COAST PCL AI Research Scientist; California NanoSystems Institute

Position Overview

Position title:

COAST PCL AI Research Scientist

Salary range: $81,200 - $124,800.

Percent time: 100%

Anticipated start:
October 1, 2026 or later

Position duration: 1 year, 100% appointment with possibility of renewal on an annual basis.

Open date:
September 4, 2026

Next review date:
Wednesday, Sep 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Final date:
Monday, Apr 5, 2027 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

The Computation-Optimized Automated Soft materials Technology Programmable Cloud Laboratory Node (COAST PCL), funded by the National Science Foundation, is a national AI-driven materials innovation infrastructure that combines autonomous robotics, advanced scientific instrumentation, and AI-guided experiment planning. This research ecosystem connects the broad and disparate communities of Materials, Chemistry, Engineering, and Computer Science, and enables rapid discovery and manufacturing of materials with highly controlled and programmable composition, properties, and functionality.

COAST PCL is seeking a motivated individual to grow a world-class resource for AI-guided autonomous experimentation and to take a lead role in the development and application of these next-generation methods in advancing COAST PCL's research mission and enabling a national user base to utilize this resource.

• Lead the artificial intelligence and machine learning capability at COAST PCL
• Spend 70% time, in tandem with the in-house research team, on making significant and creative contributions to in-house research
• Publish scientific papers, present at technical conferences, and file IP disclosures
• Collaborate with in-house Senior Faculty participants, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate student researchers to continuously build expertise and remain at the forefront of their research fields
• Gain fluency in the operational aspects of the facility's automated platforms, in the science those platforms enable, and in advances to the state of the art in autonomous experimentation, active learning, and agentic systems that should be leveraged as the facility evolves
• Build expertise by attending and presenting at regular research meetings with affiliate researchers, and providing consultation on model selection, experimental design, and data interpretation
• Consult with external users to develop a Project Feasibility and Research plan
• Review topically relevant COAST PCL user proposals and advise on technical feasibility
• Devote 30% time to serve as a scientific and technical expert and train external users in the facility's experiment-planning tools, data schemas, and analysis workflows
• Design and teach a training module as part of the COAST PCL Summer School and other similar workshops that will serve to highlight the facilities and research capabilities and promote use by internal and external users
• Responsible for the strategic growth of the facility's computational capability
• Collaborate with the robotics team to close the loop between predictive models and physical execution

Above all, COAST PCL seeks an individual who is passionate about contributing to cutting‑edge scientific research. Genuine excitement for the cloud laboratory mission is essential to the success of the AI Research Scientist.

Ph.D. in Materials Science, Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field at the time of application.

• Hands‑on experience applying machine learning, optimization, and/or statistical modeling to scientific data and/or databases.
• Proficiency in Python. Strong programming skills, with proficiency in Python required. Knowledge in other languages (e. g. C, C++, R, Java, and or Rust) is encouraged.
• Experience in working…