Project Overview

We are seeking at least one Postdoctoral Associate to join the "Mens, Manus and Machina—How AI Empowers People, Institutions and Cities in Singapore (M3S)" interdisciplinary group.

The M3S project is driven by the goal of investigating the nature of work, redefining our relationship with technology, and exploring how institutions can adapt to foster livability, sustainability, innovation, and social welfare.

Successful applicants will have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects that aim to develop state-of-the-art AI to create future smart cities. The Postdoctoral Associate is in the T4 project for the five-year M3S program in SMART. The SMART team seeks to advance the frontier of AI research, apply it to society and cities, and demonstrate the concrete social impacts of the AI algorithms with broad public acceptance in Singapore.

Specifically, the SMART-T4 project seeks to integrate the state-of-the-art AI and the classical dynamic behavioral models to maximize the growth of human capital. It creates novel theories and develops an AI-assisted system to recommend long-term career decisions and short-term spatiotemporal activity decision in cities. It facilitates individual decisions around education and skill training to support Singaporeans’ lifelong learning, including both cognitive and physical skills. It helps employers design remote work policies to promote work engagement, and guides government agencies to support workers through workforce training.

The SMART-T4 team is led by distinguished scholars, i.e., Professor Jinhua Zhao and Professor Alex "Sandy" Pentland from MIT, and Professor Archan Misra from Singapore Management University. 

Job Description

• Collaborate with the project team and other researchers to design, implement, and evaluate research projects.
• Publish research results in top-tier conferences and journals, and disseminate research findings through presentations and other means.
• Participate in the mentorship and training of graduate and undergraduate students at MIT and in Singapore.
• Assist in grant writing, project management, and other administrative duties related to research activities.
• Perform other duties as needed. 

Job Requirements

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Transportation Engineering, Operation Research, Computational Social Science, Network Science, Civil Engineering, Economics, Statistics, Urban Planning, Industrial Engineering, or a related field by the start of the appointment.
• Experience in deep learning, reinforcement learning, statistical modeling, network analysis, and/or optimization.
• Experience in behavioral/economic models, urban mobility, and their integration with AI.
• Strong publication record in top-tier conferences and journals.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

This role is primarily based in Singapore and appointment is on a two-year contract, with the possibility of extension.

If you want to find out more about the role, please contact Dr. Yunhan Zheng (yunhan.zheng@smart.mit.edu) or Professor Shenhao Wang (shenhao@mit.edu).

Interested applicants are invited to send in their full CV/resume, cover letter and list of three references (to include reference names and contact information). We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.