Postdoctoral Research Associate

Join the Cluster of Excellence "

BlueMat: Water-Driven Materials

" and contribute to one of Europe's most exciting research initiatives. Collaborate with a dynamic, interdisciplinary team that combines science, sustainability, and technology to create a better future. Help shape the next generation of sustainable materials inspired by nature's most powerful resource: water.

For the Institute of Machine Learning in Virtual Materials Design at Hamburg University of Technology for

1 February 2026 we are looking for a

Postdoctoral Research Associate (m/f/d) -Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiterin (Postdoc)

to conduct research within the CrossArea Data as part of the BlueMat Cluster of Excellence. The position is full time and fixed-term until 31 January 2029. The remuneration is in accordance with salary group 13

TV-L

(collective agreement for the public service of the federal states).

You will explore large language model (LLM)-based methods for automated metadata annotation and understanding of scientific data within the BlueMat Cluster. You will design and evaluate frameworks and knowledge graphs that integrate LLMs into BlueMat's research data infrastructure, enabling the extraction, enrichment, and provenance tracking of experimental and simulation data. The position includes close collaboration with, and co-supervision of, a PhD student working on benchmarking and adaptation of LLMs for BlueMat data. Your work will form the methodological backbone for FAIR-aligned, AI-supported research data management and accelerate discovery across BlueMat's water-driven materials research areas.

YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS

• Develop and coordinate LLM frameworks for interpreting, annotating, and integrating heterogeneous scientific datasets
• Implement pipelines for metadata extraction, provenance capture, and ontology alignment using foundation models
• Design and benchmark methods for transfer learning, active learning, and domain adaptation in data-sparse regimes
• Collaborate closely with BlueMat partners across data, modeling, and imaging to connect multimodal data streams, in particular data stewards and co-data stewards
• Support the related PhD project in the same research area and guide methodological alignment between the projects
• Lead publications, contribute to open-source software, and represent BlueMat's LLM research in national and international collaborations

YOUR PROFILE

Essential qualification

• Completed or almost completed PhD degree in machine learning, computer science, data science, computational materials science, or related engineering and natural science fields - doctorate deeply related to machine learning

Required knowledge and personal skills

• Strong expertise in large language models, information extraction, or semantic representation learning
• Excellent programming skills in Python and experience with machine learning frameworks (e.g. PyTorch, Hugging Face, LangChain)
• Very good English required (at least B2/C1 level according to CEFR) – German is not mandatory
• Curiosity and teamwork skills for working in interdisciplinary teams

Desired knowledge and personal skills

• Experience with research data management, ontologies, or FAIR data infrastructures (e.g. openBIS, knowledge graphs)
• Familiarity with multimodal scientific data, materials or chemical data contexts, and AI-driven data curation
• Interest in developing reusable LLM workflows and guiding PhD-level research within an interdisciplinary environment

OUR OFFER

• Scientific qualification with the opportunity to sharpen the acadamic profile in a leading research cluster
• Access to BlueMat Academy: offering training workshops, German language support, mentoring, and career development
• Participation in international conferences, research stays, and collaborative network
• Flexible working conditions, 30 vacation days, family-friendly policies
• Access to on-campus fitness facilities and health promotion programs

For further information please contactProf. Dr. Roland Aydin at we are pleased to support you.

Inclusive excellence drives better science. We actively seek female & international researchers from all walks of life, valuing non-linear careers and diverse perspectives across cultures, disciplines, and identities. We explicitly welcome applications from persons with severe disabilities and those with equivalent status

as defined in Section 2 of the German Social Code, Book IX (SGB IX).

The Hamburg University of Technology stands for equal opportunities

as well as appreciative and respectful cooperation.

Please submit your complete application documents (cover letter, CV, degree certificates) via the online application system, quoting the vacancy ID 30125WBMMEXK5, by 12 November 2025.