At the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, basic scientists and clinicians are working in close cooperation to understand the causes of complex diseases of the brain, searching for new prevention and treatment strategies. This translational research strategy is supported by a modern psychiatric research hospital as well as several research departments and research groups with expertise ranging from neurobiological research methods as well as clinical and behavioral studies to molecular genetics and computational approaches. The overarching goal is to optimize the benefit of research advances for the patients by way of a close and innovative networking of basic research-oriented and clinical neuroscience.

The Project Group “Translational Machine Learning” offers a position as from 01.10.2024

The MPIP Fellowship led by Prof. Dr. med. Falkai at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry focuses on developing transdiagnostic biomarkers across the
spectrum of mental illness.
The project group “Translational Machine Learning” aims to develop clinically guided translational machine learning applications for the use in psychiatry.
Specifically, we are developing and applying unsupervised and supervised machine learning techniques to answer a multitude of questions in severe mental
disorders, ranging from affective and psychotic disorders to paraphilias or dementia. Our focus lies in combining clinical expertise with state-of-the-art machine
learning algorithms as well as interpretable AI approaches to develop clinically useful tools that can aid the diagnostic and therapeutic process in clinical care.
Among many other projects, we are currently using support vector machines to predict long- and short-term treatment response in schizophrenia and we are
developing multi-view toolboxes featuring Sparse Partial Least Squares Analysis to derive complex brain signatures of childhood trauma, personality and
neuroinflammation. Most recently, we have added interpretable AI techniques, such as Shapley Values, and prompt engineering techniques to our portfolio.

• Degree or extensive experience in data analysis, machine learning or related field
• Advanced expertise in programming (e.g., MATLAB, R, Python)
• Experience or interest in prompt engineering
• Experience or interest in the development of toolboxes, applications and model deployment
• Experience or interest in working with high performance computational clusters (Linux-based, Shell/Bash)
• Good skills in spoken and written English
• Ability to work independently but also effectively and collegially with other members of your team

• Scientific activity and development in a dynamic and vital interdisciplinary group
• Possibility to perform and expand your skills in integrative data analysis including Machine Learning and computational modelling with various modalities
• (omics, cellular, imaging and electrophysiology data)
• State-of-the-art facilities
• Participation in international scientific conferences
• Supervision and guidance to develop your profile and career in translational neuroscience
• International collaborations (e.g., King's College (London), Yale University (United States))
• The Max Planck Society offers a variety of training, soft skill and career-oriented courses
• Payment and benefits according to the collective agreement for public service employees (“Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst - TVöD-Bund”)

The position is temporary for three years.

Please contact Dr. Dr. David Popovic for further questions: david_popovic@psych.mpg.de, +49 89 30622 - 8440

The Max Planck Society strives for gender equality and diversity. We welcome applications from all backgrounds. Women are especially encouraged to apply. Furthermore, we are committed to encourage applications from individuals with disabilities in our workforce and applicants as such with equal qualifications will be given preferential treatment. The institute management is very positive towards using parental leave, especially by fathers.

Please visit our homepage for further information: www.psych.mpg.de

We look forward to your Online-Application.