PhD Fellowship – Agentic AI & LLMs for Global Pathogen Analysis

About the role

The Bhatt-Duchene Group at the University of Copenhagen invites applications for a PhD fellowship focused on Agentic AI and Large Language Models for global pathogen analysis. The project starts on 1 July 2027 and lasts three years, integrating cutting‑edge AI methods into the Global Pathogen Analysis Platform (GPAP).

Key responsibilities

• Develop intelligent AI systems and large language models tailored to biological, genomic, and phylogenetic tasks.
• Benchmark and evaluate foundation models for pathogen‑related applications.
• Adapt pre‑, mid‑, and post‑training of LLMs for genomic and phylogenetic analyses.
• Design agentic AI components that interact with bioinformatics pipelines, databases, and scientific software.
• Build reproducible dashboards and workflows for infectious‑disease surveillance and outbreak reporting.
• Implement robust software solutions and contribute to real‑world deployment within the GPAP consortium.

Required profile

• Strong background in computer science, AI, bioinformatics, or related quantitative fields.
• Interest in health data science, epidemiology, and global pandemic preparedness.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with an interdisciplinary supervisory team.

Required skills

• Machine Learning
• Deep Learning
• Large Language Models
• Bioinformatics pipelines

What we offer

• Three‑year funded PhD position with access to a multinational research infrastructure.
• Mentorship from leading experts in AI, genomics, and public health.
• Opportunity to contribute to a high‑impact platform supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.