PostDoc Position at EPFL on Multimodal Foundation Models in Collaboration with Novartis

EPFL; Lausanne; On-site; CHF 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

EPFL's AIMM Lab invites applications for a postdoctoral researcher to lead multimodal model development in close collaboration with Novartis. The role emphasizes large-scale AI training, integration of diverse biological data modalities, and translational impact in early drug discovery.

The ideal candidate has a PhD in ML/CS/Computational biology, a strong publication record, and excellent communication skills for interdisciplinary work within EPFL and industry partners.

Qualifications

• PhD in machine learning, computer science, computational biology, or closely related field (completed or near completion).
• Experience in large-scale AI development, including pretraining, fine-tuning, or scaling on substantial compute.
• Solid biological background with familiarity with multiple biological data modalities.
• Strong publication record at top-tier ML conferences and/or life science journals.
• Excellent communication skills and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary research.

Responsibilities

• Develop multimodal model architectures and pretraining objectives.
• Align and fuse information across modalities to capture biological systems at multiple scales.
• Integrate multimodal foundation models into reasoning and decision-support interfaces.
• Collaborate with Novartis teams and publish results.

Skills

Excellent communication

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Education

PhD in ML/CS/Computational biology

Job description

General The Artificial Intelligence in Molecular Medicine (AIMM) Lab, led by Prof. Charlotte Bunne at EPFL, sits at the interface of computer science and the life sciences, affiliated with both the School of Computer and Communication Sciences and the School of Life Sciences, as well as the EPFL AI Center. As part of an industry collaboration with Novartis, the lab is opening a postdoctoral position on multimodal model development.

General The Artificial Intelligence in Molecular Medicine (AIMM) Lab, led by Prof. Charlotte Bunne at EPFL, sits at the interface of computer science and the life sciences, affiliated with both the School of Computer and Communication Sciences and the School of Life Sciences, as well as the EPFL AI Center. As part of an industry collaboration with Novartis, the lab is opening a postdoctoral position on multimodal model development. We are recruiting a postdoctoral researcher with strong expertise in large-scale AI development and a background in biology. Working in close collaboration with Novartis, the position focuses on the development of multimodal biological foundation models: from core architecture design and pretraining at scale to integration into agentic interfaces.

Research directions include

• Multimodal model development: novel pretraining objectives, tokenization, and scalable architectures that integrate diverse biological data modalities.
• Multimodal representation learning: aligning and fusing information across modalities to capture biological systems at multiple scales.
• Agentic interfaces: integrating multimodal foundation models into reasoning and decision-support systems.
• Translational applications: bridging multimodal foundation model research towards impact in early drug discovery through public and Novartis-internal datasets.

We are looking for candidates with

• A PhD in machine learning, computer science, computational biology, or a closely related field (completed or near completion).
• Demonstrated experience in large-scale AI development, including pretraining, fine-tuning, or scaling on substantial compute.
• A solid biological background; familiarity with multiple biological data modalities is expected.
• A strong publication record at top-tier ML conferences and/or life science journals.
• Excellent communication skills and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary research.

We offer

• Dedicated compute allocation on CSCS and the Swiss AI Initiative.
• Direct collaboration with the AI for Research team and core disease area teams at Novartis Biomedical Research.
• Mentorship toward an independent academic or industry research career.
• An international, collaborative environment at one of Europe's leading technical universities.

Information

Activity rate

100%.

Contract

one year, with the plan of a one year renewal.

Location

Lausanne, Switzerland

Start date

ideally Fall 2026, with later start dates possible by arrangement.