Post Doctorate RA - Computational Materials Science

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory • Richland, WA

1d • 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, Integrated Discovery 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 Integrated Discovery Sciences Directorate (IDSD) leads fundamental research across biology, chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, materials science, advanced computing, artificial intelligence, quantum information science, mathematics, autonomy, and DOE national user facilities. Our vision is to accelerate scientific discovery by observing, understanding, simulating, predicting, and controlling dynamic biotic-abiotic processes and interactions within complex biological, chemical, material, and Earth systems. We intentionally connect disciplines to advance fundamental discovery science, develop transformative scientific capabilities, and address the nation's most important challenges in energy, environmental resilience, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, health, and national security.

Requirements

• Candidates must have received a PhD within the past five years (60 months) or within the next 8 months from an accredited college or university.
• Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics, Materials Science, Chemistry, or a related field.
• Hands-on expertise in ab initio modeling and molecular dynamics simulations and familiarity with a range of computational methodologies and codes demonstrated through publications.
• Proficiency in scientific coding.
• Solid grasp of the principles of statistical mechanics.
• Familiarity with atomistic foundational models and machine learning workflows for materials design.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, demonstrated through publications and presentations.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Performing computational modeling of the structure, thermodynamic properties, and electronic characteristics of multi-component materials in the context of their synthesis and post-processing histories.
• Analyzing the effect of defects, disorder, and interfacial constraints on the synthesis pathways and the properties of materials.
• Developing testable mechanistic models of materials synthesis, behavior, and transformations in the context of conditions defined by their applications. Validating these models against experimental data.
• Contributing to the development of computational methodologies.
• Collaborating and solving technical problems with a multidisciplinary team.
• Supporting technical leadership with organized results for progress reports and lead manuscript writing.
• Presenting research at project meetings and conferences.
• Participating in training undergraduate and post-graduate student interns.

Benefits

• health insurance
• flexible work schedules
• medical insurance
• dental insurance
• vision insurance
• telehealth care options
• mental health benefits
• wellness coaching
• health savings account
• flexible spending accounts
• basic life insurance
• disability insurance
• employee assistance program
• business travel insurance
• tuition assistance
• relocation
• backup childcare
• legal benefits
• supplemental parental bonding leave
• surrogacy and adoption assistance
• fertility support
• company-funded pension plan
• 401 (k) savings plan with company match
• vacation hours
• paid holidays

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree