Careers @ MSU

Position Summary

The postdoctoral researcher will lead and contribute to research on next-generation AI systems, focusing on: Safety and alignment in generative AI and large language models (LLMs), multi-agent systems for reasoning, communication, cooperation, and decision-making, world models, machine unlearning, robustness, and adversarial machine learning, optimization foundations for safe and controllable AI. The candidate is expected to develop novel algorithms, publish in top-tier venues (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR), and contribute to proposal writing and mentoring graduate students.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.

Required Degree

Terminal -Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field

Minimum Requirements

• Terminal degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field. 
• Strong background in machine learning, deep learning, or optimization.
• Proven research record demonstrated by publications in top-tier conferences/journals.
• Experience with large-scale model training and evaluation.
• Strong programming skills (e.g., Python, PyTorch/JAX).
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a research team

Desired Qualifications

• Expertise in the following areas: Generative AI / LLMs / multimodal models; Multi-agent systems and reinforcement learning; AI safety, alignment, or machine unlearning; Adversarial robustness and trustworthy AI.
• Experience with large-scale distributed systems or foundation models.
• Strength in bridging theory and practice (optimization + systems).
• Prior experience mentoring students or leading projects

Required Application Materials

• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Research statement
• Representative publications (up to 3)
• Contact information for 2–3 references

Website

cse.msu.edu

Department Statement

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering has robust research programs in several areas, including AI, Autonomous Driving, Biometrics, Computer Vision, security & privacy, Data Science, Evolutionary Computation, Machine Learning, Networking, and Software Engineering. The Department is home to 55 tenure-system faculty members and teaching specialists, including four endowed professors, 13 NSF CAREER awardees, and one member of the National Academy of Engineering. Our annual research expenditures exceed $11 million. The Department offers accredited B.S. degree programs in Computer Science and Computer Engineering and a B.S. degree in Computational Data Science. In addition to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science, the Department offers an M.S. degree in Data Science in collaboration with the Department of Statistics and the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science & Engineering. For additional information about the CSE Department please visit https://cse.msu.edu/.

MSU Statement

Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.