Postdoctoral Researcher, Biological Design, Hsu Lab

Arc Institute; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 72,000 - 88,000; Full time

Job summary

Arc Institute in Palo Alto is seeking a postdoctoral researcher passionate about biotechnology and its applications. The successful candidate will work in a dynamic environment on cutting-edge projects that merge biology and AI. Candidates should possess a doctorate in life sciences or engineering, with a strong track record of impactful research. Responsibilities include conducting high-impact research, mentoring associates, and collaborating across top institutions. The role offers a minimum base salary of $80,000, reflecting postdoctoral experience.

Qualifications

• Doctorate in a relevant field is required.
• Excellent communication skills are essential.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced setting is necessary.

Responsibilities

• Conduct high-impact research, owning projects within the lab.
• Develop into a future scientific leader and publish first-author papers.
• Mentor research associates and contribute to lab operations.

Skills

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Ability to work in a fast-paced environment

Independent thinker and team player

Creative, high-impact research track record

Education

Doctorate (MD, PhD, or equivalent) in a relevant life sciences or engineering field

Job description

About Arc Institute

Arc Institute is an independent nonprofit research organization at the interface of artificial intelligence and biology, working to accelerate scientific progress and understand the root causes of complex diseases. Founded in 2021 and based in Palo Alto, Arc partners with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco.

Unlike academia, our scientists have long‑term funding and industry‑like resources. Unlike industry, they’re free to pursue high‑risk, long‑term research without commercial pressures. Arc’s Technology Centers and Core Investigator labs work side by side, integrating experimental and computational biology under one roof to tackle problems neither could solve alone.

Our two Institute Initiatives reflect this model in action:

• Virtual Cell Initiative: Building a full‑stack virtual cell model to identify disease mechanisms and nominate drug targets, accelerating the path from biological insight to clinical trials.
• Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative: Mapping the genes, pathways, and environmental factors behind Alzheimer’s disease to develop drug candidates that address root causes.

More than 300 Arconauts work together at our Palo Alto headquarters, backed by substantial long‑term philanthropic funding.

About the position

The Hsu Lab is looking for postdoctoral researchers, who are curious, creative and ambitious and share our vision of programming biology and building tangible products that impact everyday lives in the real world. Broadly, we develop technologies for biological engineering and design. Recent work has included bridge recombinases, large serine recombinases, CRISPR systems, and AI‑designed molecular systems. Beyond the genome, we aim to modulate physiology through synthetic peptides, microbiome engineering, or rational nutrition. Finally, we merge advances in biology and AI to mine the metagenomic sequence space, enable generative genome design, and build towards a virtual cell.

Lately, we have been thinking about the following research frontiers (your innovative ideas could be related, or broadly fit into our thematic interests):

• Discovery and engineering of modulators/probes/drug‑like molecules for general physiological control and human enhancement (e.g. sleep, appetite, energy, etc.) by employing in silico, in vitro and/or in vivo approaches.
• Immune rejuvenation and skin/microbe/barrier tissue rejuvenation for aging‑related phenotypes.
• New programmable molecular tools for synthetic biology and AI‑guided perturbations of cellular behavior.

Postdocs in the lab are encouraged to lead ambitious, independent projects, resulting in high‑impact publications. You will have the opportunity to collaborate widely across Arc, Stanford, and the broader Bay Area ecosystem, with access to strong platforms in our lab and our institutions for genomics, single‑cell technologies, synthetic biology, computation, and experimental model systems.

About you

• Extremely Curious & Self‑Motivated: You push the boundaries of biotechnology and/or biomedical research.
• High‑Velocity Researcher: You thrive in a fast‑paced environment and have a bias for action, conducting rigorous and impactful research at scale.
• Intellectually Independent: You are a "first‑principles" thinker, able to design new research directions and projects.
• Technical Polyglot: You are comfortable (or eager to become so) at the intersection of wet‑lab experimentation and computational modeling.

In this position you will

• Conduct high‑impact research: Design, execute, and analyze experiments; take end‑to‑end ownership of a research project within the lab’s scientific focus, with guidance from the PI and increasing independence as you develop expertise.
• Develop as a future scientific leader: Publish first‑author papers in high‑impact journals, present at national and international conferences, and build a network of collaborators across Arc, Stanford, and beyond.
• Foster scientific excellence: Mentor and train research associates, technicians, and students; engage in Arc‑wide activities (seminars, symposia); contribute to a collaborative research environment; maintain rigorous experimental records and documentation; and contribute to lab operations including protocol development and maintaining shared infrastructure.

Requirements

• Doctorate (MD, PhD, or equivalent) in a relevant life sciences or engineering field.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast‑paced environment and be both an independent thinker and a highly collaborative team player.
• Track record of creative, high‑impact research as demonstrated by publications, patents, developed tools, software, etc.

The minimum base salary for this position is $80,000. Base salary for this role is determined by how many months of relevant postdoctoral experience a successful candidate has. Base salary for this role is not negotiable.

As set forth in Arc Institute’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.