Staff Research Scientist (Term 2 year, Inorganic Lab)

Date Posted: 11/20/2023
Req ID: 35046
College/Division: College of Arts & Science
Division: Acceleration Consortium
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)

Description:

The Acceleration Consortium (AC) on the College of Toronto (U of T) is main a transformative shift in scientific discovery that may speed up know-how improvement and commercialization. The AC is a worldwide group of academia, business, and authorities that leverages the facility of synthetic intelligence (AI), robotics, supplies sciences, and high-throughput chemistry to create self-driving laboratories (SDLs), additionally known as supplies acceleration platforms (MAPs). These autonomous labs quickly design supplies and molecules wanted for a sustainable, wholesome, and resilient future, with functions starting from renewable vitality and shopper electronics to medication.  AC Workers Scientists will advance the sector of AI-driven autonomous discovery and develop the supplies and molecules required to handle society’s largest challenges, reminiscent of local weather change, water air pollution, and future pandemics.

The Acceleration Consortium acquired a a $200M Canadian First Analysis Excellence Grant  for seven years to develop self-driving labs for chemistry and supplies, the most important ever grant to a Canadian College. This grant will present the Acceleration Consortium with seven years of funding to execute its imaginative and prescient.

The AC is growing seven superior SDLs. These embody:

Inorganic solid-state supplies,

Natural small molecules for superior supplies,

Drug discovery with chemical probes,

Polymers for supplies science and organic functions,

Formulations for prescription drugs, shopper merchandise, and coatings,

Biocompatibility (organ-on-a-chip), and

Artificial scale-up of supplies and molecules.

This posted place is for a Workers Analysis Scientist inside SDL1: Inorganic

Experience in a number of of the next areas is desired:

Inorganic supplies experience

• Excessive-throughput inorganic supplies synthesis and processing
• Structural, electrochemical, and/or (opto) electrical characterization of inorganic supplies
• Bodily, theoretical and/or computational inorganic supplies chemistry and physics
• Utilized inorganic supplies experience in a number of of: vitality storage and conversion, electrochemical techniques, catalysis, optoelectronics, corrosion-resistance, excessive temperature structural stability, and extra.

Synthetic intelligence / automation experience

• Machine studying in inorganic supplies science
• Robotics and automation
• Experimental planning and design/optimization
• Programming and high-performance computing
• Supplies informatics

The Workers Analysis Scientists will work with a various group of main consultants at U of T, together with Professors David Sinton, Jason Hattrick-Simpers, Yu Zou, and extra. 

The Workers Analysis Scientists concerned within the AC are extremely expert and skilled researchers who will work independently to develop the AI and automation applied sciences required to construct strong and scalable self-driving labs, handle these SDLs, and design and implement analysis applications (based mostly on the path of the AC’s scientific management group) that leverage the SDL platforms to find supplies and molecules. Furthermore, the Workers Analysis Scientists will work collectively, sharing information amongst one another, school, and trainees. This position will report back to the Educational Director and Government Director of the Acceleration Consortium. 

The parts and duties of the work can embody:

1. SDL and Automation Growth

Working with the AC group, together with school and companions, to find out the required capabilities of the SDLs to be constructed. Creating the plans for SDLs that may meet consumer necessities and designing novel devices for automated materials synthesis and characterization. Creating personalized {hardware} and Python software program packages to construct SDLs. Deciding on, procurement, and set up of the gear required for SDLs.

2. Analysis Route

Develop analysis applications that leverage the AC’s SDLs and help the analysis targets of AC school and business companions. Utilizing SDLs to synthesize and characterize massive portions of candidate molecules, calibrating theoretical fashions with experimental information, predicting promising candidates with computational instruments and machine studying algorithms, and elucidating structure-property relationships of rising molecules, polymers, solid-state supplies, formulations, and so on.

Duties embody:

• Implementing analysis and improvement tasks of AC’s business companions when carried out in AC labs.
• Creating plans that help analysis collaborations and planning and estimating monetary assets required for applications and/or tasks.
• Working with Product Managers to make sure analysis outcomes meet associate necessities.
• Selling AC’s analysis capability, together with delivering displays at conferences.
• Collaboration within the preparation and submission of analysis proposals to granting businesses and progress reporting.
• Getting ready manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed publications/journals and stewarding them by way of the method.

3. Different

• Supporting consulting companies associated to the appliance of SDLs for supplies discovery for the AC’s companions.
• Assist research-focused occasions such because the Annual Symposium

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Training – Ph.D. in Physics.

Expertise

• 1 to five years of expertise in combining machine studying and high-throughput first ideas calculations to speed up discovery.
• Expertise working with business companions and on business lead analysis and improvement tasks.
• Professional information of AI and automation and expertise with the event of self-driving laboratories.
• Expertise presenting analysis at educational conferences. 
• Skilled in AI for supplies science: python packages, tree-based fashions & graph neural networks, lively studying, mannequin interpretability & dimension discount strategies.
• Skilled consumer of Excessive-Efficiency Computing (HPC) Linux clusters.

Expertise

• Robust and efficient communicator in oral and written English
• Collegial in working with group members and collaborators.
• Potential to work independently. 
• Scientific software program: VASP, LAMMPS, Thermo-Calc (CALPHAD), Phonopy, Origin.
• Programming languages: Python, Fortran, Bash, Matlab, C, LaTeX.

Different  

• Should have a powerful publication report.
• Demonstrated success in writing and making ready manuscripts, displays, experiences, briefs, and scientific abstracts and manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals.

Closing Date: 12/20/2023, 11:59PM ET
Worker Group: Analysis Affiliate
Appointment Sort: Grant – Time period
Schedule:
Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone: R01 — Analysis Associates (Restricted Time period): $51,543 – $96,643 Wage can be assessed and will go above the vary based mostly on expertise and expertise. 
Job Class: Analysis Administration & Instructing