AI Predictive Biology Postdoctoral Fellow (KBase Project)

Berkeley Lab’s (LBNL) Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology (EGSB) Division has an opening for a Postdoctoral Fellow to join the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase) team!

In this exciting role, you will leverage the extensive functional data available through KBase, including genome-wide fitness data, curated phenotypes, metabolic reconstructions, and analysis results integrated with their associated genomes and accumulated over more than a decade of research. Genome and protein foundation models are advancing quickly, yet almost none of that progress has been translated into reliable prediction of biological function. Current measures such as model perplexity and structure recovery do not directly assess functional prediction. A key challenge is the absence of large-scale, systematically generated functional measurements needed to adapt, evaluate, and validate these models. You will have the opportunity to work at the intersection of AI, machine learning, and computational biology to adapt and augment existing open models for predictive biology. Approaches may include fine-tuning, parameter-efficient tuning, probing, and retrieval- or knowledge-conditioned inference. 

This position has an anticipated start date of October 1, 2026

We’re here for the same mission, to bring science solutions to the world. Join our team and YOU will play a supporting role in our goal to address global challenges! Have a high level of impact and work for an organization associated with 17 Nobel Prizes!

Why join Berkeley Lab?

We invest in our employees by offering a total rewards package you can count on:

• Exceptional health benefits.
• Generous paid time off, sick time off, and holidays.
• A culture where you’ll belong - we are invested in our teams!

What You Will Do:

• Adapt and augment open genome and protein foundation models for biological function prediction through fine-tuning, parameter-efficient tuning, model probing, and retrieval- or knowledge-conditioned inference.  
• Augment models with KBase functional signal - including genome-wide fitness measurements, curated phenotypes, metabolic reconstructions, and other mechanistic information as training, conditioning, or retrieval context.  
• Develop and release benchmarks that tie model performance to real biological tasks, including gene function, fitness, phenotype, and pathway completion, with defined splits, baselines, and evaluation protocols.  
• Evaluate model calibration and uncertainty and characterize failure modes against taxonomic distance, annotation quality, and data sparsity.  
• Deploy validated models and adapters as documented KBase capabilities that can be used directly by researchers, and incorporate results and predictions into ongoing model evaluation data.  
• Publish research findings, methods, benchmarks, and datasets, and openly release evaluation code.

What is Required:

• A recent Ph.D. (within the last 1-2 years) in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Machine Learning, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field.
• A strong background in artificial intelligence, machine learning, computational biology, and/or large-scale biological data and measurements to develop and evaluate innovative approaches for predictive biology.
• Demonstrated experience adapting large pretrained deep learning models to downstream scientific applications, including fine-tuning, parameter-efficient methods, model probing, or retrieval augmentation.
• Experience applying deep learning methods to biological sequence or other omics data.
• Demonstrated rigor in model evaluation and experimental design, including selection of appropriate baselines, defensible splits, and appropriate statistical analysis and interpretation of results.
• Strong programming skills in Python and proficiency with PyTorch or an equivalent framework.
• Strong organizational skills including experience maintaining detailed and accurate records of results and analyzed data.
• Excellent verbal and presentation skills including experience preparing research reports, manuscripts, and scientific publications for group meetings, conferences, and scientific journals. 
• Demonstrated interpersonal communication skills including experience conducting independent, data-driven research and collaborating with an interdisciplinary research team.

Desired Skills/Knowledge:

• Direct experience working with protein or genomic language models.
• Experience with genome-wide fitness data (e.g., RB-TnSeq), functional genomics, or comparative genomics at scale.
• Experience with model calibration, uncertainty quantification, or active learning.
• Experience with genome-scale metabolic modeling or pathway analysis.
• Demonstrated experience with training and calibrating other large-scale complex models.
• Demonstrated ability to pretrain large-scale models from scratch, including distributed multi-GPU training.
• Demonstrated experience developing and openly releasing benchmarks, datasets, models, or leaderboards.

Additional Information:

• Application Date: Priority consideration will be given to candidates who apply with a curriculum vitae (CV) or resume and a cover letter describing their interest in this position by September 7, 2026. Applications will be accepted until the job posting is removed.
• Appointment Type: This is a full time, exempt from overtime pay (monthly paid), 2 year (benefits eligible), Postdoctoral Fellow appointment with the possibility of renewal based upon satisfactory job performance, continuing availability of funds, and ongoing operational needs. You must have less than 3 years of paid postdoctoral experience. This position is represented by a union for collective bargaining purposes.
• Salary Range: The salary range for this position is $8,266 - $9,234 monthly / $99,192 - $110,808 annually and is expected to start at $8,266 monthly / $99,192 annually or above. Postdoctoral positions are paid on a step schedule per union contract and salaries are predetermined based on postdoctoral step rates. Each step represents one full year of completed post-Ph.D. postdoctoral and/or related research experience.
• Background Check: This position is subject to a background check. Any convictions will be evaluated to determine if they directly relate to the responsibilities and requirements of the position. Having a conviction history will not automatically disqualify an applicant from being considered for employment.
• Work Modality: This position will be performed onsite at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab located at 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720. A REAL ID or other acceptable form of identification is required to access Berkeley Lab sites (for more information click here).

Want to learn more about working at Berkeley Lab? Please visit: careers.lbl.gov

Equal Employment Opportunity Employer: The foundation of Berkeley Lab is our Stewardship Values: Team Science, Service, Trust, Innovation, and Respect; and we strive to build community with these shared values and commitments. Berkeley Lab is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We heartily welcome applications from all who could contribute to the Lab's mission of leading scientific discovery, excellence, and professionalism. In support of our rich global community, all qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories under State and Federal law.

Misconduct Disclosure Requirement: As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts an offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of substantiated misconduct with a previous employer. For additional information, click here.