Postdoctoral Researcher, Chemical Data Scientist

Postdoctoral Researcher, Chemical Data Scientist

The Bode group and Synple Chem are proud to have recently been awarded a 3-year Innosuisse grant to support a collaboration exploring the automated synthesis of protein degraders. As such, we are now looking for a Chemical Data Scientist to join the project team. The successful candidate will be supported by, and work collaboratively with the groups of Professor Sereina Riniker and Professor Jeffrey Bode at ETH in Zürich. They will work closely with other researchers from those groups and the Synple Chem team.

The project will provide the opportunity to be involved with cutting edge research across the fields of organic synthesis, chemistry automation, reaction informatics, and machine learning.

The successful candidate will contribute to our development of a system for automating the Design-Make-Test-Analyze cycle in pharmaceutical research. They will collaborate with synthetic chemists in order to tightly couple the Design and Make phases of the cycle in an automation-friendly way. Some possible research topics include:

• Collaborations with synthetic chemists to optimize reaction conditions and generate the data to build effective AI/ML models for predicting whether a particular set of building blocks will work in a reaction.
• Developing and applying active-learning strategies for reaction optimization and compound design.
• Developing new systems for capturing, managing, querying, and exploring the experimental data generated during the reaction optimizations computational.
• Developing efficient pipelines for defining, enumerating, and screening virtual libraries based on the optimized reactions and available building blocks.
• Developing approaches to allow Design tools to be used together with automated synthesis technology.

What does this postdoctoral study offer:

• Research at the interfaces of several hot fields: AI assisted drug development, virtual screening and automated synthesis.
• Working collaboratively with both synthetic and computational chemists from two research groups and industry.
• Applied research project.

• Extensive experience with molecular modelling software / Cheminformatics.
• Extensive experience with software development.
• Solid understanding of organic chemistry and chemical processes.
• Experience with modern AI/ML approaches.
• Understanding of basic automation techniques, databases, and data analysis tools.

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find our university to be a place that promotes independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, we work together to develop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow.

We look forward to receiving your online application including the following documents:

• Motivation letter
• CV
• Contact details of at least two academic referees

Please note that we only accept applications which are submitted through our online application portal. We will not consider applications sent via email or postal services.

For further information on the role or for applications, please contact Professor Bode; [email protected] , Professor Riniker; [email protected] or Dr Benedikt Wanner; [email protected] (no applications by e-mail).

In line with our values, ETH Zurich encourages an inclusive culture. We promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and nurture a working and learning environment in which the rights and dignity of all our staff and students are respected. Visit our Equal Opportunities and Diversity website to find out how we ensure a fair and open environment that allows everyone to grow and flourish.