Post Doctoral Scholar - Michelmore Lab

University of California - Davis; Davis (CA); On-site; USD 71,000 - 86,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of California, Davis, Genome Center, invites applications for a Postdoctoral Scholar in AI and Foundation Models for Plant Genomics. The role focuses on fine-tuning aDNA foundation models for lettuce, leveraging multimodal data to predict effects of variation and interactions.

Collaborative, open-source oriented, with opportunities to publish advances in AI and biology. Applicants will join cross-disciplinary teams spanning Plant Sciences and Computer Science, contributing to

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computational Biology, or a related field.
• Experience programming in Python.
• Demonstrated experience developing, training, or adapting deep learning models.
• Willingness to collaborate in multi-disciplinary teams.
• Evidence of research productivity through publications in ML, computational biology, genomics, or related areas.

Responsibilities

• Fine-tune a pretrained foundation model using lettuce genome data with applications in crop improvement.
• Implement strategies to optimize model performance and benchmark models.
• Collaborate with team members with expertise in lettuce genomic resources, remote sensing, plant physiology, and development to curate training data and generate hypotheses for model training.
• Supervise undergraduate researchers with training in machine learning.
• Publish findings in machine learning and computational biology journals.

Skills

Python

Deep learning

Multimodal learning

LLMs

Collaboration

Education

Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computational Biology, or a related field

Job description

Position overview

Salary range: The posted UC salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at appointment.
The salary range for this position is $71,491-$85,736

Application Window

Open date: August 19, 2026

Next review date: Friday, Sep 18, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Friday, Sep 18, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date.

Position description

Postdoctoral Scholar in AI and Foundation Models for Plant Genomics

The UC Davis Genome Center is recruiting a Postdoctoral Scholar to work on a collaboration between the laboratories of Richard Michelmore (Plant Sciences), Xin Liu (Computer Science), and Christine Diepenbrock (Plant Sciences). This project will develop one of the first crop-specific multimodal foundation models integrating more than 100 telomere-to-telomere lettuce genomes, population-scale genomic variation, transcriptomics, and extensive phenotypic datasets to predict the consequences of allelic variation, genome editing, and genotype-by-environment interactions.

The focus of this work will be on the fine-tuning, evaluation, and multi-faceted deployment of a foundation model for lettuce. An existing DNA foundation model architecture will be leveraged while also incorporating advances due to the rapid evolution of the DNA and other -omic foundation model space. The extensive existing data sets will be leveraged for training, evaluation, validation, and use cases. The project emphasizes reproducible research and open-source software development. The successful candidate will have opportunities to publish both methodological advances in AI and biological discoveries enabled by the models.

Responsibilities:

• Fine-tune a pretrained foundation model using lettuce genome data with applications in crop improvement.


• Implement appropriate strategies to optimize model performance and benchmark and compare models.


• Collaborate closely with other project team members who have expertise in lettuce genomic resources, remote sensing, plant physiology, and development to 1) curate training data, including multi-omic and phenotypic data; and 2) generate hypotheses for model training.


• Supervise undergraduate researchers with training in machine learning.


• Publish findings in machine learning and computational biology journals.

Qualifications

Basic qualifications

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computational Biology, or a related field


• Experience programming in Python


• Demonstrated experience developing, training, or adapting deep learning models


• An interest and willingness to learn about genome biology, gene function, and regulatory circuits


• Willingness to collaborate in multi-disciplinary teams


• Evidence of research productivity through publications in machine learning, computational biology, genomics, or related areas

Preferred qualifications

• Experience applying machine learning to biological or scientific datasets


• Experience in training or fine-tuning LLMs


• Experience with multimodal learning involving sequence, image, and tabular data


• Experience with model interpretability, representation learning, or variant effect prediction


• Experience or interest in supervising undergraduate researchers

Application Requirements

Document requirements:

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.


• Cover Letter (Optional)


• Statement of Research


• Authorization to Release Information Form - This form is required for all applicants applying to academic recruitments. Please see the Employment Disclosure Requirements webpage for more information. Download, complete, sign, and upload the form.


• Statement of Teaching (Optional)

Reference requirements:

• 3-5 required (contact information only)

About UC Davis

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct.

• \"Misconduct\" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment or discrimination, as defined by the employer.


• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy


• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, Students and Third Parties


• APM - 035: Affine Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment

To implement this process, UC Davis requires all applicants for any open search to complete, sign, and upload the form entitled, \"Authorization to Release Information\" into UC RECRUIT as part of their application. If an applicant does not include the signed authorization with the application materials, the application will be considered incomplete, and as with any incomplete application, will not receive further consideration.

UC Davis is a smoke and tobacco-free campus.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

Under Federal law, the University of California may employ only individuals who are legally able to work in the United States as established by providing documents as specified in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Certain UC Davis positions funded by federal contracts or sub-contracts require the selected candidate to pass an E-Verify check.

The University of California, Davis (UC Davis) is committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all employees and students. Our excellence in research, teaching, and service are embodied by members of our academic community who share our commitment to these values. A variety of resources and programs are available to academics, staff, and students that reflect the core values reflected in our strategic plan: \"To Boldly Go,\" our Principles of Community, the Office of Academic Affairs' Mission Statement, and the UC Board of Regents Policy 4400.

UC Davis is also a national leader in inclusive practice. There are numerous links available on the About Us webpage where you can learn more about our administration, campus rankings, locations, campus safety, sustainability, visiting UC Davis and UC Davis Health.

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As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.

Job location

Davis, CA