Margaret Butler Fellowship – Argonne Scholar

Argonne; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 86,000 - 143,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Generous professional allowance

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Argonne National Laboratory is offering the Margaret Butler Fellowship in Computational Science to pursue high-impact research at the intersection of AI for Science and high-performance computing. The fellow will leverage the Aurora Supercomputer and AI Testbed, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to set a research agenda for leadership-class computing and AI—supporting open science and innovation.

The one-year appointment may renew based on performance and funding.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. completed within the last 0–5 years or to be awarded by start of appointment.
• Knowledge of high-performance computational science and related domains.
• Experience with at least one AI-driven approach (e.g., distributed foundation model development, fine tuning, surrogate models).
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with ability to collaborate across teams.
• Effective verbal and written communication and collaboration with researchers.

Responsibilities

• Pursue high-impact scientific research at the intersection of AI for Science and HPC.
• Leverage Argonne's Aurora Supercomputer and AI Testbed resources for research.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to chart future directions in scientific computing and AI.

Skills

AI for science

HPC fundamentals

Analytical thinking

Collaboration & communication

Education

Ph.D. in applied mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, or similar field (0–5 years since completion)

Job description

The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility's (ALCF) Margaret Butler Fellowship in Computational Science is an exciting and unique opportunity to pursue high-impact scientific research at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Science and High-Performance Computing (HPC) to drive scientific discoveries. The mission of this fellowship is to broaden domain science in leadership-class computing. This postdoctoral fellow is expected to leverage the ALCF’s world-class computing resources. These include the Aurora Supercomputer — one of the two exascale computing platforms in the US for open science research — and novel AI accelerators in the AI Testbed. The postdoctoral fellow will work closely with multidisciplinary science teams to drive a research agenda and help chart the future direction of scientific computing and artificial intelligence on leadership-class supercomputing facilities. The responsibilities will be determined based on the accepted research proposal and plan and based on meetings with the supervisor/mentor of this fellow. The appointment is for one year and may be renewed for another year, subject to performance, project needs, and funding availability. The benefits of the appointment include a highly competitive salary and a generous professional allowance. For additional details, including past recipients, see: https://www.alcf.anl.gov/margaret-butler-fellowship-computational-science. This position requires on-site presence at the Argonne campus in Lemont, Illinois, with the possibility of a hybrid schedule which applies to employees regularly scheduled for some onsite and some remote days, with employees typically working up to 40% of their time remotely. This position description documents the general nature and level of work but is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all activities, duties and responsibilities required of job incumbent. Consequently, job incumbent may be required to perform other duties as assigned.

ABOUT MARGARET K. BUTLER (1924-2013) This Argonne-based postdoctoral fellowship program is named in honor of Margaret K. Butler, a pioneering scientist who spent her career at the leading edge of computer science and nuclear energy. She programmed the first digital computers at Argonne National Laboratory in the early 1950s, helped design subsequent ones, and contributed to simulations of nuclear power reactors. Butler was the first female Fellow at the American Nuclear Society and director of the National Energy Software Center. Her analytical talents, vision, and drive led to a lifetime of scientific contributions.

Position Requirements

• Ph.D. (completed within the last 0-5 years, or to be awarded by the start of the appointment) in applied mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, or similar field.
• Knowledge of high-performance computational science. Examples include, but are not limited to computational science research in at least one of the following: Biology; chemistry; earth science; engineering; materials science; nuclear energy; physics; renewable energy; energy science; artificial intelligence; numerical methods & applied mathematics
• Experience with at least one AI-driven approach, such as distributed foundation model development and Fine tuning; agentic AI orchestration; development and application of surrogate models; AI integration with autonomous laboratories; multimodal AI; etc.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to contribute to creative solutions to complex problems
• Effective verbal and written communications skills
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with researchers and contribute to impactful research outcomes
• Ability to work effectively with collaborators within Argonne and at other laboratories, universities, computing centers, and industry organizations.
• Ability to model Argonne’s core values of impact, safety, respect, integrity, and teamwork

Job Family Argonne Scholar

Job Profile Argonne Scholar
Worker Type Long-Term (Fixed Term)
Time Type Full time

The expected hiring range for this position is $85,781.00-$142,968.00. Please note that the pay range information is a general guideline only. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as, but not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, business considerations, internal equity, and external market pay for comparable jobs. Additionally, comprehensive benefits are part of the total rewards package.

As an equal employment opportunity employer, and in accordance with our core values of impact, safety, respect, integrity and teamwork, Argonne National Laboratory is committed to a safe and welcoming workplace that fosters collaborative scientific discovery and innovation. Argonne encourages everyone to apply for employment. Argonne is committed to nondiscrimination and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by law.

Argonne employees, and certain guest researchers and contractors, are subject to particular restrictions related to participation in Foreign Government Sponsored or Affiliated Activities, as defined and detailed in United States Department of Energy Order 486.1A. You will be asked to disclose any such participation in the application phase for review by Argonne's Legal Department.

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