Post-Doctoral Research Visit F/M From the ocean to the stars: SciML to accelerate scientific research

Post-Doctoral Research Visit F/M From the ocean to the stars: SciML to accelerate scientific research Download job offer in PDF format Contract type : Fixed-term contract Renewable contract : Yes Level of qualifications required : PhD or equivalent Fonction : Post-Doctoral Research Visit Level of experience : Up to 3 years About the research centre or Inria department The Inria Saclay-Île-de-France Research Centre was established in 2008. It has developed as part of the Saclay site in partnership with Paris-Saclay University and with the Institut Polytechnique de Paris . The centre has 41 project teams , 27 of which operate jointly with Paris-Saclay University and the Institut Polytechnique de Paris; Its activities occupy over 600 people, scientists and research and innovation support staff, including 44 different nationalities. Context Inria Saclay is one of the eight research centres of Inria, France's national institute for research in digital science and technology, located on the Plateau de Saclay south of Paris and embedded in the Université Paris-Saclay ecosystem — one of Europe's largest concentrations of computer science, mathematics and AI research — where it hosts more than thirty project-teams jointly affiliated with CNRS and major French universities and engineering schools. The TAU project-team (TAckling the Underspecified) is a joint Inria–CNRS–Université Paris-Saclay research group based at Inria Saclay and hosted within the Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Sciences du Numérique (LISN). TAU starts from the premise that contemporary machine learning pipelines are systematically under-specified: observed data leave implicit the common-sense knowledge needed to interpret them, the labels needed to supervise them, and the causal structure needed to act on them. The team's research agenda is articulated around four tightly connected pillars — frugal learning (small-data regimes and energy-efficient deep architectures), causal learning (as a principled route to trustworthy and explainable AI), bidirectional links with statistical physics, and hybridisation of machine learning with numerical simulations (surrogate models, neural solvers and physics-informed architectures for systems governed by partial differential equations). TAU is internationally recognised for its tradition of organising competitive international challenges and benchmarks, and is a partner in flagship initiatives directly relevant to this proposal, including the Inria Challenge OcéanIA, the European TAILOR network on trustworthy AI, and the Coalition for Sustainable AI. This project will be carried out in collaboration with the Inria Chile Research Center and the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM) with whom TAU already has longstanding and strong collaboration partnerships. Inria Chile was established in Santiago in 2012. The recently launched Franco-Chilean Binational Center on Artificial Intelligence, a joint initiative of the French and Chilean governments that consolidates the centre's role as the institutional anchor for sustained scientific collaboration between Inria project-teams in France and the Chilean academic ecosystem. Inria Chile has been active Prof. Raquel Pezoa is a faculty member of the Departamento de Informática at UTFSM in Valparaíso, Chile — one of the country's leading engineering and science universities. Her research agenda sits at the intersection of deep learning and the natural sciences, with a focus on explainable AI, deep architectures for complex physical systems, and uncertainty quantification with applications in particle physics, astrophysics and medicine. Every year Inria International Relations Department has a few postdoctoral positions in order to support Inria international collaborations. The postdoctoral contract will have a duration of 12 to 24 months. The default start date is November 1st, 2026 and not later than January, 1st 2027. The postdoctoral fellow will be recruited by one of the Inria Centres in France but it is recommended that the time is shared between France and the partner’s country (please note that the postdoctoral fellow has to start his/her contract being in France and that the visits have to respect Inria rules for missions) Assignment Candidates for postdoctoral positions are recruited after the completion of their Ph.D. or a first postdoctoral period. To be eligible, candidates must have defended their Ph.D. no more than 3 years before the start date of the contract. As the start date will be between November 1, 2026 and January 1, 2027, the latest eligible Ph.D. defense date will vary accordingly (approximately between November 1, 2023 and January 1, 2024). In order to encourage mobility, the postdoctoral position must take place in a scientific environment that is truly different from the one of the Ph.D. (and, if applicable, from the position held since the Ph.D.); particular attention is thus paid to French or international candidates who obtained their doctorate abroad. The deadline for applying to this job is before June 7, 2026. Main activities We, a group of researchers from Inria Saclay, Inria Chile and Univ. Técnica Federico Santa María, are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to work on the use of AI to accelerate scientific research. Topics of interest, involve (but are not limited to): • Causal structure learning and counterfactual explanation on top of the learned representations. • Conformal prediction in scientifically realistic regimes framed in a frugal learning setting. • Multimodal foundation models for specific scientific domains. • Physics-informed, uncertainty-aware causal world models: interventions and counterfactual simulation for scientific discovery. We seek to apply this research in our shared priority application areas, in particular, ocean ecosystems and climate change (see OcéanIA - https://oceania.inria.cl), identification of gamma and cosmic rays and CONDOR (see CONDOR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.08850), among others Skills • A strong publication record, including publications at top conferences like ICLR, ICML, NeurIPS, etc. • PhD in computer science, or related fields (multidisciplinary candidates are welcome). • Sbility to conduct and coordinate large-scale experiments. • Ability to consolidate research results as papers. Benefits package • Subsidized meals • Partial reimbursement of public transport costs • Leave: 7 weeks of annual leave + 10 extra days off due to RTT (statutory reduction in working hours) + possibility of exceptional leave (sick children, moving home, etc.) • Possibility of teleworking and flexible organization of working hours • Professional equipment available (videoconferencing, loan of computer equipment, etc.) • Social, cultural and sports events and activities • Access to vocational training • Social security coverage Remuneration €2,927 gross per month Apply for this position Share • Facebook • Linkedin • Twitter • Email General Information • Theme/Domain : Optimization, machine learning and statistical methods Scientific computing (BAP E) • Town/city : Gif-sur-Yvette • Inria Center : Centre Inria de Saclay • Starting date : 2026-11-01 • Duration of contract : 12 months • Deadline to apply : 2026-09-30 Warning : you must enter your e-mail address in order to save your application to Inria. Applications must be submitted online on the Inria website. Processing of applications sent from other channels is not guaranteed. Instruction to apply Please send your application material by email to Sylvain Chevallier (sylvain.a.chevallier@inria.fr) including the following: • A full CV including information about the acquired degrees and a list of publications. • A motivation letter explaining your interest in the position (max 1 page). • (Optional but recommended) The names and contact information of two references. You can contact Sylvain Chevallier (sylvain.a.chevallier@inria.fr) from the TAU team of Inria Saclay and Luis Martí from Inria Chile (lmarti@inria.cl) for more information. Defence Security : This position is likely to be situated in a restricted area (ZRR), as defined in Decree No. 2011-1425 relating to the protection of national scientific and technical potential (PPST).Authorisation to enter an area is granted by the director of the unit, following a favourable Ministerial decision, as defined in the decree of 3 July 2012 relating to the PPST. An unfavourable Ministerial decision in respect of a position situated in a ZRR would result in the cancellation of the appointment. Recruitment Policy : As part of its diversity policy, all Inria positions are accessible to people with disabilities. Contacts • Inria Team : TAU (DRI) • Recruiter : Chevallier Sylvain / sylvain.a.chevallier@inria.fr The keys to success The key tasks of a postdoctoral researcher are: • plan and carry out research with increasing autonomy, • collaborate with researchers within the research group, and with external project partners, • write scientific articles, • contribute to the creation of datasets and benchmarks, • disseminate research and mentor junior members of the team. About Inria Inria, the French national institute for research in digital science and technology, supports the French government in national research and innovation strategies in the digital field, acting as Digital Programs Agency. Inria leads over 300 research and innovation projects with its 3,500 scientists, engineers, and support staff, in partnership with universities and the digital ecosystem (businesses, entrepreneurs, and public stakeholders). Together, we explore strategic fields such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum computing, cloud technologies, digital transformation in healthcare, digital twins, and digital technologies for defence. We develop practical solutions such as software, tech startups, partnerships with national companies, and cutting-edge training programmes. Our goal is to drive scientific, technological, and industrial excellence to ensure France’s digital sovereignty.