Autonomous Spectromicroscopy AI Scientist - Postdoc

Berkeley Lab; Berkeley (CA); On-site; USD 99,000 - 111,000; Full time

Job summary

Berkeley Lab is seeking a Scientific Software Postdoc for Autonomous Spectromicroscopy to collaborate with interdisciplinary scientists and develop automation capabilities for spectromicroscopy beamlines at ALS. You will implement ML-based sample screening and an agentic AI-driven instrument control system, validating real-time analysis and autonomous experimentation.

The role involves communicating results through publications and presentations, contributing to open source software, and

Qualifications

• PhD degree in the Physical Sciences, Material Science, Applied Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline.
• Experience and a strong interest in scientific software development or research software engineering.
• Knowledge of machine learning principles and practices.
• Familiarity with agentic AI systems and concepts.
• Ability to work collaboratively with a diverse team of scientists and engineers.
• Demonstrated record of scientific excellence through publications, talks, or software deliverables.
• Commitment to collaborative software development practices: version control and code review, unit testing, and continuous integration.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to write publications and present research findings.

Responsibilities

• Investigate and validate ML or computational methods for real-time analysis of X-ray spectromicroscopy data at an ALS beamline.
• Create/extend an agentic component using modern AI techniques to formulate instrument commands.
• Integrate agentic component with real-time analysis and beamline control, and evaluate performance.
• Assist in experimental planning, commissioning, troubleshooting, and data-quality assessment.
• Apply human-in-the-loop, validation, and fail-safe approaches for AI-enabled workflows.
• Collaborate with scientists, engineers, and external collaborators.
• Contribute to open source scientific software and release outputs where appropriate.
• Present findings at scientific meetings and in peer‑reviewed journals.

Skills

Machine learning

Agentic AI

Scientific software development

Collaborative work

Strong communication

Education

PhD in Physical Sciences / related field

Tools

Python

Git

CI/CD

Job description

Berkeley Lab is seeking a Scientific Software Postdoc for Autonomous Spectromicroscopy to collaborate with interdisciplinary scientists and develop automation capabilities for spectromicroscopy beamlines at ALS. You will implement ML-based sample screening and an agentic AI-driven instrument control system, validating real-time analysis and autonomous experimentation.

The role involves communicating results through publications and presentations, contributing to open source software, and