Postdoctoral Associate: Computer Vision Department – Climate Foundation Models and Agentic Pipelines

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) is a research-focused university in Abu Dhabi, and the first university dedicated entirely to the advancement of science through AI. The university empowers the next generation of AI leaders, driving innovation and impactful applications of AI through world-class education and interdisciplinary research.

About the role:

MBZUAI is looking to recruit a Research Scientist / Postdoctoral Fellow to join the Climate AI research cluster. The position will focus on developing foundation models for climate and Earth observation integrated with agentic pipelines capable of autonomously analyzing and predicting environmental dynamics. This role bridges frontier AI research with real-world sustainability impact

Key Responsibilities:

Foundation Model Research:

• Develop large-scale multimodal foundation models tailored for climate and Earth observation data.
• Investigate architectures for integrating spatio-temporal and physical priors into deep models.
• Establish rigorous benchmarks and scaling laws for environmental model training.
• Advance methods for long-horizon climate prediction and data-efficient adaptation.

Agentic Systems & Applications:

• Design agentic pipelines that couple model predictions with automated climate actions and planning.
• Integrate satellite imagery, sensor data, and simulation for real-time environmental monitoring.
• Build autonomous systems for decision support in disaster response, resource management, and sustainability planning.

Collaboration & Dissemination:

• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams including climate scientists, AI researchers, and engineers.
• Publish research findings and contribute to open-source climate AI initiatives.
• Support MBZUAI’s broader mission on AI for societal good.

Qualifications

• PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Climate Science, Earth Systems, or a closely related field

Minimum:

• Expertise in foundation model architectures (LLMs, diffusion models, multimodal transformers).
• Experience handling large-scale Earth observation or climate datasets.
• Strong programming skills and familiarity with distributed training environments.

Preferred:

• Publications in AI, climate informatics, or related domains.
• Experience designing autonomous or agentic systems for scientific applications.
• Familiarity with geospatial AI toolkits and high-performance computing platforms.

What we offer:

• A stimulating research environment at MBZUAI with leading experts in AI.
• Competitive compensation and benefits package aligned with top-tier academic markets.
• Significant opportunities for professional development and travel to major conferences.
• A one-year appointment with the possibility of extension up to three years based on performance and project needs.

Application Instructions

Interested candidates should submit the following documents:

1. Cover letter
2. Current Curriculum Vitae (C.V.)
3. A link to your Google Scholar profile

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the position will remain open until filled.

For more information or to apply, please visit MBZUAI Careers or contact Dr. Salman Khan.