In response to the rapid evolution of the AI landscape and the increasing importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, we are launching a unified postdoctoral fellows program that spans the sciences and AI. The program aims to seamlessly integrate the strengths of the Center for Innovation in Data Engineering and Science (IDEAS) and the Data Driven Discovery Initiative (DDDI) into a single home for data science postdoctoral fellows in SEAS and SAS. Both engineering and science oriented postdocs in this program will benefit from sustained peer interactions within the program, broad exposure to faculty across schools, and opportunities for cross-school faculty mentorship.

Objectives

The mission of the Postdoctoral Fellows Program is to foster innovation, collaboration, and excellence in data science, machine learning, and AI across traditional disciplinary boundaries. We will build on the existing strengths of both IDEAS and DDDI in order to:

Bridge disciplinary divides

Facilitate collaboration between AI/ML/DS experts from SEAS and natural and social science experts from SAS. Postdocs will typically work with up to two mentors, with complementary expertise in AI and a scientific domain. 

Advance scientific discovery and AI

Enabling new scientific discoveries drives the need for new technological innovation, and conversely new AI is opening up scientific questions previously considered out of reach. We will facilitate interactions with research centers, laboratories, and institutes at Penn through co-hosted events and mixers. We will run a weekly postdoctoral lunch program that hosts faculty from across SEAS and SAS as invited guests.

Promote ethical and interpretable AI

Emphasize the design and engineering of fair, ethical, explainable, robust, and trustworthy autonomous systems through interdisciplinary research at the intersection of AI and application domains. Applications of AI in science and medicine offer powerful testing grounds for approaches to interpretability and safety.

Support career development

Provide postdoctoral fellows with a unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge scientific and clinical data, leveraging Penn’s research centers, laboratories, and institutes across SEAS and SAS.

Application Process

Candidates for the Postdoctoral Fellows Program should apply via the online submission form (applications are now closed), identifying mentors from both AI and a scientific domain. The selection committee will assess candidates based on their excellence, potential for cross-disciplinary scientific research and commitment to advancing methodology in AI. Penn faculty may forward applications as well.

Candidates should apply by Friday, October 25th, for full consideration. Applications will be reviewed on the 25th, and then considered on an ongoing basis until positions are filled.

Update 2024-12-10: Applications are now closed. Thank you to everyone who expressed interest and submitted applications—we're truly inspired by the talent and enthusiasm we've seen, and appreciate the time and effort that went into your submissions.

Funding and Support

The Postdoctoral Fellows Program provides fellows with an annual research fund of $5,000.