PhD or Postdoc / Research Software Engineer Position in the AqQua Project: Building a Foundatio[...]

JR Germany; Berlin; Hybrid; EUR 45.000 - 65.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

An innovative research project in Berlin seeks a PhD student or Research Software Engineer to develop large-scale AI models for monitoring aquatic biodiversity. Join a diverse team of experts dedicated to addressing climate change through cutting-edge technology. This role offers opportunities for professional growth in a collaborative environment, with a commitment to equity and inclusion. Enjoy a flexible working arrangement and a competitive salary in accordance with public service agreements. If you're passionate about AI and environmental science, this position is perfect for you.

Leistungen

Mobile working options

Additional company pension schemes

Career development opportunities

Support for new residents

Qualifikationen

• Experience with large-scale HPC and self-supervised learning.
• PhD or MSc in computer science, physics, or related fields.

Aufgaben

• Explore and devise self-supervised learning paradigms for plankton imagery.
• Engineer workflows for foundation model training and fine-tuning.

Kenntnisse

Self-supervised learning paradigms

Large-scale HPC

Computer Science

Physics

Mathematics

Ausbildung

PhD in Computer Science

MSc in Physics

Jobbeschreibung

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PhD or Postdoc / Research Software Engineer Position in the AqQua Project: Building a Foundation Model of Aquatic Life, Berlin

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Client:

Location:

Berlin, Germany

Job Category:

Other

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EU work permit required:

Yes

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Job Views:

2

Posted:

23.04.2025

Expiry Date:

07.06.2025

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Job Description:

Build large-scale AI to map and monitor plankton biodiversity, ecosystem health and carbon flux, facilitating decision‑making in the face of climate change. Hosted at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, founded in 1992, today inspiring and nurturing a diverse talent pool of 1,800 people from over 70 countries. We are 90percent funded by the German federal government and 10percent by the state of Berlin.

Human well-being to a large extent depends on aquatic life: Organic matter formed by plankton sustainably sequesters vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere in the ocean's interior. The efficiency of this so‑called biological carbon pump is likely altered by climate changes that affect planktonic diversity. The climate change-induced reduction of food web efficiency further directly impacts oceanic fish resources that play a major role in human nutrition. The critical role of aquatic life in biogeochemical cycles, for climate regulation, conservation of aquatic biodiversity and human nutrition mandates precise mapping and monitoring, to provide essential knowledge and to serve decision‑making in the face of global change, e.g. with respect to emerging carbon dioxide removal techniques.

To this end, distributed pelagic imaging techniques enable the sustained observation of aquatic life and its debris, comprehensively covering the earth's water bodies down to the bottom of the deep sea. The Aquatic Life Foundation Project (AqQua) will, for the first time, combine billions of images acquired with a variety of devices across the globe for large-scale training of a foundational pelagic imaging model, which will be fine-tuned for species classification, trait extraction, and particulate organic carbon estimation. The model will allow to establish global maps of species biodiversity, ecosystem status, and carbon flux at unprecedented accuracy and granularity, thereby generating a fundamental understanding of marine and freshwater life in times of global change.
Billions of images are available for this project, with high diversity across modalities and geolocations. Several unique aspects of pelagic imaging call for enriching self-supervised learning paradigms as well as interactive data- and model exploration with domain knowledge towards optimal performance in real-world generalization scenarios.

AqQua is a large-scale collaborative research project led by the MDC/Helmholtz Imaging, GEOMAR, Hereon and FZJ, fully committed to Open Science.

We are looking for a PhD student or Postdoc or Research Software Engineer to join our highly vibrant and uniquely interdisciplinary team of AI and domain experts dedicated to the cause. Potential responsibilities for the position:

• Explore, benchmark and devise self-supervised learning paradigms for plankton imagery
• Engineer advanced architectural components and workflows for efficient and effective foundation model training and fine-tuning
• Devise data curation and balancing schemes
• Rigorously assess model scaling and generalization behavior
• Roll out the model to the global user community
• PhD or MSc in computer science, physics, mathematics or a related discipline
• Experience with large-scale HPC
• International working environment with communication in English and German
• Interesting career opportunities and a range of opportunities for further qualification and training
• Compatibility of family and career certified by the workandfamily audit ("berufundfamilie audit")
• Support for "New Berliners" through the MDC Welcome & Family Office

You also benefit from:

• A remuneration in accordance with the collective agreement for the federal public service (TVöD Bund), including additional company pension schemes
• The possibility of mobile working

Salary
Remuneration will be according to the TVöD Bund pay category E 13, depending on qualification.

Desired starting date
May 1, 2025

Limitation
Fixed term
The position is limited to 3 years.

Commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

MDC values diversity and is committed to fostering an inclusive, fair and open environment that allows everyone to grow and flourish. All qualified applicants will receive equitable consideration for employment based on their experience and qualifications, and will not be discriminated against on the basis of national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, or other personal characteristics. We recognize that creating diverse teams that represent a broad range of experiences, perspectives and backgrounds strengthens our work and research. We welcome applications from open-minded people who embrace working together in a diverse environment. Applications from severely disabled people will be given particular consideration.