Postdoc: AI-Driven Fungal Bioprocess & Plastics

Aimlroles; Sydney; On-site; AUD 118,000 - 126,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

17% superannuation

Fixed-term until 30 June 2028

Job summary

The University of Sydney’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to advance fungal process systems engineering for plastics biodegradation and circular bioprocesses. The role blends mechanistic modelling, AI and laboratory validation.

You will coordinate the research group under Professor Abbas, support planning and lab operations, mentor students, and contribute to publications, code, datasets and funding applications within

Qualifications

• PhD in chemical engineering, biotechnology, computational science or related discipline.
• Experience with mechanistic modelling, numerical simulation or optimisation of biological or process systems.
• Experience applying AI or ML to scientific problems, with proficiency in Python or equivalent tools.
• Experience in experimental design and validating computational predictions against laboratory data.
• Desirable: fungal biotechnology, plastics biodegradation, automation or autonomous experimentation.
• Experience coordinating research activities or lab workflows.

Responsibilities

• Develop and validate mechanistic and hybrid AI models of fungal growth, polymer degradation and bioreactor performance.
• Apply machine learning and optimisation to guide experiments and improve fungal process performance.
• Design and undertake laboratory experiments with collaborators to validate predictions.
• Develop automated workflows linking experimental design, execution, data analysis and model updating.
• Contribute to publications, reproducible code and datasets, and project reporting.
• Coordinate day-to-day research group activities, milestone tracking and actions.
• Coordinate laboratory access, equipment readiness and scheduling with technical staff.
• Mentor research students and junior researchers in experimental and computational work.
• Assist the PI with project reporting, funding applications and partner engagement.
• Undertake teaching and education activities per workload policy.

Skills

Mechanistic modelling

Numerical simulation

Optimization

AI / Machine learning

Python

Experimental design

Research coordination

Teaching experience

Education

PhD in chemical engineering, biotechnology, computational science or related

Job description

The University of Sydney’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to advance fungal process systems engineering for plastics biodegradation and circular bioprocesses. The role blends mechanistic modelling, AI and laboratory validation.

You will coordinate the research group under Professor Abbas, support planning and lab operations, mentor students, and contribute to publications, code, datasets and funding applications within