"Postdoctoral Employee - Artificial Intelligence - Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department"

Position Overview

Salary range: The UC postdoc salary scales set the minimum pay determined by experience level at appointment. See the following table(s) for the current salary scale(s) for this position: https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2025-26/represented-oct-2025-scales/t23.pdf. The current minimum salary range for this position is $69,073 - $77,030 annually. Salaries above the minimum may be offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions.

Percent time: 100%

Anticipated start: January 2026 or flexible

Position duration: 2 years with the possibility of extension based on performance and availability of funding

Application Window

Open date: August 13, 2025

Next review date: Thursday, Aug 28, 2025 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Final date: Monday, Sep 15, 2025 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Position Description

The Pierson Lab, within the Berkeley EECS department, is affiliated with the Berkeley AI Research Lab, Computational Precision Health, and the Center for Human-Compatible AI. We develop AI methods for applications in the health and social sciences, focusing in particular on improving health and reducing inequality.

We seek applicants with background and experience in language modeling and interests in applications in the health and social sciences. Specific potential projects include:

• Using language models for scientific discovery. This project will build on our work developing sparse autoencoder methods for hypothesis generation and explore applications of these methods in the health and social sciences, in collaboration with clinicians and social scientists.
• Using language models to improve equity. Building on our work we will develop and deploy language models that can democratize access to reliable health information.

Applicants will collaborate closely with PI Emma Pierson as well as other PhD students and postdocs in the lab.

Union: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/resources/employment-policies-contracts/bargaining-units/postdoctoral-scholars/contract/

Sparse Autoencoders for Hypothesis Generation: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.04382

Using large language models to promote health equity: https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.14804v2

Qualifications

Basic qualifications (required at time of application): PhD or equivalent international degree, or enrolled in a PhD or equivalent international degree granting program

Additional qualifications (required at time of start): PhD or equivalent international degree.

Preferred qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science or closely related field
• Demonstrated record of publications in relevant computer science venues, such as NLP conferences, machine learning conferences, and/or general interest journals

Application Requirements

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
• Research Statement - Please discuss research accomplishments and proposed plans. This can include, for example, your publication record, awards, presentations, inclusive research practices that promote the excellence of your research, and areas for future research.
• Two Papers

Reference requirements: 3 required (contact information only)

Apply link: https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05028

Help contact: emmapierson@berkeley.edu