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Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory · 3 months ago

2026 PhD Graduate – Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) Research Scientist

Laurel, MD

Full-time

Onsite

New Grad, Entry Level

$105K/yr - $245K/yr

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory is dedicated to addressing critical defense and security challenges through innovative research. They are seeking early-career researchers with a PhD in AI to contribute to foundational research and potentially grow into leadership roles within the organization.

EducationUniversities

No H1B

Security Clearance Required

U.S. Citizen Only

Responsibilities

Improving alignment of AI agents used in human-machine teaming and wargaming

Training multimodal foundation models on language and sensor data

Intelligent robots that use agentic AI to perform complex tasks in a self-directed way

Assessing, mitigating, and exploiting vulnerabilities of frontier models

Mission-driven test and evaluation (T&E) of novel research

Qualification

PhD in AI researchPython programmingPyTorchHugging Face librariesPeer-reviewed publicationsResearch in AI alignmentTraining foundation modelsRobotic control modelsAdversarial robustnessNeural rendering techniquesSoft skills

Required

Have a PhD or equivalent degree with dissertation work in fundamental AI research

Have a strong record of peer-reviewed publications in reputable journals and/or conferences

Are proficient in Python programming with experience using PyTorch and/or Jax, including Hugging Face libraries (transformers, diffusers, datasets, tokenizers, etc.)

Are able to acquire an Interim Secret level security clearance by your start date and can ultimately acquire a final Top Secret level clearance. If selected, you will be subject to a government security clearance investigation and must meet the requirements for access to classified information. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship

Preferred

Measuring and increasing alignment between humans and AI agents

Novel techniques for training and/or fine-tuning foundation models

Models or agents for robotic control and problem-solving

Adversarial and/or natural robustness of computer vision and autonomy

Neural rendering techniques for 3D scene reconstruction

Benefits

Robust education assistance program

Unparalleled retirement contributions

Healthy work/life balance

Comprehensive benefits package including retirement plans, paid time off, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, flexible spending accounts, education assistance, and training and development

Company

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is a not-for-profit university-affiliated research center (UARC) that provides solutions to complex national security and scientific challenges with technical expertise and prototyping, research and development, and analysis.

Founded in 1942