Sustaining Innovation Postdoctoral Research Associate

Astex Pharmaceuticals; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working options

Job summary

Astex Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, UK) offers a joint post‑doctoral position with IE University (Madrid) to develop cutting‑edge deep learning algorithms for cryo‑EM single particle analysis. The role focuses on 3D pose estimation from low SNR cryo‑EM images and involves cross‑border collaboration.

The successful candidate will work with extensive cryo‑EM datasets, employing self‑supervised learning and foundation models, and contribute to publications while exploring new AI methods for

Qualifications

• PhD in mathematics, computer science or related field.
• Strong background in deep learning and computer vision for scientific imaging.
• Experience with cryo-EM or biological imaging is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Develop deep learning algorithms for cryo-EM SPA image analysis.
• Advance 3D pose estimation with self-supervised representations.
• Collaborate with Cambridge and Madrid teams on research challenges.
• Disseminate results through publication and presentations.

Skills

Python

PyTorch

Computer vision

Cryo-EM knowledge

Teamwork

Education

PhD in mathematics, computer science or related

Tools

Git

C/C++

CUDA

Job description

Job Type:3 Year Fixed Term Contract, Full Time

Location:Cambridge, UK, with regular visits to Madrid, Spain

Astex Pharmaceuticals is a world leader in innovative drug discovery and development. The company has successfully applied its proprietary Fragment-Based Drug Discovery platform to generate multiple new drug candidates that are progressing in clinical development. Successful collaborations have led to three launched oncology drugs (Kisqali® partnered with Novartis, Balversa® partnered with Janssen and Truqap™ partnered with AstraZeneca). Astex continues to grow and focuses on Neurological Disorders and Oncology. We are a member of the OpenFold consortium and are contributing structural data to the Federated OpenFold3 Initiative, underlining our commitment to developing machine learning solutions for drug discovery. Our state-of-the-art, in‑house cryo-EM facility includes an extensive computing infrastructure data collection and processing workflows to facilitate the rapid generation and interpretation of cryo-EM structures (1).This resource has established a sizeable cryo-EM data lake that is highly valuable for machine learning-based method development.

IE University is a young institution investing heavily in research excellence in applied sciences with a focus on real-world impact. The group of Prof. Sanchez-Garcia has a sustained track record in deep learning for cryo-EM, including particle alignment, pose estimation and map post-processing, and has released widely used open‑source tools such as DeepEMhancer (2) and MicrographCleaner (3).

The role

Astex Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, UK) and the group of Prof. Ruben Sanchez-Garcia at IE University (Madrid, Spain) have an exciting opportunity for a joint post‑doctoral position developing cutting‑edge deep learning algorithms for cryo‑EM single particle analysis (SPA). We are looking for outstanding candidates with expertise in either cryo-EM image processing or modern computer vision and deep learning.

Cryo‑electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a Nobel Prize‑winning imaging technology that enables the determination of near‑atomic‑resolution structures of biological macromolecules. From a machine learning perspective, cryo-EM presents unique challenges, including learning from extremely low signal‑to‑noise images or recovering accurate 3D orientations from large‑scale experimental datasets.

This position will focus on pushing the boundaries of what is possible in deep learning‑driven 3D pose estimation of low signal‑to‑noise ratio (SNR) images as present in cryo‑EM, by building on our recently published software cryoPARES (4,5) and exploring self‑supervised representation learning and foundation models on our Petabyte‑scale cryo‑EM datasets.

The position is Cambridge‑based, but regular visits to Madrid will be part of this post‑doctoral position.

• PhD in mathematics, computer science or another relevant numerical/computational discipline, or equivalent experience in a relevant research area
• At least, one of the following
• Demonstratable experience in developing computer vision algorithms using frameworks like Pytorch, JAX or Tensorflow and a strong interest of applying the technology on biological images
• Detailed knowledge of SPA image processing theory with demonstratable experience in algorithm development for SPA
• Excellent knowledge of Python and familiarity with Git, preferably also knowledge of C/C++
• Excellent problem‑solving and team working skills

We require the candidate to already hold the right to work in Spain or be an EU national. Successful progression to interview will be subject to completion of a right‑to‑work check.

Why Astex

We offer excellent training and career development opportunities as well as highly competitive salary and benefits package including hybrid working options to promote a flexible and inclusive work environment.

The successful candidate will have access to proprietary Petabyte‑scale cryo‑EM datasets, modern GPU infrastructure, close collaborations between academia and industry, and the opportunity to publish high‑impact research while developing AI methods that directly accelerate structure‑based drug discovery.

At Astex we embrace diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse Company representing all backgrounds, harnessing industry‑leading scientific innovation and behaviours.

Astex is situated 2.5 miles from Cambridge City centre on the Cambridge Science Park. The Park has onsite sports facilities and excellent transport links to London.

More information

For information on Astex Pharmaceuticals please visit: www.astx.com

For information on Otsuka Pharmaceuticals please visit: www.otsuka.co.jp