Research Associate (SDL1, Two-year Term)
About The Position
The Acceleration Consortium (AC) at the University of Toronto (U of T) is leading a transformative shift in scientific discovery that will accelerate technology development and commercialization. The AC is a global community of academia, industry, and government that leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, materials sciences, and high-throughput chemistry to create self-driving laboratories (SDLs). These autonomous labs rapidly design materials and molecules needed for a sustainable, healthy, and resilient future, with applications ranging from renewable energy and consumer electronics to drugs. The Acceleration Consortium (AC) promotes an inclusive research environment and supports the EDI priorities of the unit. The Acceleration Consortium received a $200M Canadian First Research Excellence Grant for seven years to develop self-driving labs for chemistry and materials, the largest ever grant to a Canadian University. This grant will provide the Acceleration Consortium with seven years of funding to execute its vision. This posted position is for a role within the AC’s SDL1 (Inorganic Materials). Supporting and under the guidance of Staff Scientists / Senior Staff Scientists, the Research Associate is expected to carry out and contribute to research projects, by way of their expertise, in the areas below.
Requirements
- PhD degree in engineering, materials science, chemistry, mechatronics, or a related field
- Minimum 1 year of demonstrated research experience in automated, autonomous, or high-throughput experimental systems
- Experience developing, integrating, or operating laboratory automation platforms for materials synthesis, characterization, or testing
- Hands-on experience with laboratory instrumentation and characterization techniques such as SEM, XRD, XRF, spectroscopy, electrochemistry, or related analytical tools
- Experience with experimental design, scientific data acquisition, data processing, and troubleshooting complex experimental systems
- Project management, leadership and interpersonal skills to assist in the guidance and implementation of the research project that is comprised of a multi-disciplinary and international team of scholars.
Responsibilities
- Conduct research in automated and high-throughput materials discovery, including synthesis, processing, characterization, testing, and application-driven evaluation.
- Design and execute high-throughput experimental workflows to investigate structure-property-performance relationships in inorganic materials.
- Develop, implement, and optimize automated research workflows with real-time monitoring, data acquisition, feedback, and reproducibility controls.
- Analyze experimental datasets using computational, statistical, and/or AI/ML methods to extract insights into material performance, stability, and process-structure-property relationships.
- Adapt and improve experimental platforms, testing workflows, and characterization protocols to address specific research questions and improve data quality.
- Designing, modifying, and fabricating custom laboratory apparatus, fixtures, and devices.
- Develop research protocols, data-management practices, technical documentation, and best practices for automated and high-throughput experimentation.
- Contribute to manuscripts, technical reports, presentations, research proposals, and collaborative project planning.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
