CS PhD Roundup — August 24, 2026: 2 new openings and 3 active carry-forwards

What changed this week

Two newly posted openings passed the channel's named-advisor and recent top-conference filter during August 17–24, 2026: a postdoctoral research associate role with Osvaldo Simeone at Northeastern University London, and a postdoctoral-level Research Associate role with Christoph Schran at the University of Cambridge. Three previously tracked lead pages remain active; EPFL's opening alone covers two postdoctoral seats. 1 2

The earliest credible deadlines belong to SDU and Aalto. SDU's page gives two deadline formats that need confirmation in the portal. EPFL and ISTA remain rolling. Aalto is separated as watch-only because the opening names Professor Ville Kyrki, while a qualifying 2022–2025 NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, or ACL paper by Kyrki remains unverified. 3 4

Quick triage

Direction	Advisor and institution	Position	Posting evidence	Deadline / start	First action
Reliable, neuromorphic, and quantum AI	Osvaldo Simeone, Northeastern University London	1 full-time postdoc, 2 years	Placed August 19, 2026	Closes September 22, 2026; starts January 2027	Apply through the Northeastern advert with a CV, one-page cover letter, and up to three referees. 1
ML for materials simulation	Christoph Schran, University of Cambridge	Postdoctoral-level Research Associate; 1 role	Cambridge page timestamp: August 19, 2026, 7:00 p.m. (-05); jobs.ac.uk mirror says August 21	Cambridge page: deadline not public; mirror: September 13, 2026; 6 months initially	Apply with reference KA50805. 2 5
Neuromorphic reinforcement learning	Melih Kandemir, University of Southern Denmark	1 postdoc, 2 years	Portal posting date: June 17, 2026; carry-forward role	Page text: August 31, 2026 at 23:59 local Danish time; portal block: September 1, 2026 at 05:59, timezone unlabeled; starts no earlier than October 1	Confirm the cutoff in the SDU portal, then upload the CV, full publication list, and PhD evidence. 3
Biological foundation models	Charlotte Bunne, EPFL AIMM	2 postdocs	Current advert; original posting date not public on the page; carry-forward opening	Rolling review; Fall 2026 preferred; later starts by arrangement	Send a CV, one-page research statement, and two references through the EPFL application route. 6
Trustworthy, continual, and neuro-symbolic ML	Christoph Lampert, ISTA	Multiple postdocs, 1–2 years	Page last updated June 2026; carry-forward opening	Rolling until positions are filled; start flexible	Email one PDF with the CV, research statement, publication list, transcripts, and three references to `chl(at)ist.ac.at`. 7

Reliable AI and emerging computing

Northeastern University London: Osvaldo Simeone

Fit. Professor Osvaldo Simeone's NeurIPS 2025 paper Adaptive Prediction-Powered AutoEval with Reliability and Efficiency Guarantees places him inside the recent target-venue filter. The postdoc suits a researcher working on uncertainty quantification, calibration, conformal prediction, statistical learning theory, online optimization, or reliable inference. 8

Role and application. Northeastern University London is recruiting one full-time postdoctoral research associate for a two-year fixed-term appointment starting in January 2027. The project spans reliable classical, neuromorphic, and quantum AI. Listed work includes offline and online calibration, conformal prediction, spiking neural models, reliability guarantees for quantum machine learning, multiple hypothesis testing, and adaptive decision-making. The salary is £42,701 per year. 1

The advert asks for a PhD or equivalent professional experience in machine learning, statistics, electrical engineering, computer science, or a related field. Applicants should show mathematical modelling, algorithm design, or theoretical analysis; Python proficiency; and relevant experience in reliable inference, conformal prediction, quantum machine learning, neuromorphic computing, or statistical learning theory. The application packet is a CV, a cover letter of no more than one page, and contact details for up to three references. The advert says shortlisting is rolling and that the post may close early if applications are numerous. Apply through the advert's Apply button. 1

Lab signal. The role sits in the Institute for Intelligent Networked Systems' London hub and includes collaboration with international academic and industry partners, research presentations, PhD-student mentoring, and support for project reports and future funding proposals. The advert also states that the university provides flexible working, parental-leave opportunities, an employee assistance programme, and other staff benefits. 1

Aalto: Ville Kyrki — watch-only

Aalto's new advert names Professor Ville Kyrki as leader of the House of AI Intelligent Robotics theme and advertises up to three two-year postdoctoral positions. The research directions are robot learning for contact-rich and deformable-object manipulation, plus fault prediction, anomaly detection, reliable autonomy, sparse failure data, and distribution shift. The advert gives a September 6, 2026 deadline, a start date by agreement, and a packet of a CV with publication list, cover letter, code or demo links, and two referees. 4

The opening is useful for applicants in robotics and reliable autonomy, but Kyrki's qualifying recent publication record remains unverified. The advert's mention that applicants may have NeurIPS or ICLR papers describes the candidate profile; it does not establish an eligible paper authored by Kyrki. Keep this item outside the main queue until an official publication record clears that check. Open the Aalto application route. 4

Machine learning for materials

Cambridge: Christoph Schran

Fit. Dr Christoph Schran is a co-author of the NeurIPS 2025 paper REM3DI: Learning smooth, chiral 3D molecular representations from equivariant atomistic foundation models. The role fits a researcher whose work combines machine learning interatomic potentials, atomistic simulation, materials modelling, and scientific computing. 9

Role and application. Cambridge seeks a postdoctoral researcher as a Research Associate in the Theory of Condensed Matter group at the Cavendish Laboratory. The project develops and applies machine-learning models for amorphous and disordered materials, including reference-data generation, model training and validation, and large-scale molecular-dynamics simulations on national high-performance computing facilities. The funds cover six months initially. The official Cambridge page gives no public deadline, start date, or salary. 2

The applicant should hold or be close to obtaining a PhD in physics, chemistry, materials science, or a related field. Essential experience includes developing, training, and validating machine-learning interatomic potentials, Python and frameworks such as PyTorch, and simulation of amorphous or disordered materials. Density-functional-theory reference data, high-performance or GPU computing, and open-source scientific software are listed as advantages. A PhD is required for appointment at Research Associate level; applicants who have submitted but have not yet received the degree may initially be appointed as Research Assistants. Apply online with reference KA50805, or contact Dr Schran at cs2121@cam.ac.uk for an informal enquiry. 2

The Cambridge page carries a publication timestamp corresponding to August 19, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. (-05). The jobs.ac.uk copy says August 21, 2026 and supplies a September 13, 2026 deadline and a salary range of £34,610–£46,049. Keep the discrepancy in your application checklist: Cambridge is the institutional source for the role, while the mirror supplies fields the institutional page leaves public only in the copy. 2 5

Lab signal. The Research Associate can shape the project direction and collaborate across the Theory of Condensed Matter group and the Lennard-Jones Centre. The advert also places the work on national high-performance computing facilities. 2

Reinforcement learning

University of Southern Denmark: Melih Kandemir

Fit. Melih Kandemir's publication page lists recent work in reinforcement learning and uncertainty, including NeurIPS 2022, NeurIPS 2023, NeurIPS 2024, and ICLR 2022 papers. The opening is aimed at researchers who can combine RL theory with probabilistic modelling, spiking neural networks, and robust control under non-stationarity. 10

Role and application. The SDU Adaptive Intelligence Lab is recruiting one two-year postdoctoral research fellow in neuromorphic reinforcement learning. The project covers deep RL, probabilistic modelling, spiking neural networks, theoretical guarantees for high-dimensional non-stationary control, and simulation for adaptive robotics and embodied AI. The earliest start is October 1, 2026. The advert requires a PhD in computer science, mathematics, statistics, or theoretical physics; at least two first-author papers at flagship ML venues such as NeurIPS, ICML, or ICLR; strong RL theory; and Python with PyTorch or JAX. Salary follows the Danish collective agreement, with no figure public on the page. 3

The current page states August 31, 2026 at 23:59 local Danish time in the job description. Its Job Info block shows 09/01/2026, 05:59 AM without a timezone label. Treat both as live portal fields and confirm the cutoff before submitting. The application needs a CV with employment dates, a full publication list, and a PhD diploma or supervisor statement. Open the SDU application portal. 3

Lab signal. ADIN sits in SDU's Data Science and Statistics Group, which brings mathematicians and computer scientists into one department. The advert describes collaboration on top-tier publications and standard teaching-assistant duties. 3

Biological foundation models

EPFL AIMM: Charlotte Bunne

Fit. Charlotte Bunne's CV lists Modeling Complex System Dynamics with Flow Matching Across Time and Conditions at ICLR 2025 and Supervised Training of Conditional Monge Maps at NeurIPS 2022. Her research connects optimal transport, generative modelling, and biological or biomedical data. 11

Role and application. EPFL's Artificial Intelligence in Molecular Medicine Lab has two postdoctoral positions in biological foundation models. The work spans architecture design, pretraining objectives, tokenization, scalable learning, multimodal biological data, agentic interfaces, drug discovery, and biomedicine. Applicants should have a completed or near-completed PhD in machine learning, computer science, computational biology, or a related field; experience with large-scale AI development; familiarity with biological data; and a strong publication record. The advert gives rolling review, a preference for Fall 2026, and later starts by arrangement. Salary is described as competitive, with no figure public. Apply through the EPFL route. 6

Lab signal. The advert places AIMM at the intersection of computer science and life sciences and lists dedicated compute through CSCS and the Swiss AI Initiative, pharmaceutical collaborations, mentorship toward academic or industry careers, and an international environment. 6

Trustworthy and neuro-symbolic ML

ISTA: Christoph Lampert

Fit. Christoph Lampert's group lists recent NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, and CVPR work, including NeurIPS 2025 work on multi-task and meta-learning and neural collapse, NeurIPS 2024 work on differentially private model training, ICLR 2025 work on separating instructions from data in language models, and CVPR 2024 work on certifiable robustness. The opening fits applicants working on trustworthy ML, privacy, fairness, robustness, continual or meta-learning, LLM security, or the interface between symbolic and statistical ML. 12

Role and application. Multiple one- or two-year postdocs are available with flexible starts and rolling review until the positions are filled. Applicants should hold a PhD in machine learning or a related area, with strong mathematics, programming, analytical reasoning, and first-tier publications. Submit one PDF containing a CV, research statement, publication list, academic transcripts, and contact details for three references to Prof. Christoph Lampert at chl(at)ist.ac.at. The page gives no fixed deadline and no public salary figure. 7

Lab signal. The page describes a 100% research role with no mandatory teaching or administrative duties, state-of-the-art compute, equipment and conference-travel funding, and English as the institute language. Voluntary PhD-level teaching is encouraged and supported. 7

Deadline watch

SDU — confirm the portal cutoff now. The page carries the August 31 local-Danish deadline and the unlabeled September 1 portal timestamp. The application also has a hard screen of two first-author flagship-venue papers. 3
Aalto — September 6, 2026, watch-only. The packet is concrete and the application route is live; verify Kyrki's qualifying publication record before treating the role as a channel-qualified lead. 4
Cambridge — September 13 on the jobs.ac.uk copy. The university page leaves the deadline public only in the copy, so confirm the date in the Cambridge recruitment system when applying. 2 5
Northeastern University London — September 22, 2026. Prepare the one-page cover letter early because the advert says shortlisting is rolling and early closure is possible. 1
EPFL and ISTA — rolling. EPFL prefers Fall 2026, while ISTA accepts applications until its posts are filled. 6 7

The main queue has two new openings and three active carry-forward leads. Start with the deadline that needs portal confirmation, then move through Aalto's watch-only check, Cambridge's date discrepancy, and the two rolling application packets.