09 Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of Groningen, Netherlands

The advent of modern machine learning (ML) methodology is accelerating scientific progress by streamlining research across disciplines. In chemistry, it enables the modeling of complex structure-function relationships with unprecedented accuracy. Additionally, deep generative models allow for the generation of structures with desired function, thus enabling the design of novel molecules and materials.

Peptide-based materials provide attractive alternatives to materials derived from petrochemicals. By tuning the peptide sequence and modifications, material properties can be finely tuned. Their behavior at surfaces and interfaces are among the most fundamental, but also most important properties of small peptides. Control over these materials can enable a new generation of biodegradable materials, surfactants and coatings. However, how peptide sequence and modification affect the physicochemical properties and material performance remains unclear, let alone inverse design of these molecules.

The goal of this project is to develop ML models for: 1) predicting properties of oligopeptide materials based on peptide sequence and end-group functionalization; 2) guiding experimental structure optimization workflows to minimize the number of experiments to achieve desired properties; 3) generating new peptide sequences with desired target properties.
This position will be part of the 10 (https://bigchemistry.nl/), which combines laboratory automation with artificial intelligence. By building an autonomous ‘RobotLab’, large numbers of experiments can be carried out, yielding large datasets on properties of molecular systems. With this data, ML models are trained to predict the properties of molecular systems such as solubility, phase separation, critical micelle concentration, smell, toxicity, and reaction rates.

Applications are invited for a fully-funded Postdoctoral researcher position for two years in the research group of Dr. Danny Incarnato, at the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute (GBB) of the University of Groningen (the Netherlands), to investigate RNA structural ensemble dynamics in living cells.

This subproject, conducted by a postdoctoral researcher, will analyze the history of democratic thought since the 18th century with a focus on the question of work. Historically (e.g., still in Kant), it was often assumed that only economically independent individuals could be citizens. In the 19th and 20th century the fights for better working conditions and for democratic inclusion often went hand in hand. The fact that workers contributed to society was often brought forward as an argument for democratic inclusion, not least in the democratic gains for women after the world wars. And yet, to this point, no systematic history of ideas about the relation of work and democracy exists. Thus, the research question here is: How have the history, and the history of ideas, of the organization of work and of democratic participation been intertwined? This subproject will focus on the 18th to 20th century (as the centuries in which modern work societies and modern democracies developed in the North Atlantic realm), drawing, in parallel, on four strands: the history of working conditions, the history of ideas about work, the history of democratic practices, and the history of ideas about democratic practices. Such parallel readings can be expected to deliver insights on a number of levels: concerning not only the relation between theoretical ideas and lived realities, but also between ideas about work and democracy, and practices concerning work and democracy. At the same time, the project can help to de-familiarize current ways of conceptualizing work, democracy, and the relation between them. Particular attention will be paid to phenomena (both practices and ideas) at the margins of labor markets that would speak to the contemporary phenomena explored in the first three subprojects [precarious work, digital work, migrant work].

Heb jij interesse in onderzoek naar de rol van spirituele zorg bij psychedelische behandelingen voor mensen met palliatieve zorg? Wil jij bijdragen aan het begrijpen van hoe spirituele zorg wordt waargenomen, uitgevoerd en ervaren onder patiënten, therapeuten, mantelzorgers en onderzoekers? Werk je graag samen in een interdisciplinair team en ben je enthousiast over het combineren van kwalitatieve en kwantitatieve data? Dan is de postdoc-functie in geestelijke verzorging en psychedelische behandelingen bij de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RUG) iets voor jou!

Als postdoc doe je onderzoek binnen het EU-gefinancierde PsyPal-project (2024-2027), waarin psilocybine wordt bestudeerd voor de behandeling van psychologische stress bij mensen met progressieve ongeneeslijke ziekten die palliatieve zorg nodig hebben. Het onderzoek, gecoördineerd door het Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen (UMCG) in samenwerking met HumanKindLabs, richt zich op de vraag of psilocybine therapie psychologische en existentiële stress kan verlichten bij patiënten met een van vier progressieve ziekten: COPD, MS, ALS (MND) en atypische ziekte van Parkinson. In deze postdoc-positie richt je je op de spirituele zorgcomponent, een belangrijk onderdeel van het project, waarbij de RUG het voortouw neemt als een van de negentien partners in het consortium. Daarbij hanteer je een combinatie van een geesteswetenschappelijke en sociaal wetenschappelijke insteek.

The goal of this project is to develop an LLM agent that uses natural language descriptions as input to: 1) generate code providing instructions for molecular simulations; 2) execute the simulations; 3) perform post-processing of the corresponding results. This postdoc position will be the core of a small development team that includes direct support from two PIs and collaboration with an AI expert employed by the university. The postdoc is expected to develop strategies for training data generation and augmentation, and to develop an agent that utilizes an LLM as its core component.

We are seeking an enthusiastic candidate for a post-doc position at the intersection of theoretical cosmology and deep learning. You will be part of the research group of Assistant Prof. Daan Meerburg, who is a member of the van Swinderen Institute (VSI) for particle physics and gravity. Within the VSI, Dr Meerburg is part of the Cosmic Frontier and affiliates of this frontier work on topics ranging between theoretical aspects of gravity, cosmic inflation, the cosmic microwave background, 21cm and direct dark matter detection.

The position is funded by the NWO-ENW project: Exploring the non-Gaussian 21cm Universe with Artificial Intelligence. This project is jointly led by Dr Meerburg (PI, Groningen) and Dr Christoph Weninger (co-PI, Amsterdam). The post-doc will initially be hired for 2 years with the possible extension of one more year pending review (max 3 years). This position’s main focus will be the interplay between theoretical 21cm cosmology and machine learning. While the postdoc will be stationed at the RUG, it is expected that there will be frequent collaboration meetings between Amsterdam and Groningen, both online and on-site. Recently a PhD student has been recruited using the same funds at the University of Amsterdam. It is expected that the post-doc will be involved in the supervision of this student.

De vroege geschiedenis van het Fries is nauw verbonden met die van het Engels en de Scandinavische talen. De afgelopen anderhalve eeuw taalhistorisch onderzoek heeft veel inzichten opgeleverd over de aard en omvang van die relaties. Daaraan ten grondslag ligt steeds begrip van de geschiedenis van het Fries zelf. Sommige vragen zijn echter nog onopgehelderd, of zijn door nieuwe inzichten weer opnieuw open. Die nieuwe inzichten kunnen ontstaan door een andere kijk op taalhistorische problemen, door de beschikbaarheid van nieuwe data (grotere corpora, nieuwe runenvondsten), maar ook door informatie uit de archeologie die een nieuw licht kan werpen op de herkomst van mensen en de relaties die ze onderhielden. Deze post-doc positie is bij uitstek bedoeld om te trachten enkele van die openstaande vragen uit de Friese taalgeschiedenis op te lossen.

The position of post-doctoral historian is now available on the CONTACT project at the University of Groningen (UG). The role will be based at the interdisciplinary Arctic Centre, but the post-holder will also hold an affiliation at the Centre for Isotope Research (CIO) in the UG’s Faculty of Science and Engineering. Research at the Arctic Centre is aimed at contributing to a better comprehension of the Polar Regions in the past and present, of changes in those regions, and of the consequences of these changes for humanity and nature.