Project background
Messenger RNA (mRNA)-based therapeutics, including vaccines, represent a transformative class of drugs for infectious diseases and cancer immunotherapy. Their programmable nature allows rapid adaptation to evolving pathogens and personalized medicine, but effective design of mRNA molecules remains a key bottleneck. Current development relies on trial-and-error methods, leading to long timelines, high costs, and suboptimal outcomes.

This project aims to develop an agent-based generative AI system to design both linear and circular mRNA molecules. By unifying the design process into a data-driven, adaptive pipeline, the system will optimize vaccine stability, minimize unwanted immune responses, and accelerate early-stage research and development from months to hours. The outcome will be a robust, scalable platform for creating effective mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases, cancer, and beyond.

Job description
We are looking for a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to:
- Develop generative AI models for mRNA optimization
- Develop foundation models for mRNA assessment
- Run large-scale pretraining on high-performance computing infrastructure
- Perform model finetuning and hyperparameter optimization
- Evaluate models on experimental data

Profile
We welcome applications from candidates with:
- A PhD in computer science, computational biology, applied mathematics, physics, or a related field
- Proven experience in deep learning research and development
- Publication record at top-tier AI conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, CVPR, ICCV, ACL, etc)
- Strong experience in Python programming and solid software engineering skills
- Experience with biomolecules and/or high-performance computing is a plus
- Interest in biology, biomolecules, or genomics (prior expertise not required)
- A structured, independent, proactive, and collaborative working style

We offer
- A fully funded position with an internationally competitive salary
- Professional development opportunities, including support for grant applications and participation in conferences and workshops
- Access to state-of-the-art research infrastructure, including NSCC’s high-performance computing clusters
- A dynamic, interdisciplinary, and collaborative research environment
- The position is initially offered for one year, with the possibility of renewal

How to apply
We look forward to receiving your application with the following documents:
- Letter of Motivation
- CV
- Diplomas & Transcripts

We accept applications submitted via email directed to Prof. Šikić at mile_sikic@a-star.edu.sg.