PhD Position in Cheminformatics and Machine Learning

SDU Life Cycle Engineering at the Department of Green Technology, University of Southern Denmark, is seeking a PhD candidate to work on the PFAROS project. This flagship European research project focuses on sustainable innovation and the transition toward PFAS-free healthcare. The role involves working at the intersection of chemistry, environmental science, artificial intelligence, and data science to develop next-generation chemical assessment approaches.

Main tasks

• Collect, curate, and validate high-quality physicochemical, environmental, and hazard property data for chemicals in commerce.
• Evaluate and document the applicability domains and coverage of existing machine learning models for chemical property prediction.
• Develop, train, validate, and benchmark new models, including machine learning and generative AI-based approaches.
• Integrate experimental data, computational methods, and machine learning workflows.
• Participate in collaborative research within the PFAROS consortium and interact with international partners.
• Contribute to scientific publications, conference presentations, reports, and new research proposals.

Qualifications

• MSc degree (or equivalent) in chemistry, environmental science, chemical engineering, computer science, data science, bioinformatics, or a related field.
• Strong interest in machine learning, cheminformatics, data science, and chemical risk assessment.
• Experience with programming in Python and scientific computing.
• Familiarity with machine learning methods, data management, and statistical analysis.
• Experience with chemical databases, molecular descriptors, QSAR models, or cheminformatics tools is an advantage.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in an international research environment.

Work Conditions and Benefits

• The position is a 3-year salaried appointment.
• The monthly gross salary including pension is 37,313 DKK (higher steps may be available for relevant postgraduate experience).
• The position is located in Odense, offering an international research environment and an open Scandinavian working culture.
• Potential for exemption from time registration (self-organizer status) based on individual managerial assessment.",