Postdoc position on AI alignment and safe AI available at EPFL DLAB

Description

Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position at EPFL, to be hosted by the Data Science & AI Lab, headed by Prof. Robert West. We seek a candidate who will lead ground-breaking research projects with the goal of building safe AI that truly cares about human interests. Instead of viewing alignment as mere postprocessing of pretrained models (“lipstick-on-a-pig alignment”), you will contribute to our agenda of “raising” models that will be continuously aligned throughout the training process, starting from token 1 in pretraining (see here for a high-level vision). To this end, you will combine synthetic data generation, mechanistic interpretability, LLM pre- and posttraining, and model evaluation in novel ways.

Research topics:

• Alignment
• Large language models
• Natural language processing
• Mechanistic interpretability

Responsibilities

You will contribute to the Swiss AI Initiative, in particular by incorporating your research results into Apertus, SwissAI’s open, transparent, multilingual language model.
You will work in a stimulating, open, and international research environment consisting of many highly talented and motivated students, embedded in a strong network of academic and industrial collaborators. Other benefits include a competitive salary (starting at around CHF 88,000 p.a.), an extremely well funded national research system, an office next to a stunning lake and even more stunning mountains, and generous travel support. Involvement in teaching is possible but not required. Project work with MS and PhD students is expected.

Qualifications

Candidates should have completed, or be near completion of, a PhD with a strong international publication record in AI or NLP. Strong programming skills and experience with machine learning frameworks are required.

Benefits

• A stimulating and international working environment
• Competitive salary and excellent working conditions – more information can be found on our website (https://www.epfl.ch/campus/services/human-resources/en/basic-starting-salary-of-doctoral-assistants-and-postdocs/)
• Opportunity to perform state-of-the-art research in one of the most dynamic scientific institutions in Europe.
• Opportunity to interact with internationally renowned experts, and with a strong team of postdoctoral researchers and PhD students
• EPFL ranks among the world’s top universities in the field of computer science. It is located in Lausanne, Switzerland, a beautiful and vibrant city in an Alpine setting on the shores of scenic Lake Geneva, in the very heart of Europe. English is the main language spoken at EPFL, and Lausanne is highly international, such that no French language skills are required.

Additional Information

Only applications submitted through the online platform are considered.
You are asked to supply:

• A brief cover letter (pdf, up to 2 pages).
• And in one PDF:
  • A CV with a publication list.
  • A research statement (pdf, up to 3 pages).
  • Contact details for 3 referees.

For any further information, please contact: candice.norhadian@epfl.ch

Contract Start Date : 01/04/2026
Activity Rate Min : 100.00
Activity Rate Max : 100.00
Contract Type: CDD
Duration: 1 year
Reference: 2077