Call for BIDMaP Postdoctoral Fellows - Are you interested in working at the interface of AI and the physical sciences to address planetary challenges?
Please contact bidmap_admin@berkeley.edu if you have any questions.
The BIDMaP Postdoctoral Fellows Program is accepting fellowship applications from recent PhDs in basic science or data science fields interested in working at the interface of machine learning and the natural sciences to address planetary challenges.
The Bakar Institute of Digital Materials for the Planet (BIDMaP) is an institute in UC Berkeley’s new College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS), bringing together AI, machine learning and data science with the natural sciences to address the planet’s most urgent challenges. BIDMaP is focused on developing new techniques in AI that will enhance and accelerate discovery in experimental natural sciences and development of novel materials to address planetary challenges. To this end, BIDMaP promotes collaboration between world-renowned AI/ML experts, chemists, physicists and other physical scientists. By combining cutting-edge chemistry with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics, BIDMaP is reimagining how materials can be designed and optimized for clean energy, clean air, clean water, advanced batteries, and sustainable chemical production.
Eligibility
Candidates should have one of the following academic training and research profiles:
- Computing/statistics/AI/ML training, and eagerness to work with natural scientists to enable new discoveries; or
- Basic science training in chemistry, physics, biological sciences, or materials science, and eagerness to work with machine learning researchers to accelerate discovery with new computational techniques.
Fellows will be mentored by UC Berkeley faculty both in computing/statistics/AI/ML and in basic natural sciences. See the current mentor list to the right.
The BIDMaP Postdoctoral Fellows Fellowship is designed to attract exceptional early-career scientists, with a doctoral degree awarded roughly between June, 2022 and July, 2026.
Timeline
The first round of applications are due on November 15, 2025. Second round of applications are due on January 15, 2026
Appointment Terms
BIDMaP Fellows will be appointed for two years, renewable for a third year upon mutual agreement.
Application
Statement of research (typically ~2–5 pages), outlining prior research and future goals. Optional: Address particular interest in BIDMaP’s scientific and societal goals.
Curriculum vitae
Three letters of recommendation are required for an application to be considered complete. Candidates are responsible for asking references to submit letters directly, as detailed below.
References:
Please provide a letter of recommendation, addressing the candidate's qualifications and potential to advance BIDMaP’s scientific objectives. Letters of recommendation should be submitted on institutional letterhead and include the following information: candidate's title and institution, and recommender’s title and institution. Letters should be submitted directly from each recommender in the application portal and applications will not be reviewed until all letters of recommendation are received.
About the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see: http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct.
Further Information
Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS)
Bakar Institute of Digital Materials for the Planet (BIDMaP)
Berkeley Visiting Scholar and Postdoc Affairs (VSPA)
Email bidmap_admin@berkeley.edu for any questions you may have.
