Date Posted: 11/15/2024
Req ID: 40702
Faculty/Division: Faculty of Arts & Science
Department: Acceleration Consortium
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)
Description:
The Acceleration Consortium (AC) at the University of Toronto (U of T) is leading a transformative shift in scientific discovery that will accelerate technology development and commercialization. The AC is a global community of academia, industry, and government that leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, materials sciences, and high-throughput chemistry to create self-driving laboratories (SDLs), also called materials acceleration platforms (MAPs). These autonomous labs rapidly design materials and molecules needed for a sustainable, healthy, and resilient future, with applications ranging from renewable energy and consumer electronics to drugs. AC Senior Staff Scientists will advance the field of AI-driven autonomous discovery and develop the materials and molecules required to address society's largest challenges, such as climate change, water pollution, and future pandemics.
The Acceleration Consortium (AC) promotes an inclusive research environment and supports the EDI priorities of the unit.
Hiring is occurring on a rolling intake. Please apply ASAP and do not wait for the listed job closing date.
The Acceleration Consortium received a $200M Canadian First Research Excellence Grant for seven years to develop self-driving labs for chemistry and materials, the largest ever grant to a Canadian University. This grant will provide the Acceleration Consortium with seven years of funding to execute its vision.
The AC is developing seven advanced SDLs. These include:
Expertise that is desired: Polymer synthesis
Additional expertise that is desired (but not required): Automation
Staff Scientists will work with a diverse team of leading experts at U of T, including: Prof. Helen Tran, Prof. Dwight Seferos, and Acceleration Consortium Staff Scientists.
The Senior Staff Scientists involved in the AC are highly skilled and experienced researchers who will work independently to develop the AI and automation technologies required to build robust and scalable self-driving labs, manage these SDLs, and design and implement research programs (based on the direction of the AC’s scientific leadership team) that leverage the SDL platforms to discover materials and molecules.
The components and duties of the work include:
SDL and Automation Development
Working with the AC community, including faculty and partners to determine the required capabilities of the SDLs to be built. Developing the plans for SDLs that will meet user requirements and designing novel instruments for automated material synthesis and characterization. Developing customized hardware and Python software packages to build SDLs. Selection, procurement, and installation of the equipment required for SDLs.
Facility Management and Operations
Working with the department of Chemistry, Facilities and Operations, and AC research staff to ensure that the AC labs are fully operational.
Research Direction
Working as a co-investigator, in partnership with the Principal Investigator, independent management, development, and execution of research programs that leverage the AC’s SDLs and supports the research objectives of AC faculty and industry partners. Using SDLs to synthesize and characterize large quantities of candidate molecules, calibrating theoretical models with experimental data, predicting promising candidates with computational tools and machine learning algorithms, and elucidating structure-property relationships of emerging molecules, polymers, solid-state materials, formulations, etc.
Tasks include:
Other
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Education – Ph.D. in chemistry, materials science, life sciences, physics, engineering, robotics, computer science, or related discipline
Experience
Skills
Other
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
Closing Date: 05/30/2025, 11:59PM ET
Employee Group: Research Associate
Appointment Type: Grant - Continuing
Schedule: Full-Time
Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone: 150K - 180K (salary will be assessed based on skills and experience)
Job Category: Administrative / Managerial