Working Student (HiWi) in AI-Powered Drug Discovery

28.09.2024, Studentische Hilfskräfte, Praktikantenstellen, Studienarbeiten

This project is being carried out directly under Prof. Fabian Theis, a leading expert in machine learning and computational biology, for the ongoing publication “Prophet - scalable and universal prediction of cellular phenotypes”. We also offer extensive mentoring and/or authorship for students eager to make considerable contributions.

Start Date: As soon as possible

Hours: Flexible, 10-20 hours per week

What You’ll Do:
* Support in building and refining predictive models for drug discovery tasks
* Integrate new multi-omic data sources to improve Prophet pre-training framework
* Benchmark model performance and propose model improvements, data augmentation, or framework changes based on results
* Evaluate models with respect to drug development industry metrics

Required Qualifications:
* Enrolled student in Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Data Science, or a related field.
* Strong attention to detail, persistent at problem-solving
* Some background in molecular biology (through coursework or practical experience)
* Demonstrated ability to code in Python (through coursework, projects, or personal work)
* Has worked with tabular data.
* Ability to work independently, take initiative, communicate frequently, and think critically in solving problems.

Preferred Qualifications:
* Experience with machine learning libraries and tools (e.g., PyTorch, W&B).
* Familiarity with omics data (genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics) or biological datasets
* Knowledge of drug discovery processes or interest in biotechnology

What We Offer:
* Hands-on experience applying AI robustly to multi-modal data in drug discovery
* The opportunity to make real contributions to industry-relevant, real-world problems
* Learn about the stages of the drug development process
* Learn about the late-stage publication process
* Mentorship and the potential for authorship in academic publications
* Connections to renown labs around the world and the pharmaceutical industry in Germany and the U.S.
* Flexible working hours to accommodate your schedule

We are looking to fill this position as soon as possible, and additional roles may open up in the coming weeks. Interested? Send your CV or a brief description of your qualifications (3 sentences) to yuge.ji@helmholtz-munich.de with the subject line "HiWi Position – Prophet," along with times you are available for an initial meeting.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Kontakt: yuge.ji@helmholtz-muenchen.de