Area of research:
Executive posts
Job description: Principal Investigators (f/m/x) for (i) AI in Biomedicine and (ii) AI Foundations
102862
Full time
39 hrs./week
Neuherberg near Munich
Partial Home Office possible
At Helmholtz Munich, we develop groundbreaking solutions for a healthier society in a rapidly changing world. We believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation. Through strong partnerships, we accelerate the transfer of new ideas from the lab to real-life applications, improving lives.
Helmholtz Munich is a leading European hub for AI in Health. By designing, developing and applying innovative AI models, we drive biomedical discovery to lay the foundation for technologies that transform medicine. Working hand in hand with experimental and clinical partners, we accelerate translation so that our research reaches society and improves people’s lives.
Join us at Helmholtz Munich’s Computational Health Center and make a difference as a
Principal Investigator (f/m/x) for (i) AI in Biomedicine or (ii) AI Foundations
We are looking for two outstanding researchers with a strong track record of advancing the state of the art in machine learning and potentially its application to biology and biomedicine, with the ambition to build an internationally visible research group. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to shape a long-term research agenda, mentor junior researchers, and collaborate across disciplinary boundaries.
You will benefit from being part of the Helmholtz Association - Europe’s largest Research Organisation - with its unique Helmholtz AI platform.
Your role
Possible research directions include (but are not limited to)
For AI in Biomedicine :
* Representation learning for complex biomedical data
* Large language models for patient records and multi-omics
* Generative AI for therapeutic and molecular design
* Fair, robust and trustworthy AI for clinical applications
For AI foundations :
* Explainable, interpretable and causal machine learning
* Reinforcement learning, planning and sequential decision-making
* Scaling, compression, and efficient training of multimodal and foundation models
* Self-supervised, contrastive, continual, curriculum, and lifelong learning
* Agentic foundation models, tool use, self-improving or self-updating AI models
Your profile
* Excellent PhD and/or postdoctoral record with outstanding scientific achievements, international research experience, and publications in relevant journals and/or in top-tier venues (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, TMLR)
* Background in machine learning and AI, computer science or related fields
* Demonstrated commitment to high-impact, translational research focused on addressing unmet clinical needs or improving public health outcomes
* Experience in interactive collaboration across technical, clinical, and/or industry domains
* A visionary and implementable research agenda that advances or leverages cutting-edge AI/ML to solve critical problems
* Commitment to establishing and developing your own research group with a clear scientific profile
* Exceptional communication, organizational, mentorship and leadership skills
Our offer
* An exceptional opportunity for scientific independence and to establish yourself at the forefront of applied AI using singular biomedical datasets
* A generous start-up package (salary, positions, and running costs) equivalent to the scope and duration of an ERC Starting Grant
* A five-year PI position with the possibility of tenure-track
* A vibrant, international, highly collaborative, and interdisciplinary research environment in Munich - one of the world’s most liveable cities
* Integration into Helmholtz Munich’s Computational Health Center and Helmholtz AI, as well as Munich’s thriving digital health ecosystem, supported by the Munich Center for Machine Learning (MCML), ELLIS Munich (with the opportunity to join the ELLIS Society), and the M1 Munich Medicine Alliance, the university hospitals of TUM and LMU, and the German Centers for Health Research
If you fulfill all the requirements, you may be eligible for a salary grade of up to E 15. Social benefits are based on the Collective Wage Agreement for Public-Sector Employees (TVöD).
Managing Director Mike Frieser: „We believe that diversity is the key to groundbreaking research and innovative solutions. Our flexible working models and remote options create a supportive environment for balancing work and family life. For us, contributing to a healthier society in such an inspiring workplace is truly meaningful.“
Get to know us
Benefits
* Grow as a leader: Personalized and diverse development programs
* Scientific Resources: State-of-the-art infrastruture and Core Facilities
* Recreation: 30 days annual leave, flexi days, plus public holidays
* International Staff Service: Support with the relocation and integration process in Germany
* Family Support: On-site kindergarten, holiday care, care for the elderly
* Health Promotion: Sports, company doctor, mental health initiatives
Interested in applying?
For scientific questions regarding the positions, please contact Prof. Carsten Marr, Director of the Institute of AI for Health at CHC (carsten.marr@helmholtz-munich.de). For operational or administrative questions, please contact Anna Sacher, CHC Director of Operations (anna.sacher@helmholtz-munich.de), who will be happy to help.
Our recruiting is decentralized - your application will be reviewed directly by the specialist department in which you could work in the future.
More information about our application process
Please send your application only via our online application tool and with the following documents as a single PDF:
* CV
* Cover letter
* your future research plan (3 pages max.)
* List of publications (please highlight up to three with a brief explanation of their impact)
* Contact details for at least three referees
* List of publications (please highlight up to three with a brief explanation of their impact)
* Contact details for at least three referees
11 January, 2026
Invitations to the Recruiting Symposium on 9 February 2026 will be sent out on 23 January 2026. If you have obtained a university degree abroad, we will require further documents from you regarding the comparability of your degree.
Please request the Statement of Comparability for Foreign Higher Education Qualifications as early as possible.
We are committed to promoting a culture of diversity and welcome applications from talented people regardless of gender, cultural background, nationality, ethnicity, sexual identity, physical abilities, religion or age. Qualified applicants with physical disabilities will be given preference.
Regarding these positions, we specifically welcome applications from female scientists. Helmholtz Munich is a certified equal opportunity employer with a family-friendly research environment, flexible hours and remote working options, dual-career opportunities and a child-care facility on campus.
Learn more about diversity at Helmholtz Munich
Our commitment
Helmholtz Munich
Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH)
AI for Health
Ingolstädter Landstraße 1
85764 Neuherberg
This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation.
Company
The Helmholtz Association contributes to solving major challenges to assure the future of our society. With more than 47.500 people on staff in 18 national Research Centers and an annual budget of more than 6 billion euros, the Helmholtz Association is Germany’s largest scientific organization. The name Helmholtz stands for concerted research, in which networks form the key principle behind inquiring thought and action.
The profile of the Helmholtz Association
The Helmholtz Association performs cutting-edge research which contributes substantially to solving the grand challenges of science, society and industry. To succeed in meeting these responsibilities, Helmholtz concentrates its work in six research fields: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Information, Matter, as well as Aeronautics, Space and Transport. Within each of these fields, research programs are developed by our scientists and regularly evaluated by renowned international experts. Their evaluation forms the basis for the program-oriented funding that is allocated to Helmholtz research. Within the six research fields, Helmholtz scientists cooperate with each other and with external partners – working across disciplinary, organizational and national borders.
Moreover, Helmholtz specializes in large-scale research infrastructures – from accelerator facilities, earth observation satellites, research ships to supercomputers. They form the basis for scientific advances in tackling global societal challenges. Managing national research infrastructure is part of the Helmholtz Association's mission.
Promoting young academics
Helmholtz scientists, a high-performance infrastructure and modern and efficient research management are the ingredients to the Helmholtz Association‘s success and global impact.
Promoting young researchers is a major priority for the Helmholtz Association. Its qualification schemes for young researchers are geared mainly towards PhD students, postdocs and young managers. The Helmholtz Association has set high standards for its talent management. Its strategy begins with targeted recruitment of highly qualified staff at all levels, followed by comprehensive support aimed at further developing their potential. Ensuring equal opportunities is an essential element in all talent management activities undertaken by the Helmholtz Association.
The Helmholtz Graduate Schools and Research Schools at almost all Helmholtz Centers provide doctoral students with the general and specific skills and training they need, as well as ample opportunity to network. The period following a doctorate is decisive in determining the direction and success of a scientific career. For this reason, we established Career Development Centers for postdoctoral researchers in the Helmholtz Centers. This equips young researchers with the skills they need to go on to head a Helmholtz Investigator Group, for example. As an Investigator Group leader, junior scientists can independently set up their own group to conduct research in their specialist field and acquire management skills.
Within its talent management strategy, the Helmholtz Association pays special attention to the increased recruitment of talented female scientists both from Germany and abroad. To this end, there are currently two funding programs supporting this policy: and Helmholtz Distinguished Professorship – Funding for the recruitment of leading international female scientists (W3) .
The increasing complexity of the content, structures and framework conditions of scientific work today requires researchers to organize their projects, their employees and, of course, themselves in a highly professional and effective way. In response to these demands, we have set up the Helmholtz Leadership Academy to provide leaders in science with professional management training. Furthermore, the Helmholtz network provides a platform for the alumni of the Helmholtz Leadership Academy to come together and share their experiences of leadership, career development and lifelong learning.
All of this combined makes the 18 Research Centers of the Helmholtz Association a highly attractive environment for talented researchers from all over the world.
Company info
Telephone
0049-30-206329-0
Location
Anna-Louisa-Karsch-Str. 2
Berlin
Berlin
10178
Germany