Postdoc: AI-Driven Fungal Bioprocess Research

Times Higher Education; Sydney; On-site; AUD 118,000 - 126,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Sydney invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to advance fungal process systems engineering for plastics biodegradation and circular bioprocesses. The role blends mechanistic modelling and AI with lab validation, including self-driving laboratory workflows for autonomous discovery and optimization.

The appointee will manage the research group operations, support planning, lab activities and deliver on approved research tasks, while mentoring students and

Qualifications

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

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 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 action follow-ups.
• Coordinate laboratory access, equipment readiness and scheduling with technical staff.
• Support researchers and students through mentoring and coordination of activities.
• Assist with project reporting, publication coordination, funding applications and partner engagement.
• Undertake teaching and education-related activities as per workload policy.

Skills

Mechanistic modelling

Numerical simulation

AI / machine learning

Python

Experimental design

Education

PhD in chemical engineering / biotechnology / computational science

Tools

Python

Job description

The University of Sydney invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to advance fungal process systems engineering for plastics biodegradation and circular bioprocesses. The role blends mechanistic modelling and AI with lab validation, including self-driving laboratory workflows for autonomous discovery and optimization.

The appointee will manage the research group operations, support planning, lab activities and deliver on approved research tasks, while mentoring students and