Postdoctoral Associate - Conversational AI & NLP

Description

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) is the world’s first AI focused university. Founded in 2020, MBZUAI started as a research-oriented graduate level university that has grown to host over 80 world-class faculty, over 330 graduate-level students, and is already ranked in the world’s top 25 by CSRankings for AI-related fields. Located in Abu Dhabi, the university aims to become a global leader in AI education and research by providing cutting-edge programs in Artificial Intelligence, empowering students to shape the future of technology. MBZUAI is committed to fostering innovation, collaboration, and ethical practices in AI to address global challenges.

About the role:

This project is a collaboration between MBZUAI and a Major Industry Partner in the UAE that aims to create a state-of-the-art Conversational Booking Agent. The agent will integrate with existing company systems, engage users naturally and effectively in English (with future expansion to Arabic), ensure safety and reliability, and provide personalized recommendations. This position focuses on the core natural language processing and developing conversational capabilities of the agent.

The Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Conversational AI & NLP will lead the research and development of the core dialogue engine. This involves designing, implementing, and evaluating advanced NLP models to ensure coherent, engaging, and safe user interactions. The role requires a deep understanding of large language models (LLMs), dialogue systems, context management, and techniques to mitigate risks like hallucination and manipulation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and develop the core conversational capabilities of the booking agent using state-of-the-art LLMs and NLP techniques.
• Investigate and implement strategies to prevent misleading advice and enhance model safety and robustness against manipulation.
• Collaborate closely with the project team to define data requirements for training and fine-tuning conversational models.
• Coordinate the evaluation of the agent's conversational quality, safety, and security.
• Work with engineers to integrate the conversational module with backend systems and user interfaces.
• Stay updated on the latest research in conversational AI, dialogue systems, LLM safety, and related fields.
• Publish research findings in top-tier conferences and journals.
• Mentor junior researchers or research assistants (RAs) involved in related tasks.
• Collect, preprocess and store conversational data, ensuring compliance with privacy standards and efficient use in model training and improvement.
• Benchmark and evaluate NLP models to assess performance across various metrics and fine-tune models based on results.

Qualifications

PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field with a focus on Natural Language Processing and Conversational AI.

Minimum:

• Experience in developing and evaluating dialogue systems or conversational agents. 
• Experience in managing, preprocessing, and storing data while ensuring privacy compliance.
• Proficiency in fine-tuning, benchmarking, evaluating and NLP models.
• Strong understanding of Large Language Models (LLMs), including their strengths, limitations.
• Knowledge of methods for evaluating conversational AI systems (e.g., coherence, relevance, safety).
• Proficiency in working with deep learning frameworks.
• Track record of relevant publications in leading NLP conferences or journals.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

Preferred:

• Experience with LLM safety, alignment, and hallucination mitigation techniques.
• Experience with bilingual or multilingual NLP models.
• Familiarity with evaluation methods for conversational interfaces.
• Experience working in collaborative, multi-disciplinary research projects.

What we offer:

• Opportunity to work on a high-impact, industry-relevant research project.
• A stimulating research environment at MBZUAI with leading experts in AI.
• Competitive compensation and benefit package aligned with top-tier academic markets.
• Opportunities for professional development and conference travel.

Application Instructions

Interested candidates should submit the following:

• Cover letter
• Current Curriculum Vitae (C.V.)
• Link to Google Scholar
• Statement of research vision and interests (optional)

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the position will remain open until filled.

For more information or to apply, please visit  MBZUAI Careers  or contact us directly at NLP.IndustryProject@mbzuai.ac.ae.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR §§ 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.5(a). These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Moreover, these regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status or disability.