Staff Scientist (AI for Self-Driving Labs)

University of Toronto; Toronto; On-site; CAD 63,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Toronto's Acceleration Consortium, based at St. George campus in downtown Toronto, is seeking Staff Scientists to advance SDL technologies, AI, and automation in materials discovery.

You will manage SDL projects, collaborate with leading experts, develop AI-driven experiments, and prepare research proposals, manuscripts, and reports for funding agencies. The role offers a broad salary range ($62,617 to $150,000 CAD annually), full-time schedule, and a commitment to equity and

Responsibilities

• Develop SDL plans to meet user requirements and design novel instruments for automated material synthesis and characterization.
• Develop customized hardware and Python software packages to build SDLs.
• Selecting, procurement, and installation of the equipment required for SDLs.
• Working independently to develop research programs that leverage the AC’s SDLs and support AC faculty and industry partners.
• Using SDLs to synthesize and characterize large quantities of candidate molecules, calibrating theoretical models with experimental data, predicting promising candidates with computational tools and machine learning algorithms.
• Preparing manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals and stewarding them through the process.

Job description

Date Posted: 10/06/2026
Req ID: 50457
Faculty/Division: Faculty of Arts & Science
Department: Acceleration Consortium
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)

Description:

The Acceleration Consortium (AC), based at the University of Toronto (U of T), is a global community of academia, industry, and government working to accelerate the discovery and development of advanced materials and molecules. The AC develops self-driving laboratories (SDLs), autonomous research platforms that integrate artificial intelligence, robotics, automation, and advanced computing to dramatically reduce the time and cost of scientific discovery. AC Staff Scientists are highly skilled, experienced, and independent researchers that develop the AI and automation technologies required to build robust and scalable self-driving labs, manage these SDLs, and design and implement collaborative research programs that leverage the SDLs to accelerate discovery. Staff Scientists will advance SDL technologies and apply them to challenges in areas such as clean energy, sustainability, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing. The Acceleration Consortium (AC) promotes inclusive research environment and supports the EDI priorities of the unit. The Acceleration Consortium received a $200M Canadian First Research Excellence Grant for seven years to develop self-driving labs for chemistry and materials, the largest ever grant to a Canadian University. This grant will provide the Acceleration Consortium with seven years of funding to execute its vision.

The AC operates and continuously develops seven SDLs as core facilities:

• SDL0 - A central AI and automation lab to advance the robotics and AI tools used in SDLs
• SDL1 - Inorganic solid-state materials for advanced materials and energy
• SDL2 - Organic small molecules for sustainability and health
• SDL3 - Medicinal chemistry for improving small molecule drug candidates
• SDL4 - Polymers for materials science and biological applications
• SDL5 - Formulations for pharmaceuticals, consumer products, and coatings
• SDL6 - Human organ mimicry with organoids / organ-on-a-chip
• SDL7 - Synthetic scale-up of materials and molecules (University of British Colombia partner lab)

This posted position is for a role within SDL0: AI & Automation.

Experience in one or more of the following is desired:

• Close collaboration with experimental scientists, achieving scientific objectives with AI-driven systems.
• Agentic and sequential decision‑making for autonomous experimentation, including active learning and optimal experimental design.
• Generative and probabilistic modeling, including uncertainty estimation, risk‑aware prediction, and data‑efficient learning.
• Applied machine learning on real‑world experimental or industrial data, including multivariate time-series and noisy, sparse, or incomplete datasets.
• Orchestration and control of self-driving laboratories, including experimental workflow automation, instrument integration, and real‑time data processing.

Staff Scientists will work with a diverse team of leading experts at U of T, including Faculty and Staff Scientists in and associated with SDL0 such as: Alán Aspuru‑Guzik, Anatole von Lilienfeld, Kourosh Darvish, Florian Shkurti, Chris Sutton, Willi Gottstein, and more. Moreover, the Staff Scientists will work collectively, sharing knowledge among each other (spanning all AC labs), local and global AC faculty, and the many trainees that work in these labs. This role will report to the Academic Director and Executive Director of the Acceleration Consortium.

The components and duties of the work can include:

SDL and Automation Development

• Working with the AC community, including faculty and partners, to determine the required capabilities of the SDLs to be built.
• Developing SDL plans to meet user requirements and designing novel instruments for automated material synthesis and characterization.
• Developing customized hardware and Python software packages to build SDLs.
• Selecting, procurement, and installation of the equipment required for SDLs.

Research Direction

• Working independently to develop research programs that leverage the AC’s SDLs and supports the research objectives of AC faculty and industry partners.
• Using SDLs to synthesize and characterize large quantities of candidate molecules, calibrating theoretical models with experimental data, predicting promising candidates with computational tools and machine learning algorithms, and elucidating structure‑property relationships of emerging molecules, polymers, solid‑state materials, formulations, etc.

Tasks include:

• Managing the research and development projects of AC’s industry partners when implemented in AC labs.
• Developing plans supporting research collaborations and estimating financial resources required for programs and/or projects.
• Working with Product Managers to ensure research outcomes meet partner requirements.
• Promoting AC’s research capacity, including delivering presentations at conferences.
• Collaboration in preparing and submitting research proposals to granting agencies and progress reporting.
• Preparing manuscripts for submission to peer review publications/journals and stewarding them through the process.

Other

• Supporting consulting services related to the application of SDLs for materials discovery for the AC’s partners.
• Support research‑focused events such as Annual Symposium.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Closing Date: 11/21/2026, 11:59PM ET
Employee Group: Research Associate
Appointment Type: Grant - Continuing
Schedule: Full-Time
Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone: $62,617.00 - $150,000 (salary will be assessed based on skills and experience)
Job Category: Research Administration & Teaching

Diversity Statement

We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, Black and racialized persons, women, persons with disabilities, and people of diverse sexual and gender identities. We value applicants who have demonstrated a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and recognize that diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise are essential to strengthening our academic mission.

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete a brief Diversity Survey. This survey is voluntary. Any information directly related to you is confidential and cannot be accessed by search committees or human resources staff. Results will be aggregated for institutional planning purposes. For more information, please see http://uoft.me/UP.

Accessibility Statement

The University strives to be an equitable and inclusive community, and proactively seeks to increase diversity among its community members. Our values regarding equity and diversity are linked with our unwavering commitment to excellence in the pursuit of our academic mission.

The University is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As such, we strive to make our recruitment, assessment and selection processes as accessible as possible and provide accommodations as required for applicants with disabilities.

If you require any accommodations at any point during the application and hiring process, please contact [e-mail].

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