as have an inclination towards real-world problems.

Ideal candidates will have demonstrably strong research skills, evidenced by multiple publications in top-tier machine learning or artificial intelligence conferences and/or leading scientific journals.

Candidates must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in machine learning, computer science or a closely related field.

Excellent programming skills and practical experience with leading machine learning frameworks and modern AI environments, including multi-GPU model training and large-scale inference on dozens to hundreds GPUs, are required. Experience in applications of AI to biology and medicine is a strong plus.

Application process

The position is available immediately and can be renewed annually. Interested applicants should submit the following documents via email to Prof. Zitnik and use the subject line “Postdoctoral Research Fellows in Generative, Multimodal, and Agentic AI”:

• Curriculum Vitae (include links to your academic webpage and GitHub repositories for methods you developed)
• Three representative publications (preprints are acceptable)
• Statement of research (two pages) describing prior research experience and future research plan
• Contacts for three letters of recommendation (the letters will be solicited after the initial review)

We are currently reviewing applications. Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their applications early.

Advisor

Marinka Zitnik is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School, Associate Faculty at Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University, and Associate Member at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Zitnik investigates foundations of AI that contribute to the scientific understanding of medicine and therapeutic design, eventually enabling AI to learn and innovate on its own. Her research won best paper and research awards, including the Overton Prize, Kavli Fellowship of the National Academy of Sciences, Kaneb Fellowship award at Harvard Medical School, NSF CAREER Award, awards from the International Society for Computational Biology, International Conference in Machine Learning, Bayer Early Excellence in Science, Amazon Faculty Research, Google Faculty Research, Roche Alliance with Distinguished Scientists, and two Sanofi iDEA-iTECH Awards.