Postdoctoral Research Associate - HPC and Al

ORNL’s Analytics and AI Methods at Scale (AAIMS) group at the National Center of Computational Science (NCCS) is seeking motivated and talented postdoctoral research associate(s) to join a dynamic team at the intersection of High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) at scale, with a focus on AI for Science, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and AI for Operations.

About the role

The AAIMS group aims to push the boundaries of computational science by integrating advanced AI methods with state-of-the-art high-performance computing. The NCCS is home to the world’s first exascale supercomputer, Frontier, and the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) provides world-class computing facilities across computational domains. As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, ORNL has an 80-year legacy of addressing national challenges in energy, environment, and security.

Key Research Areas

• AI for Science: Research and development of large-scale AI models for science, focusing on pre-training, instruction-based fine-tuning, and integrating human-in-the-loop reinforcement learning approaches.
• Responsible AI: Exploration of privacy-preserving AI techniques, enhancing AI safety, and addressing vulnerabilities and defenses in Large Language Models (LLMs).
• Distributed Machine Learning: Specialization in data parallelism, model-parallelism, and collective communication strategies in large-scale environments. Proficiency in frameworks such as DeepSpeed, FSDP, and Megatron is highly valued.
• AI for Operations: Building scalable, energy-efficient, trustworthy, and safe AI solutions for lab and DOE operations, with a focus on event forecasting, predictive maintenance, and corrective actions.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with internal and external researchers on AI/ML-related research and projects.
• Present and report research results, and publish scientific findings in top-tier AI/NLP peer-reviewed conferences and journals.
• Deliver ORNL’s mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service.
• Promote equal opportunity by fostering a respectful workplace.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a closely related field.

Qualifications

• Proficiency with deep neural networks and experience working with PyTorch or similar deep learning frameworks.
• Programming experience in Python (preferred), NLP packages, and pipelines.
• Understanding of basic Machine Learning algorithms and tools.
• Solid record of productive research demonstrated by publications in peer-reviewed AI/NLP/ML conferences or journals, and/or open-source software development.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Motivated self-starter with the ability to work independently and collaboratively in teams.
• Ability to function well in a fast-paced research environment, set priorities, and adapt to changing needs.

Three letters of reference are required for application.

Benefits

• Competitive pay and comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and retirement plans (401(k) and contributory pension).
• Life insurance, disability benefits, and generous vacation and holiday policies.
• Parental leave, legal insurance with identity theft protection, and employee assistance programs.
• Flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, and wellness programs.
• Educational assistance, relocation assistance, and employee discounts.
• On-site amenities including fitness facilities, banking, and cafeteria.
• Flexible work environment supporting hybrid/onsite arrangements.