OCE Postdoctoral Fellowship Computational Polymer Chemistry

• Exciting new highly collaborative role in Australia's premier science & technology research organisation!
• Combine electronic structure simulations and multivariate data analytics
• Work closely with experimental experts in reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerisation.

The Position:

Postdoctoral Fellows at CSIRO provide opportunities to scientists and engineers, who have completed their doctorate and have less than three years relevant postdoctoral work experience. These fellowships will help launch their careers, provide experience that will enhance their career prospects, and facilitate the recruitment and development of potential leaders for CSIRO.

CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering is seeking to appoint a highly motivated graduate. In this position the Fellow will use high-throughput computer simulation and advanced systematic and random structure searching methods, to rapidly catalogue the structure/property relationships of tens of thousands of different polymers. Using this virtual library the Fellow will undertake multivariate data analytics to identify the prototypical, archetypal and functionally-atypical tactical structures, for a range of different polymers, and quantify the fault tolerance for “stereochemical contamination”.

Specifically you will:

• Predict the properties of a large number of monomers and oligomers and polymers at the quantum mechanical level, using our in-house high-throughput simulation engine, Hunt&Gather.
• Develop and/or use multivariate data analytics methods to predict how structure/property relationships are affected by polymer tacticity, and establish how structural homogeneity can be used to improve performance.
• Use statistical methods to explore the potential of mixture of polymers, or different species and stereochemistry, and identify candidates for synthetic trials.
• Engage with the experimental team at all stages, and during the synthetic trials, to verify the properties of the polymer and mixtures, and refine the theoretical and computational methods.

Location: Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Salary: $78K to $88K plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Tenure: 3 years
Reference: VIC15/01026

To be successful in this position you will have:

• A doctorate (or will shortly satisfy the requirements of a PhD) in a relevant discipline area, such as Chemistry or Physics.
• Demonstrated knowledge of polymerization and the simulation of molecules and chemical reactions.
• Demonstrated proficiency in the use of high performance supercomputing environments, and the use of standard classical and quantum mechanical computational software packages.
• Demonstrated experience in writing and maintaining user-friendly software, tools and scripts including scientific programming using Fortran, C++ or python.
• High level written and oral communication skills with the ability to represent the research team effectively internally and externally, including at national and international conferences.

Owing to terms of the fellowship, candidates must not have more than 3 years of relevant Postdoctoral experience.

Who we are: The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is one of the largest and most diverse scientific organisations in the world. By igniting the creative spirit of our people, we deliver great science and innovative solutions that benefit industry, society and the environment.

Applications close 31 May 2015 (11:30pm AEST)

The full position description and selection criteria can be found at http://csiro.nga.net.au/?jati=6a7cbde3-e448-a791-c1ca-88cea8888004.  All applications must be made through the online submission system by following this link.