About this role
<div><div style="padding:10.0px 0.0px;border:1.0px solid transparent"><div style="font-size:16.0px;word-wrap:break-word"><H2 style="font-size:1.0em;margin:0.0px"><b>Teaser Text</b></H2> </div><div><p><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">The Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) at Leiden University is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Machine Learning cluster. The position is part of a research project investigating how visual foundation models can efficiently acquire new expertise in specialised domains where labelled data is scarce. Recent foundation models have transformed computer vision, yet their ability to acquire new expertise remains limited when training data is scarce or specialised. This project aims to develop the next generation of adaptive visual learning systems by enabling foundation models to efficiently specialise through the exploitation of structure within representations and across tasks. The resulting methods will help bridge the gap between general-purpose foundation models and expert-level performance in specialised domains. The successful candidate will work closely with Dr. Hazel Doughty ([email protected]) and will have the opportunity to help shape an ambitious research programme at the intersection of computer vision, machine learning, and foundation models. </span><br><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt"><strong>Research Focus</strong> </span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">The project investigates how visual foundation models can efficiently adapt beyond their original training experience and acquire expert-level capabilities in specialized domains with limited supervision. Potential research directions include, but are not limited to: </span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Adaptation and specialisation of visual foundation models;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Fine-grained visual understanding and representation learning;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Self-supervised and data-efficient learning;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Transfer learning and knowledge reuse across tasks;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Structured and compositional learning;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Vision-language and multimodal models;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Learning with limited supervision;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Generalisation beyond pretraining distributions The precise research agenda will be developed together with the successful candidate and may evolve throughout the project. </span></p></div></div><div style="padding:10.0px 0.0px;border:1.0px solid transparent"><div style="font-size:16.0px;word-wrap:break-word"><H2 style="font-size:1.0em;margin:0.0px"><b>What you will do</b></H2> </div><div><p>● <span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">Conduct original and high-quality research in machine learning and computer vision; </span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Develop novel algorithms for adapting and specialising visual foundation models;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Publish research findings at leading machine learning and computer vision venues such as CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, and ICLR;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Present research at international conferences and workshops;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Contribute to the supervision of MSc and PhD students;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Assist with limited teaching and service activities within the department;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Contribute to the development of an internationally visible research programme on fine-grained and data-efficient visual understanding.</span></p></div></div><div style="padding:10.0px 0.0px;border:1.0px solid transparent"><div style="font-size:16.0px;word-wrap:break-word"><H2 style="font-size:1.0em;margin:0.0px"><b>Where you will work</b></H2> </div><div><div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">Curiosity and passion for science are what connect our people: we seek to know, understand, interpret, and create. Our mission is to provide excellent education and research across the full spectrum of the natural sciences, contributing to solutions for major societal challenges. Our eight institutes—ranging from mathematics, computer science, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biopharmaceutical sciences to biology and environmental sciences—together with the Lorentz Center and the Hortus botanicus, form the backbone of our faculty and are closely connected. We work in a safe, stimulating, and international environment where enthusiasm and passion drive both research and education, and where building connections and collaboration, both within and beyond the faculty, come naturally.</span></div> <div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">The faculty is home to more than 2,700 staff members and over 6,000 students enrolled in nine bachelor's and fifteen master's programs. We are located at the heart of the Bio Science Park, one of Europe’s largest science parks, where academia and industry come together.</span></div> <div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">You will be part of the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS). LIACS offers the bachelor's programs in Computer Science and Data Science/Artificial Intelligence, as well as master's programs in Computer Science, ICT in Business and the Public Sector, Media Technology, and Science Based Business. According to an independent research assessment, LIACS is one of the leading computer science departments in the Netherlands. We strive for excellence in a supportive institute where academic achievement, enjoyment, and diversity go hand in hand. We offer a clear and welcoming career path for young and talented scientists with the ambition to grow. For more information about LIACS, visit our website.</span></div></div></div><div style="padding:10.0px 0.0px;border:1.0px solid transparent"><div style="font-size:16.0px;word-wrap:break-word"><H2 style="font-size:1.0em;margin:0.0px"><b>What you bring</b></H2> </div><div><p><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">We are looking for candidates with: </span><br><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● A PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, or a closely related field;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● A strong publication record in leading machine learning and/or computer vision venues;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Excellent programming skills, particularly in Python and PyTorch;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Excellent written and oral communication skills in English;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● The ability to conduct independent research while working effectively in a collaborative environment Experience with vision-language models, large-scale representation learning, or foundation model adaptation is particularly desirable. </span></p></div></div><div style="padding:10.0px 0.0px;border:1.0px solid transparent"><div style="font-size:16.0px;word-wrap:break-word"><H2 style="font-size:1.0em;margin:0.0px"><b>What we offer</b></H2> </div><div><p> </p> <ul type="disc"> <li style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">An employment contract for a duration of initially one year. After a positive evaluation of the progress of the research, personal capabilities and compatibility, the appointment will be extended by two more years.This contract falls under the CLA of Dutch Universities;</span></li> <li style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt"> <div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">A salary between € 3.546,= and € 5.538,= gross per month, based on a full-time appointment (38 hours, payscale 10);</span></div> </li> <li style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt"> <div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">A holiday allowance (8%), an end-of-year bonus (8,3%), and an attractive pension scheme at ABP;</span></div> </li> <li style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt"> <div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">Full reimbursement of public transport commuting costs for home-to-work travel;</span></div> </li> <li style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt"> <div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">Flexible working hours: as a standard, you are entitled to a minimum of 29 leave days on the basis of a full-time working week of 38 hours; you can also save for extra leave, for example by working 40 hours a week, and in this way accrue an extra 96 leave hours, or exchange 96 leave hours for a 36-hour week.</span></div> </li> <li style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt"> <div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">Lots of options when it comes to secondary employment conditions; we can, for example, discuss options for a sabbatical or paid parental leave. Within our terms of employment individual choices model, you can exchange leave days and/or salary for benefits such as an advantageous sports subscription and bicycle scheme;</span></div> </li> <li style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt"> <div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">If your work allows it, hybrid working is possible within the Netherlands;</span></div> </li> <li style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt"> <div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">A home-working allowance (day and internet allowance) and attention for good workplaces. The University will also provide you with a laptop.</span></div> </li> </ul></div></div><div style="padding:10.0px 0.0px;border:1.0px solid transparent"><div style="font-size:16.0px;word-wrap:break-word"><H2 style="font-size:1.0em;margin:0.0px"><b>What we value</b></H2> </div><div><p><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">Promoting an inclusive community is central to Leiden University’s values and vision. We strive to be an open community in which all students and staff members feel valued and respected, and are able to fully develop themselves. We consider an inclusive academic environment, where students and staff can share their experiences and viewpoints, to be essential for the development of talent.</span></p></div></div><div style="padding:10.0px 0.0px;border:1.0px solid transparent"><div style="font-size:16.0px;word-wrap:break-word"><H2 style="font-size:1.0em;margin:0.0px"><b>Want to apply or find out more?</b></H2> </div><div><div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">If you would like more information about what the job entails, please contact Dr. Hazel Doughty, email: [email protected]. If you want more information about the procedure you can sent an email to: [email protected].</span></div> <div> </div> <div><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">You can apply online via the blue button in the vacancy until <strong>31-07-2026. </strong>Please ensure that you upload the following additional documents:</span><br><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Detailed CV;</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● Research statement (max 2 pages);</span><br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">● The names and email addresses of two references who can provide letters of recommendation.</span><br><br><strong><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10.0pt">Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis </span></strong></div></div></div></div>