Postdoctoral Research Associate - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

The University of Sydney is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering under the direction of Professor Ali Abbas. This full-time, fixed-term position focuses on advancing fungal process systems engineering for plastics biodegradation and circular bioprocesses. The successful candidate will combine mechanistic modelling and artificial intelligence with laboratory validation to develop self-driving laboratory workflows. Responsibilities include computational modeling, experimental design, coordinating day-to-day research group activities, and mentoring junior researchers.

• Develop and validate mechanistic and hybrid AI models of fungal growth, polymer degradation, and bioreactor performance.
• Apply machine learning and optimization techniques to guide experiments and improve fungal process performance.
• Design and execute laboratory experiments in collaboration with biological and analytical partners to validate computational predictions.
• Build automated laboratory workflows connecting experimental design, execution, data analysis, and model updating.
• Coordinate day-to-day research group activities, including work plans, group meetings, and milestone tracking.
• Manage laboratory access, equipment readiness, and experimental scheduling with technical staff to ensure safe operations.
• Mentor and support research students and junior researchers through practical onboarding and activity coordination.
• Contribute to project reporting, peer-reviewed publications, reproducible code repositories, and funding applications.
• Undertake teaching and education-related activities in accordance with Faculty workload policies.