The NSF Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI, pronounced /aɪ-faɪ/) is one of the inaugural NSF AI research institutes. The IAIFI is enabling physics discoveries and advancing foundational AI through the development of novel AI approaches that incorporate first principles, best practices, and domain knowledge from fundamental physics. AI is transforming many aspects of society, including the ways that scientists are pursuing groundbreaking discoveries.

To facilitate these advances, the IAIFI seeks a talented and interdisciplinary group of researchers at an early stage of their careers to join the IAIFI Fellowship program. The role of an IAIFI Fellow is to spark vital interdisciplinary, multi-investigator, multi-subfield collaborations across some of the primary IAIFI domains of theoretical physics, experimental physics, astrophysics, and foundational AI. Such collaborations have immense power to generate new ideas and approaches in both physics and AI, to facilitate abstracting physics challenges beyond their native domains to inform the development of cutting-edge AI tools, and to instill a common language across disciplines. 

Our program aims to appoint new IAIFI Postdoctoral Fellows each academic year for three-year fellowship terms, contingent upon programmatic need and the availability of funding. In addition to the IAIFI Fellowships, related postdoctoral opportunities may be available with IAIFI faculty. Applicants may opt in to have their application materials shared with IAIFI faculty for consideration for these positions.

Fellows will be selected through an annual application process. Applicants should have, or be expected to receive by the 1st of September 2027, a PhD in Physics, Astrophysics, Statistics, Computer Science, or a related field. Complete applications must include:

The deadline to receive all the materials (including all reference letters) is the 7th of October 2026.

The Fellows will have substantial freedom in choosing their research focus; each fellow will work with two IAIFI mentors – one from Physics and one from AI – to guide their choice of research topic and evaluate their research progress. Part of the application will include identifying IAIFI faculty whom you feel would be a good match for your research goals. The IAIFI is committed to building a vibrant intellectual community, and strongly encourages applications from interested researchers, regardless of background. Any inquiries about the program should be directed to iaifi-fellows@mit.edu. Answers to frequently asked questions can be found at https://iaifi.org/fellows.html#faq.

The IAIFI is a joint NSF-funded venture between MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, Tufts, and Boston University. Fellows are encouraged to collaborate with other IAIFI members. All Fellows are granted work space at MIT. In addition, Fellows can be affiliated with and have work space at any of the other four Boston-area IAIFI universities.

Salary Range: $71,000 to $90,000

NOTE: IAIFI Fellows are paid a set rate within the MIT postdoc salary range, which is subject to change each year. The salary for an IAIFI Fellow is currently around 15% higher than the minimum postdoc salary at MIT.