Postdoc Research Scientist – Model Distillation (R3) at Barcelona Supercomputing Center
Overview
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain, hosting MareNostrum and contributing to European HPC initiatives. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D in computer and computational science and employs over 1000 staff from 60 countries.
Context and Mission
“Multilingual Production Principles of Lexical Collocations” (MaPPLexiC) is a European Research Council project (01.11.2025 – 31.10.2030). MaPPLexiC aims to uncover and articulate rules behind how words combine to form collocations, interpreting neural collocation recognition and classification models. We seek a researcher with extensive expertise in Machine Learning and computational linguistics to distill interpretable models from neural networks, combining engineering with cutting-edge research at the intersection of AI, linguistics, and cognitive science.
Key Duties
Lead the research and development activities of the project in distilling interpretable models from neural collocation recognition/classification models
Explore state-of-the-art teacher–student model ideas and their applicability to MaPPLexiC
Collaborate with interpretability specialists to design and implement novel model distillation methods
Improve performance of existing neural collocation recognition and classification models
Mentor junior researchers and engineers in model distillation
Collaborate with the corpus annotation team
Work closely with the MaPPLexiC PI, Prof. Leo Wanner
Requirements
Education : PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, or Computational Linguistics
Essential Knowledge and Experience :
Extensive expertise in model distillation methods
Strong publication record in top-tier ML and/or computational linguistics venues
Strong programming skills in Python and deep learning frameworks
Experience with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, Jax, Keras, etc.)
Mentoring ability for junior researchers
Ability to work in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment
Additional Knowledge and Experience :
Expertise in Computational Cognitive Science
Competences :
Fluency in English (spoken and written)
Competence in another project language (Czech, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Russian, or Spanish) is an advantage
Conditions
The position is located at BSC within the Life Sciences Department
Full-time contract (37.5h/week) with a stimulating environment, flexible hours, extensive training, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, and relocation support
Duration: Open-ended contract tied to project and budget duration
Holidays: 23 paid vacation days plus 24th and 31st December per the collective agreement
Salary: Competitive and aligned with qualifications and Barcelona cost of living
Starting date: as soon as possible
Applications Procedure
All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and include:
A full CV in English including contact details
A cover letter in English stating interest, specific areas/topics, and two references
Recruitment Process
The selection is conducted as a competitive examination system. Process components include:
Curriculum analysis (40 points)
Interview (60 points); a minimum of 30/60 points is required to be eligible
The recruitment panel will include at least three people with gender-balanced representation. Open channels for feedback will be provided to applicants. For questions, contact recruitment@bsc.es.
We are an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion and follow Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment (OTM-R) principles.
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