Nanoscience Post-Doctoral Research Fellow

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Greensboro (NC); On-site; USD 56,000 - 68,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro invites applications for a Nanoscience Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Nanomaterials laboratory. The appointment focuses on scalable synthesis of cathode materials for an NCI-funded project, with responsibilities in materials synthesis, reactor design, electrode fabrication, and data-driven reporting.

The ideal candidate has a Ph.D. in materials science, chemical engineering, or chemistry, plus 1+ year experience in battery testing and cathode

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in materials science, chemical engineering, or Chemistry with strong research background in battery chemistry.
• Minimum of one year experience in battery cell testing and cathode fabrication.
• Working knowledge and experience in the characterization using analytical instrumentations, and electrochemical measurements.
• Ability to develop technical reports describing the outcome of the project.

Responsibilities

• Conduct cathode materials synthesis and scaling up to meet project goals.
• Designing and optimization of the reactor and process engineering: develop measurement protocols, electrochemical characterization, analytical characterization, coin cells preparation and testing.
• Write scientific reports and prepare manuscripts for publication: produce quarterly reports, prepare results and write manuscripts for peer review, organize data for grant applications, provide weekly oral reports and attend meetings.
• Drive project goals and meet deliverables on time with strong work ethics.

Skills

Battery chemistry

Battery cell testing

Cathode fabrication

Electrochemical measurements

Analytical characterization

Scientific report writing

Education

Ph.D. in materials science, chemical engineering, or chemistry

Tools

Coin cells fabrication

Job description

Position Number

997938

Functional Title

Nanoscience Post-Doctoral Research Fellow

Position Type

Research

Position Eclass

EP - EHRA 12 mo leave earning

University Information

Located in North Carolina's third largest city, UNC Greensboro is among the most diverse, learner-centered public research universities in the state, with 18,000 students in eight colleges and schools pursuing more than 150 areas of undergraduate and over 200 areas of graduate study. UNCG continues to be recognized nationally for academic excellence, access, and affordability. UNCG is ranked No. 1 most affordable institution in North Carolina for net cost by the N.Y. Times and No. 1 in North Carolina for social mobility by The Wall Street Journal - helping first-generation and lower-income students find paths to prosperity. Designated an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, UNCG is a community-engaged research institution with a portfolio of more than $67M in research and creative activity. The University's 2,600 staff help create an annual economic impact for the Piedmont Triad region in excess of $1B.

Primary Purpose of the Organizational Unit

The mission of the Nanoscience department is to prepare students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds to conduct basic and advanced research in Nanoscience in industrial, governmental or academic settings. Within this context, the Nanoscience Department provides a graduate level trans-disciplinary educational and discovery research experience in the nanosciences, sustainable nanosystems, innovation and community engaged outreach. It also works collaboratively with the Nanoengineering Department to achieve an integrated foundational research program in emerging high impact areas. Scientists in this new and emerging field seek to comprehend, gather and organize knowledge of the nanoworld through careful observations and creative, visionary thinking.

Nanoscience is a multidisciplinary field bringing together vast knowledge from mathematics and all the core sciences: physics, biology, chemistry, and from their derivatives such as material science, pharmacology, neurochemistry, ecology etc. Consequently, nanoscientists are scientists engaging in an organized activity of manipulation of materials at atomic, molecular and macromolecular scales that are versatile and fluent in mathematics and the core sciences with a particular world view based on the synergy of these core sciences and on their derived applications to the macro world. Nanoscience is a new way of thinking about old things.

Position Summary

Dr. Rathnayake's Nanomaterials laboratory seeks a Postdoctoral Research Associate to work on NCI Funded project that focuses on scalable synthesis of cathode materials. A talented individual should have expertise in battery materials, cathode fabrication, and electrochemical property evaluation, colin cell fabrication, and process engineering. This project is highly translational and involve sharp deadlines and deliverables. Individual with devotion to the work with strong work ethics will be considered, including meeting report submission deadlines, and project deliverable on time.

The primary responsibilities include: (1) Cathode materials synthesis using a scalable reactor design approach. (50%), and (2) Electrode preparation using roll-to-roll approach (25%), and (3) participate in customer discoveries and marketing research (10%), and (4) Scientific report writing and deliverables reports preparation.

In addition, this position expects driving the project goals and meeting the project objectives on-time with excellent work ethics to meet the project deliverables quarterly.

Primary Tasks

1. (1) Conducting cathode materials synthesis and scaling up to meet the project goal.
2. (2) Designing and optimization of the reactor and process engineering:
   • Develop measurement protocols
   • Electrochemical characterization
   • Analytical characterization
   • Coin cells preparation and testing
3. (3) Write scientific reports and prepare manuscripts for publication:
   • Produce quarterly reports based on project outcomes to report to funders
   • Prepare results and write manuscripts for submission for peer-review
   • Organize results that will be used as preliminary data for grant applications, and participate in writing grants
   • Provide weekly oral presentation reports at group meetings and biweekly written reports
   • Attend NCI meetings

Minimum Qualifications

• Ph.D. in materials science, chemical engineering, or Chemistry with strong research background in battery chemistry.
• Minimum of one year experience in battery cell testing and cathode fabrication.
• Working knowledge and experience in the characterization using analytical instrumentations, and electrochemical measurements.
• Ability to develop technical reports describing the outcome of the project.

Preferred Qualifications

• Over 3 years of experience in li-ion battery chemistry.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to utilize analytical data and use the data to write scientific articles for publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Recruitment Range

$61,800

Org #-Department

Nanoscience - 13202

Job Open Date

09/14/2026

Open Until Filled

Yes

FTE

1.000

Type of Appointment

Time Limited

If time-limited, please specify end date for appointment.

One year appointment, with possibility of reappointment

Number of Months per Year

12

FLSA

Exempt