The Chair for Computational Materials Design (CMD; Prof. Kramer) at the Helmut-Schmidt-Universität / Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg (HSU/UniBw H) Germany invites applications to fill four Research Associate (PhD student and/or Post-Doc) positions as soon as possible as part of the newly established Digitalisation and Technology Research Centre of the Armed Forces (DTEC.Bw).

We seek motivated and creative individuals to establish a unique integrated research centre for the development of functional materials in alternative energy applications. The centre will closely collaborate with the Helmholtz Centre in Geesthacht as well as Industry to develop the next generation of materials for batteries, fuel cells, hydrogen storage and thermovoltaic emitter films by integrating combinatorial synthesis (physical vapour deposition – PVD) of functional materials with high-throughput materials modelling (density functional theory – DFT).

You have an interest in functional materials and interfaces, alternative energy applications as well as digital research methods in Chemistry and Physics; you thrive in a creative, international and dynamic environment and pursue your research interests in a team effort.

 We look to strengthen our team with:

• A creative computational Chemist, Physicist or Engineer to automate the computation of materials properties using Density-Functional-Theory (DFT); you can demonstrate experience with a common quantum chemistry code (e.g., VASP) and enjoy coding (e.g., in Python, Go, C++/Fortran). Your challenge is the automated computation of a range of functional properties and descriptors utilising high-throughput methodologies and feeding results into a Data Science platform for visualisation and analysis.
• A highly motivated experimental Physicist, Chemist, Materials Scientist or Engineer for our newly established state-of-the-art combinatorial PVD laboratory taking charge of the synthesis and characterisation of functional thin and thick film libraries. You bring synthesis experience (ideally thin fims) and solid practical laboratory skills. You will also closely collaborate with the team to implement informatics workflows to collect and analyse synthesis and physical characterisation results.
• A Computer Scientist, Physicist or Engineer with strong interest in Data Science that will lead on the automated harvesting and mining of large experimental and modelled data sets to derive new insights from creatively managing, visualising and correlating heterogeneous data from various sources. You have excellent coding skills (using e.g., Python, Go, etc.) and experience in utilising databases as well as a strong interest in modern microservice architectures and container environments.
• A talented experimental Chemist with strong interests in Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, especially electrocatalysis. You can demonstrate practical experience in wet-chemistry laboratories and are interested in advanced characterisation. You will take charge of the electrocatalytic characterisation of thin and thick film libraries and work with the team to combine your results with modelled and mined insights.

We offer: 

• Exceptional infrastructure; the chair has already full access to multiple high-performance-computing clusters and its own peta-scale data storage facility; additionally, several million Euros will be invested as part of DTEC.Bw in laboratory equipment such as a PVD cluster tool and associated analytics.
• A collaborative and international research environment; the english-speaking Chair maintains a range of international collaborations and you will have opportunity to closely work with researchers at the Helmoltz Zentrum in Geesthacht.
• An interesting research challenge and the opportunity to build a track record in future technologies and highly sought-after skill sets.
• The opportunity for scientific development; the task demands motivation and dedication, but also provides the freedom and independence to develop your own interests leading to a PhD. Further qualification as a PostDoc is also possible.
• Develop teaching skills; you will support the Chair in delivering teaching at the Bachelor- and Master level including as part of our english-speaking programs.
  

Your profile:

• You have an excellent and relevant university degree (Master, Univ-Diplom) from an internationally recognised and leading university (e.g., Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, Engineering or Computer Science).
• You are motivated, a team player and with excellent interdisciplinary, communication skills.
• You have an interest in alternative energy and new materials and are looking for a scientific challenge to take your career to the next level.
• You have excellent written and verbal English skills and are willing to learn German.
• You are motivated to publish your research in leading journals and at international conferences.

For further information, please contact Prof. Kramer ([email protected]).

Please note that should you have an international degree, we expect a Statement of Comparability for Foreign Higher Education Qualifications from the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) before making an offer. It would be  beneficial to submit this statement with your application.

Your application:

Please refer to the German advert for details regarding the legal context of employment and the application/recruitment procedure. Salaries are at 100% of E13-TVöD and positions are full-time with part-time possible in principle. Applications must be made electronically by email to [email protected] using reference MB-1021 before 22.03.2021.