Description
If you are looking to apply for a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship, IDAEA-CSIC may be your ideal Host Institution.
About the Institute
The Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA) is the leading environmental research centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The institute focuses on the interconnected health of humans, animals, plants, and ecosystems, guided by the ONE HEALTH concept. IDAEA conducts interdisciplinary research spanning chemistry, biology, toxicology, hydrology, and geology, addressing various environmental challenges such as emerging contaminants, atmospheric and oceanic exchanges, paleoclimatic studies, and water and air quality management. The centre emphasizes the development of solutions and the application of science to improve environmental policies. Its research aims to advance knowledge and technology for a sustainable future.
Chemometrics group of IDAEA
The Chemometrics group focuses on the development and application of chemometric (data analysis) and analytical tools to address environmental challenges. Key research areas include the creation of chemometric methods for analysing datasets from various analytical platforms, the application of these techniques to assess the metabolomic effects of chemical pollutants and global change stressors on environmentally significant organisms, and the analysis of environmental datasets (e.g., monitoring studies on air, surface waters, sediments, and soils) to extract information for identifying, resolving, and apportioning pollution sources and their environmental impact.
The project
The selected candidate will work closely with Dr. Joaquim Jaumot (supervisor) to prepare an excellent and highly competitive project proposal for the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship (European Fellowship) 2025 Programme.
Project Title: AIRISK – Explainable AI for Predicting Chemical Activity and Environmental RISK Assessment
The project aims to develop interpretable machine learning models to predict molecular properties relevant to chemical safety and sustainability. Unlike traditional black-box approaches, AIRISK will apply explainable AI (XAI) techniques such as SHAP or LIME to understand how structural features influence chemical activity or toxicity. The models will be trained and validated using open-source datasets, with a focus on applications in green chemistry, environmental toxicology, and regulatory risk assessment. The fellow will receive advanced interdisciplinary training at the intersection of chemistry and artificial intelligence, contributing to more transparent and trustworthy chemical modelling tools.
What do we look for?
- Qualifications
- PhD in chemistry, cheminformatics, environmental sciences, data science, or a related field.
- Professional experience
- Experience in machine learning applied to chemical or environmental data.
- Familiarity with molecular descriptors, QSAR/QSPR, or cheminformatics tools.
- Previous exposure to explainable AI methods (e.g. SHAP, LIME, attention mechanisms) is a strong asset.
- Competences
- Advanced programming skills applied to data science and machine learning.
- Ability to work independently and proactively design and test models.
- Interest in interdisciplinary work combining chemistry, AI, and environmental risk.
- Excellent written and oral communication in English.
- Eligibility
- Possess a maximum of 8 years of full-time equivalent research experience by September 10, 2025, following the award of the doctoral degree.
- Have not lived in Spain or carried out their primary activity in the country for more than 12 months during the 36 months preceding 10th September 2025.
