Postdoctoral Researcher – Human-Agent Collaboration in Scientific Discovery

About the role

The Computational Sciences Center (CSC) at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to join a multidisciplinary team exploring frameworks that integrate agentic AI systems into the day-to-day work of human scientists. This role involves developing new algorithms for orchestrating multi-turn dialogue works, optimizing asynchronous communication and coordination, and enhancing the explainability of agentic decision making. Additionally, the candidate will lead human evaluations to measure the real-world efficacy of these systems.

Responsibilities

• Independently lead an AI research project, under supervision of your research mentor and in collaboration with other project members, with the goal of submitting a manuscript at a top-tier venue at the end of the first year
• Lead an effort to conduct interactive evaluations of the proposed research with human scientists through real-world studies
• Develop, test, and push high-quality code from project work to the platform
• Communicate research progress verbally and in writing through regular project updates

Requirements

• Must be a recent PhD graduate within the last three years
• Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date
• Experience using software frameworks and standards for designing and evaluating agentic AI systems (e.g., Docker, Model Context Protocol (MCP), AgentSkills, OpenHands)
• Familiarity with the fundamentals of large language models: architectures, training pipelines including post-training, data curation, and downstream deployment as agents
• Experience applying machine learning to scientific discovery problems (e.g., materials discovery, bio, chemistry, physics, theorem proving, etc.)
• Strong communication skills and a proactive, question-driven approach to collaboration

Qualifications

• Research experience in human-computer interaction and/or human-AI teaming
• Track record of first-author publications in top-tier venues
• Demonstrated interest in using AI as a tool to solve scientific challenges

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Short-term disability insurance
• Pension benefits
• 403(b) Employee Savings Plan with employer match
• Life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance
• Personal time off (PTO) and sick leave
• Paid holidays
• Performance-, merit-, and achievement-based awards

Pay

$76,600 - $126,400 annually

Schedule

Full-time, 40 hours per week