PhD position 

As of now (April 2015), we have an opening for a fully paid 100% doctoral position (PhD). He or she will work closely with the head of the group towards the development and application of machine learning models of chemical reaction rates. This research relies heavily on quantum chemistry and machine learning methods which have not yet found their way into textbooks or typical university curricula. The successful candidate will join our young and diverse team (currently 3 postdocs + 3 PhD students) working in the Institute of Physical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Basel, Switzerland.
Our research deals with the virtual exploration of chemical space. We pursue a rigorous physics based approach within which chemical space is defined as the space of all possible geometries and stoichiometries one can think of. This space is huge which is why we develop machine learning methods to encode all knowledge gained, and to navigate the space more efficiently. Development of, and working with, electronic structure or universal force field based codes is therefore an important part of the work.
The applicant should have a Master's degree in a scientific discipline (Physical chemistry, solid-state or condensed matter physics, computational engineering, or applied mathematics) from a renown and accredited University. Ideally, some hands-on experience in the theoretical/computational branches of chemistry, engineering, physics, or computer science have already been demonstrated through Master thesis work or scientific publications. It is very desirable that the candidate is comfortable with linux environment, scripting, and (parallel) programming. Strong interests in machine learning, atomistic simulation, and electronic structure simulations is a must, as well as the desire to make use of some of the world's largest high-performance compute hardware.

For more information, please visit: http://www.chemie.unibas.ch/~anatole

The remuneration for this position is outstanding by global standards (roughly 50,000 CHF/year). The university of Basel is one of Europe's oldest, and in fact the oldest one in Switzerland. Basel is a beautiful city, located in the heart of Europe, and with its own airport serving various low-budget carriers. See this recent Report about Basel on Bloomberg's news. 

If you are interested in this position, please send a CV to the head of the group, together with names and address of 2 references.