Postdoctoral Research Associate - AI for Quantum Computing

Oak Ridge National Laboratory • Oak Ridge, TN

5d

About The Position

The Learning Systems Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory seeks a motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate to conduct research at the intersection of advanced machine learning and quantum information science. The role focuses on developing AI-assisted quantum workflows, agentic systems, and physics-informed machine-learning algorithms for quantum computation, including deep neural architectures, neural decoders for quantum error correction, error mitigation, and noise characterization.

The postdoctoral researcher will collaborate with machine-learning researchers, software engineers, and quantum information scientists across the Quantum Science Center. Research may include AI-driven quantum workflows, real-time quantum error-correction decoding, AI-assisted noise learning, automated quantum circuit synthesis and optimization, and multi-agent systems for running, decoding, and benchmarking experiments on quantum hardware and high-performance computing systems. The position provides access to quantum hardware and HPC facilities, opportunities to publish in leading AI and quantum venues, and opportunities to contribute to open-source quantum AI software.

The appointment may last up to 24 months, with the possibility of extension subject to performance and funding availability. Applicants must not have received their Ph.D. more than five years before applying and must complete all degree requirements before the appointment begins. The position requires the ability to obtain and maintain an HSPD-12 PIV badge; applicable federal background and identity-verification requirements apply. Three letters of reference are requested with the application.

Requirements

• Must not have received a Ph.D. more than five years before the date of application.
• Must complete all Ph.D. degree requirements before starting the appointment.
• Ability to obtain and maintain an HSPD-12 PIV badge.
• Must meet applicable federal identity-verification and background-investigation requirements for employment at ORNL.

Nice To Haves

• Experience running and benchmarking quantum circuits on real quantum hardware across one or more modalities and providers, and understanding how device characteristics affect algorithm and QEC performance.
• Expertise in quantum error correction and AI-driven decoding, including neural-network decoders for stabilizer codes, RL- or ML-guided syndrome extraction, or AI-assisted error mitigation.
• Experience designing AI-assisted quantum workflows, agentic or multi-agent systems, retrieval-augmented generation for scientific tasks, or transformer architectures for code generation, circuit compilation, and automated scientific discovery.
• Experience running large-scale quantum simulations on GPU and HPC systems.
• Contributions to open-source quantum software, industry research experience, or collaborative research across institutions.

Responsibilities

• Conduct original research in AI for quantum computing, including advanced machine-learning models, neural decoders for quantum error correction, AI-driven error mitigation, and noise-characterization algorithms.
• Design, build, and evaluate AI-assisted quantum workflows using deep-learning architectures and multi-agent AI systems to automate circuit generation, QEC decoding, and experiment analysis across quantum software frameworks and hardware backends.
• Develop benchmarks and validation methods to test whether AI-generated quantum code, circuits, and analyses are physically and computationally correct.
• Implement and benchmark quantum algorithms and error-handling protocols on quantum hardware from multiple providers and modalities, as well as on GPU and HPC resources.
• Publish in peer-reviewed venues, release open-source software, contribute to proposals, mentor students, and collaborate with ORNL and academic, industry, and national laboratory partners.
• Follow ORNL policies for sensitive information and cybersecurity.

Benefits

• Medical and retirement plans
• Flexible work hours
• On-site fitness, banking, and cafeteria facilities
• Prescription Drug Plan
• Dental Plan
• Vision Plan
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• Contributory Pension Plan
• Life Insurance
• Disability Benefits
• Generous Vacation and Holidays
• Parental Leave
• Legal Insurance with Identity Theft Protection
• Employee Assistance Plan
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Health Savings Accounts
• Wellness Programs
• Educational Assistance
• Relocation Assistance
• Employee Discounts

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree