PhD Intern - Electron Microscopy

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory • Richland, WA

1d • $24 - $36 • Onsite

About The Position

At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget.
Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.
The Energy and Environment Directorate delivers science and technology solutions for the nation’s biggest energy and environmental challenges. Our more than 1,700 staff support the Department of Energy (DOE), delivering on key DOE mission areas including: modernizing our nation’s power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure; research, development, validation, and effective utilization of renewable energy and efficiency technologies that improve the affordability, reliability, resiliency, and security of the American energy system; and resolving complex issues in nuclear science, energy, and environmental management.
The Nuclear Sciences Division, part of the Energy and Environment Directorate, delivers science and technology innovations for the environment, energy, and national security. At a time when complex challenges are emerging on many fronts, we address some of the most challenging national and international nuclear issues. This includes providing technological solutions that protect the public health and safety around nuclear facilities, developing durable new materials for extreme nuclear environments, innovating new nuclear processes for the safety and security of the nation, and delivering new approaches for accelerating environmental cleanup of nuclear sites. The division’s capabilities and efforts are focused on environmental management of nuclear sites, nuclear regulatory processes, national nuclear security, and advancing nuclear energy.

Requirements

• Candidates must be currently enrolled/matriculated in a PhD program at an accredited college.
• Minimum GPA of 3.0 is required.

Nice To Haves

• Currently pursuing PhD in Nuclear Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Material Science, Chemistry, or Physics.
• Have material science, chemistry, or physics experience or related degree. Ideally will have experience using electron microscopes such as Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM).
• The ideal candidate will have experience or have taken courses in electron microscopy.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, a demonstrated ability to work individually and as a team member.
• Experience working with vacuum-based instrumentation (TEM, SEM, XPS, SIMS).

Responsibilities

• Independently completing assigned tasks, exercising limited judgement on work details and making preliminary selections and adaptations of technical alternatives.
• Develop reports and papers on the work.
• Provide support to the Nuclear Forensics Initiative in the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory at PNNL. The candidate will work under the guidance of senior scientists and engineers and will focus their initial efforts on application of electron microscopy to investigate uranium fluorides and oxides. This position involves performing experiments with radioactive materials and the subsequent interpretation and reporting of the data from these experiments. This effort will require a some introductory knowledge of electron microscopy, and the handling of radiological materials.

Benefits

• Employees are offered an employee assistance program and business travel insurance.
• Employees are eligible for the company funded pension plan and 401k savings plan, once eligibility requirements are met.
• Employees are offered an employee assistance program and business travel insurance.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees