Postdoctoral Researcher Jobs in California
Postdoctoral Researcher jobs in California represent one of the most active markets in the country, concentrated in life sciences, biomedical research, and computational science, with openings at every level from newly minted PhDs through senior research fellows. The Bay Area, San Diego, and Los Angeles anchor most of the hiring, where institutions like UC San Francisco, Stanford University, and Salk Institute for Biological Studies maintain large research programs across molecular biology, neuroscience, and climate science. Demand is especially consistent in oncology, genomics, and AI-driven research. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Job Number: P25T04
Honda Research Institute USA (HRI-US) is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to advance interpretable and human-centered AI systems that can model, reason about, and adapt to human behavior. This research-focused role sits at the intersection of AI, neuroscience, cognitive science, human-AI interaction, robotics, and machine learning. The successful candidate will develop computational approaches for understanding human goals, beliefs, preferences, uncertainty, and interaction patterns, with the aim of building AI systems that are more adaptive, transparent, and aligned with people in real-world settings.
Location: San Jose, CA
Key Responsibilities
- Conduct original research on human behavior modeling, including how cognitive, social, emotional, and physical aspects of human behavior can be represented and inferred by AI systems.
- Develop methods that enable AI agents to reason about human goals, intentions, preferences, uncertainty, and changing context during interaction.
- Design approaches for building AI systems that can reflect on the reliability of their human models, update them over time, and adapt when observations or feedback suggest the model is incomplete.
- Investigate interpretable mechanisms for analyzing model behavior, such as probing, representation analysis, causal intervention, activation analysis, or related techniques.
- Build and evaluate research prototypes that support human-aware reasoning in domains such as interactive assistants, robotics, mobility, augmented reality, decision support, or other real-world AI systems.
- Develop evaluation benchmarks, experimental frameworks, and analysis pipelines for studying human-aware AI behavior.
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams across AI, cognitive science, HCI, robotics, and related areas.
- Contribute to publications, research prototypes, and intellectual property that demonstrate scientific and technical impact.
Minimum Qualifications
- Ph.D. completed by the start date in Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Psychology, Linguistics, Robotics, HCI, Applied Mathematics, Physics, or a related field.
- Strong research ability demonstrated through peer-reviewed publications, research prototypes, open-source contributions, or equivalent research output.
- Solid foundation in machine learning, artificial intelligence, computational modeling, cognitive modeling, human behavior modeling, or a closely related area.
- Experience formulating research questions, designing experiments, analyzing results, and communicating findings clearly.
- Strong programming and prototyping skills, preferably in Python and modern machine learning or data analysis frameworks.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills, including interest in working across interdisciplinary research areas.
Bonus Qualifications
- Experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Human behavior and partner modeling: modeling human goals, intentions, preferences, beliefs, uncertainty, social behavior, or theory of mind.
- Interpretable machine learning: analyzing representations, model internals, reasoning behavior, failure modes, or causal mechanisms in neural systems.
- Cognitive or computational modeling: connecting ideas from cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, or social cognition to artificial intelligence systems.
- Agentic systems and memory: experience with planning, reflection, self-correction, memory architectures, or adaptive reasoning frameworks.
- Publications or research contributions in relevant venues such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ACL, EMNLP, AAAI, CogSci, CHI, HRI, RSS, CoRL, ICRA, or related conferences and journals.
- Interest in building AI systems that are interpretable, human-aware, adaptive, and useful in real-world human-centered settings.
Desired Start Date 7/6/2026
Contract Duration 2 years
Position Keywords Human Behavior Understanding, Human-centered AI, Interpretable AI
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Job Number: P25T04
Honda Research Institute USA (HRI-US) is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to advance interpretable and human-centered AI systems that can model, reason about, and adapt to human behavior. This research-focused role sits at the intersection of AI, neuroscience, cognitive science, human-AI interaction, robotics, and machine learning. The successful candidate will develop computational approaches for understanding human goals, beliefs, preferences, uncertainty, and interaction patterns, with the aim of building AI systems that are more adaptive, transparent, and aligned with people in real-world settings.
Location: San Jose, CA
Key Responsibilities
- Conduct original research on human behavior modeling, including how cognitive, social, emotional, and physical aspects of human behavior can be represented and inferred by AI systems.
- Develop methods that enable AI agents to reason about human goals, intentions, preferences, uncertainty, and changing context during interaction.
- Design approaches for building AI systems that can reflect on the reliability of their human models, update them over time, and adapt when observations or feedback suggest the model is incomplete.
- Investigate interpretable mechanisms for analyzing model behavior, such as probing, representation analysis, causal intervention, activation analysis, or related techniques.
- Build and evaluate research prototypes that support human-aware reasoning in domains such as interactive assistants, robotics, mobility, augmented reality, decision support, or other real-world AI systems.
- Develop evaluation benchmarks, experimental frameworks, and analysis pipelines for studying human-aware AI behavior.
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams across AI, cognitive science, HCI, robotics, and related areas.
- Contribute to publications, research prototypes, and intellectual property that demonstrate scientific and technical impact.
Minimum Qualifications
- Ph.D. completed by the start date in Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Psychology, Linguistics, Robotics, HCI, Applied Mathematics, Physics, or a related field.
- Strong research ability demonstrated through peer-reviewed publications, research prototypes, open-source contributions, or equivalent research output.
- Solid foundation in machine learning, artificial intelligence, computational modeling, cognitive modeling, human behavior modeling, or a closely related area.
- Experience formulating research questions, designing experiments, analyzing results, and communicating findings clearly.
- Strong programming and prototyping skills, preferably in Python and modern machine learning or data analysis frameworks.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills, including interest in working across interdisciplinary research areas.
Bonus Qualifications
- Experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Human behavior and partner modeling: modeling human goals, intentions, preferences, beliefs, uncertainty, social behavior, or theory of mind.
- Interpretable machine learning: analyzing representations, model internals, reasoning behavior, failure modes, or causal mechanisms in neural systems.
- Cognitive or computational modeling: connecting ideas from cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, or social cognition to artificial intelligence systems.
- Agentic systems and memory: experience with planning, reflection, self-correction, memory architectures, or adaptive reasoning frameworks.
- Publications or research contributions in relevant venues such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ACL, EMNLP, AAAI, CogSci, CHI, HRI, RSS, CoRL, ICRA, or related conferences and journals.
- Interest in building AI systems that are interpretable, human-aware, adaptive, and useful in real-world human-centered settings.
Desired Start Date 7/6/2026
Contract Duration 2 years
Position Keywords Human Behavior Understanding, Human-centered AI, Interpretable AI
Warning: You do not have the permission to access the upload fields on this form. Contact the form owner or portal administrator to request the access.
See All 99 Postdoctoral Researcher Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Postdoctoral Researcher JobsPostdoctoral Researcher Jobs by City in California
Where California roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Postdoctoral Researcher Job Market in California
A snapshot from current California openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- City of Hope13
- Calico Life Sciences10
- Genentech10
- Arc Institute9
- Scripps Research9
Top Industries Hiring
- Science & Research36
- Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals23
- Education23
- Healthcare & Medical Services15
- Non-Profit & Social Services11
What California Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in postdoctoral researcher jobs across California.
- PhD or equivalent doctoral degree in a directly related scientific discipline required
- Demonstrated publication record in peer-reviewed journals within the field of study
- Hands-on experience with laboratory techniques relevant to the research group's work
- Ability to work independently and contribute to collaborative research projects
- Strong written and verbal communication skills for grant writing and presentations
- Familiarity with data analysis software or programming tools relevant to the specialty
Postdoctoral Researcher Jobs in California: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a postdoctoral researcher in California?
Becoming a postdoctoral researcher in California requires a completed doctoral degree in the relevant discipline, typically followed by a direct application to a principal investigator or a structured postdoctoral fellowship program. California does not require a state-issued license for most research roles, but positions in clinical or public health research may require alignment with California Department of Public Health standards. Most appointments are secured through university research office postings or direct faculty contact.
Which companies hire postdoctoral researchers in California?
Employers hiring postdoctoral researchers in California right now include City of Hope, Calico Life Sciences, and Genentech, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of June 2026. California's density of research universities, national laboratories, and biotech companies in the Bay Area and San Diego corridors makes it one of the most consistent sources of postdoctoral openings in the country.
Which California cities have the most postdoctoral researcher jobs?
The cities with the most postdoctoral researcher openings in California are San Diego, San Francisco, and Palo Alto. The distribution reflects California's major research clusters: the Bay Area is driven by UC campuses, Stanford, and a large biotech industry presence, San Diego draws heavily from UC San Diego, the Scripps Research Institute, and pharmaceutical firms, and Los Angeles is anchored by UCLA, USC, and Cedars-Sinai's expanding research infrastructure.
Are there remote postdoctoral researcher jobs in California?
Yes, but they're rare. Most postdoctoral researcher work is inherently hands-on and tied to a specific laboratory or research facility, making fully remote appointments uncommon. About 2% of postdoctoral researcher openings tied to California are remote or hybrid as of June 2026, and those tend to be in computational biology, bioinformatics, or data-intensive social science research where bench work is not required.
How can I get hired as a postdoctoral researcher in California with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is applying directly to a faculty-led research group shortly before or after completing your PhD, when institutional postdoctoral fellowship programs are most accessible. UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego each run structured postdoctoral scholar programs that accept candidates with limited independent research output. Lateral entry from a research associate or lab manager role at a California biotech firm is another recognized route, and a strong publication pipeline or a publicly available data science portfolio can significantly strengthen an application.
Where can I find and apply to postdoctoral researcher jobs in California?
You can find and apply to postdoctoral researcher jobs in California on Migrate Mate, which lists current California openings updated regularly. Find the roles that fit your research background and apply directly to each one.
See All 99 Postdoctoral Researcher Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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