Care and Climate Change

Postdoc Opportunity: Socio-Political Impacts of AI-Driven Battery Materials Discovery

Deadline to apply is July 15

Details

Application Deadline: July 15, 2025.

Compensation: CAD $ 70,000 per year salary

Location: Toronto (in-residence at UTSC)

Start Date: September or October 2025 (flexible to accommodate the candidate’s schedule or immigration requirement, if needed).

Duration: 1 year, renewable for a 2nd year

Salary: $70,000 CAD/year

Time Allocation: 25 hrs/week AE project; 15 hrs/week personal research

FTE: 100% (40 hrs/week)

More info

The hiring committee invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Socio-Political Impacts of AI-Driven Battery Materials Discovery, part of the Automating Extraction (AE) research project based at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

The AE project explores the social, political, economic, and epistemological implications of Self-Driving Labs (SDLs)—AI-driven research systems used to accelerate battery materials discovery for energy transition. While these technologies promise efficiency and reduced reliance on scarce minerals, they also risk reshaping extractive economies, scientific labour, and global mineral supply chains in ways that remain under-examined.

Research Focus

The fellowship supports critical, interdisciplinary research that:

Candidate Profile

Applicants trained in the following areas are encouraged to apply:

Applicants should have a demonstrated record of interdisciplinary research and a commitment to public, policy, or community engagement. The fellow will contribute to interviews, discourse analysis, and case study design, while also pursuing independent research aligned with the project.

Responsibilities

Qualifications

How to Apply

Submit the following to both co-supervisors:

Send applications to:

Imre Szeman – imre.szeman@utoronto.ca

Director, Institute for Environment, Conservation and Sustainability (IECS) and Professor of Human Geography, University of Toronto Scarborough

Sergio Montero – s.montero@utoronto.ca

Director, Institute for Inclusive Economies & Sustainable Livelihoods, and Associate Professor of Human Geography, University of T