Three postdoctoral research positions are available at the Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions at the University of Edinburgh - two theoretical/computational, and one experimental. Initial contracts are for three years, with option to renew for another two. Please spread the word and encourage any of your bright students or postdocs to apply. Closing date is 1 August 2016.

 

The official advertisement is on https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/, vacancy reference 036564. I paste below part of the job description.

 

 

Postdoctoral Research Associates in High Pressure Physics – Theory and Experiment 
As part of the ERC-funded, five-year HECATE initiative to study hydrogen and related materials at extreme conditions, we seek to hire three PDRAs to CSEC at Edinburgh. In broad outline, one will be to develop optical and x-ray spectroscopies and laser heating techniques in diamond anvil cells, one will be to carry out electronic structure calculations using DFT and beyond to map out candidate structures and help interpret the experimental data, the third will be to develop the theory of phase stability for disordered quantum systems.

We seek outstanding candidates with experimental, computational or theoretical experience in one, or several, of the following areas: 

Optical and x-ray spectroscopies and laser heating technique to study simple systems at extreme conditions at labs in our world-leading CSEC and in Hefei, China.
Neutron and X-ray diffraction to study simple systems at extreme conditions.
Electronic structure calculation, using density functional theory on Quantum Monte Carlo
Molecular dynamics
Free energy calculation
Theory of Raman and infrared spectroscopy.
Full details of the project are available at http://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/~gja/hecate.pdf
The PDRAs are expected to collaborate closely each other, and with more junior researchers working on similar topics.in particular at the interface between theory with experiment.

The project is led by Prof Graeme Ackland and the appointed PDRAs will be supervised by Prof Ackland and Prof Eugene Gregoryanz, with assistance from Drs John Loveday, Andreas Hermann and Miguel Martinez-Canales.

These posts are available for a duration of 3 years, with a possible extension to five years. The start date will be in October 2016 unless otherwise agreed.

Salary: £31,656 - £37,768 per annum
Closing date: 1st August. We aim to interview in mid-August.