CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship in Machine Learning for eDNA Analysis

Acknowledgement of Country 

CSIRO acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land, sea and waters, of the area that we live and work on across Australia. We acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. View our vision towards reconciliation. 

Role highlights

• Support research that pushes the boundaries of eDNA science
• Join a multidisciplinary, innovative and collaborative team
• Launch your career at CSIRO – Australia’s National Science Agency!

About CSIRO

As Australia's national science agency, CSIRO is solving the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. Many of our iconic innovations were once considered impossible until someone, just like you, joined us and took on the challenge.

Visit CSIRO.au for more information.

The opportunity 

CSIRO is seeking a creative and motivated Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join an innovative, multidisciplinary team advancing the science of environmental DNA (eDNA) and its application in marine ecosystem monitoring. Working alongside the Minderoo Foundation, the team is pushing the boundaries of eDNA research through the development of new enrichment, quantification, and computational methods. This role provides an exciting opportunity to apply advanced machine learning and statistical modelling techniques to large-scale, high-dimensional eDNA datasets collected from Australian coastal and deep-sea waters, including those gathered during RV Investigator voyages.

The successful candidate will lead the analysis and interpretation of complex biodiversity data, helping to develop cutting-edge, taxon-independent analytical frameworks and predictive models that reveal subtle ecological patterns and early signals of marine ecosystem change. The position involves close collaboration with a diverse group of scientists and technicians across the entire eDNA workflow, from field sampling to bioinformatics and software development. We are looking for applicants with a strong computational background and a passion for extracting meaningful ecological insights from challenging datasets, who are keen to co-develop practical analytical tools for marine biodiversity monitoring and environmental decision-making.

Your high-level duties will include: 

• Conduct large-scale, taxon-independent analyses of existing and newly generated eDNA metabarcoding datasets to characterise patterns in community composition and relate these to measured oceanographic and environmental variables (e.g. pressure/depth, oxygen, salinity), through the application of supervised machine-learning approaches such as neural networks (deep learning).
• Apply unsupervised machine-learning approaches, including sequence representation learning and clustering, to marine eDNA data to identify patterns of sequence similarity and novelty relative to known taxonomic groups, and to quantify the extent of uncharacterised biodiversity in surveyed ecosystems (e.g. Australia’s deep-sea environments).
• Lead the analysis and publication of research outcomes in high quality publications.
• Carry out innovative, impactful research of strategic importance to CSIRO that will, where possible, lead to novel and important scientific outcomes.
• Recognise and utilise opportunities for innovation and the generation of new theoretical perspectives, and progress opportunities for the further development or creation of new lines of research
• Utilise design thinking methodology to plan and prepare research proposals, and apply non-academic impact methodology to research projects
• Carry out research investigations requiring originality, creativity and innovation
• Record, manage, and analyse data/information using relevant domain data science techniques.

Role particulars

Location: Perth, WA

Salary: AU$103k - AU$113k per annum (pro-rata for part-time) + 15.4% superannuation

Tenure & work schedule: Specified term of 2 years, Full-time        

Reference: 100927

As the successful candidate, you will bring:

Essential criteria

• A doctorate in a relevant discipline area, such as ecology, computational biology, bioinformatics, data science, or a closely related field. Please note: To be eligible for this role you must have at least 1 year and no more than 4 years (full-time equivalent) of relevant postdoctoral research experience.
• Demonstrated experience analysing large, complex, and high-dimensional biological or biodiversity datasets, such as those derived from eDNA, metabarcoding, metagenomics, or related approaches.
• Strong expertise in statistical modelling and machine learning, including experience applying supervised and/or unsupervised learning methods to ecological or biological data. (Experience with neural networks or deep learning approaches is highly relevant to this role.)
• Strong programming skills in R, Python, or similar, with the ability to write reproducible, well-documented code.
• Familiarity with high-performance computing (HPC) environments for large-scale data analysis, including workload managers such as SLURM.

 
For full details about this role, and other criteria, please review the Position Description. 

Not sure if you meet all the criteria?

While it is CSIRO policy that the successful candidate must meet all the essential criteria, there are many ways to demonstrate this. Don’t let the list discourage you. If you are unsure about applying, please reach out to the contact person in the Position Description.

Setting you up for success

We are committed to providing a recruitment process that is fair, equitable and accessible to everyone. We recognise that it may be helpful for us to adjust our process to make it equitable for your individual situation. Please contact Laura Mason via Laura.Mason@csiro.au and let us know how we can support you.

Life at CSIRO and flexible work arrangements

We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work. We can discuss flexible work arrangements with you during the recruitment process. CSIRO also offers a range of leave entitlements, benefits and career development opportunities. To find out more, visit Careers at CSIRO.

Inclusion and belonging

Solving Australia's greatest challenges takes a diversity of minds and lived experiences. We know diverse teams are more effective and deliver more innovative outcomes. As an equal employment opportunity organisation, we are committed to creating diverse and inclusive teams where people feel they belong. We recognise true diversity encompasses all ages, abilities, cultures, faiths, levels of education, genders, sexualities, diversity of thought and much more. We focus on hiring people who share our values of People First, Further Together, Making it Real and Trusted.

CSIRO holds Gold Status for the Australian Workplace Equality Index for LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and a Science in Australia Gender Equity Bronze Award.

Eligibility 

Applications for this position are open to Australian/New Zealand Citizens, Australian Permanent Residents and candidates who either hold, or are able to obtain, a valid working visa for the duration of the specified term (visa sponsorship and relocation assistance may be provided to the successful candidate if required).

Appointment to this role is subject to provision of a national police check and may be subject to other security/medical/character requirements.

Child safety 

CSIRO is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people involved in our activities and programs. View our Child Safe Policy. 

How to apply 

Please apply online and submit a CV and cover letter (maximum 2 pages) that demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the selection criteria of this role.

Applications close 

22 February 2026, 11:00pm AEDT