Starting as early as July 2020, a postdoc position is available in the field of computational materials science within the Materials Science and Engineering Program at the University of Idaho, under the supervision of Prof. S. Choudhury.  The initial appointment will be for one year with a possibility for an extension beyond the first year depending on performance and availability of funding. The project aims in designing the composition of metallic fuels for nuclear reactors.  The computational work will be performed in close collaboration with experimentalists from two major US National Laboratories. Significant computational resources will be available to perform these calculations.

Job description:

The postdoc will perform ab-initio calculations to determine thermo-kinetic parameters for metallic fuels. Calculations will be performed in order to screen solutes and fission products within the fuel. Besides performing ab-initio calculations for metallic systems the postdoc will spend a fraction of his/her time to perform ab-initio calculations for other energy materials including photovoltaics and/or battery materials. The candidate is also expected to occasionally mentor student(s) on ab-initio calculations.

Qualifications:

The candidate is expected to have a PhD in Physics, Materials Science or related field. In particular, experience in electronic structure calculations of strongly correlated electrons is preferred. Previous experience with cluster expansion and CALPHAD is a plus. The ideal candidate must have a strong background in electronic structure of materials. Motivation to learn new computational tools to design novel materials is desired.  US citizenship is not required for this position.

Applications:

All applications will be given immediate consideration and the search will continue until the position is filled. Candidates should submit a full CV, including a list of publications and achievements and a brief letter of intent (< 1 page) describing past research experience and computational expertise to Prof. S. Choudhury ([email protected]). Shortlisted candidates will be contacted separately for an online interview.