Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) invites qualified postdoctoral candidates to apply for the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow. This position provides early career scientists the opportunity to work at a unique, academically-oriented industrial research laboratory. Successful candidates will be expected to define and pursue their own original research agenda, explore connections to established laboratory initiatives, and publish high impact articles in leading venues.

MERL is located in the heart of Kendall Square, with close proximity to MIT and Harvard, and serves as the North American Research & Development arm of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, a $40B global manufacturer of electrical products. With over 30 years of innovation, MERL fosters an environment that gives researchers the opportunity to set their own agenda and pursue their passions. The culture at MERL values both fundamental scientific contributions and their application to real business problems and encourages our researchers to become leaders in their respective fields. Collaboration is highly incentivized, and bureaucracy is minimized. MERL's strengths lie at the intersection of computer science, engineering, physics, and applied mathematics, specializing in the areas of machine learning, robotics, signal processing, control, optimization, and perception. Candidates are expected to leverage these strengths and expand into new areas in collaboration with our researchers.

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at MERL, you will have access to resources that will expand your thinking and accelerate your career trajectory, and you will be embedded in an academically-oriented environment that allows for collaborations across disciplines. The primary benefits of this position include:

• Latitude to explore your own research agenda, drawing inspiration from relevant industry and societal challenges that are being addressed by MERL researchers. There is no other industrial laboratory with this level of research freedom and opportunity for industrial impact.
• Collaboration with leading researchers at MERL across multiple fields. MERL is small enough and information exchange happens freely and frequently, so it is very easy to know what researchers in other groups are working on and connect with them on new topics.
• Opportunity to collaborate with extensive network of existing academic partners. New academic collaborations that align with particular research goals may also be considered.
• Stable funding from the parent company to pursue long-term research initiatives, so there is no need to write grant proposals. You will also have access to our high-performance computing infrastructure and lab equipment, as well as generous travel support to participate in conferences.
• Excellent work/life balance with flexible work time, great benefits, and competitive compensation.

The expected appointment for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow is 2 years and may lead to subsequent full-time employment at MERL. In any case, the position is more valuable as a steppingstone to a future career in academia or industrial research than a postdoctoral position at a university. The experience gained at MERL is highly valuable, leading to collaborative relationships that are likely to last beyond the appointment's tenure, and providing relevant industrial experience to develop more compelling research proposals in the future. Many MERL researchers and alumni have come from, or gone to, academic appointments at top universities.

Qualifications for this position are:

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics, or related fields.
• Strong publication record demonstrating independent and innovative research achievements.
• Excellent teamwork and communication skills.

Open positions can be found on the Employment Opportunities page.