Postdoc: Computational Materials for Molten Salt Reactors

Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Oak Ridge (TN); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Prescription Drug Plan

Dental Plan

Vision Plan

401(k) Retirement Plan

Relocation Assistance

Life Insurance

Disability Benefits

Generous Vacation and Holidays

Parental Leave

Flexible Spending Accounts

Health Savings Accounts

Wellness Programs

Educational Assistance

Relocation Assistance

Employee Discounts

Job summary

Oak Ridge National Laboratory seeks a Postdoctoral Research Associate to advance computational materials science in the Science Engagement Section of NCCS, CCSD. The role focuses on molten salt systems for fission/fusion reactors, using ab initio quantum simulations, machine-learning potentials, and statistical mechanics to study tritium transport and speciation.

Collaboration with internal and external fusion efforts is encouraged.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computational Chemistry, Physics, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering or related field completed within the last 5 years.
• Experience in theoretical and computational quantum simulations of materials (ab initio and AI-driven methods).
• Experience in statistical mechanical theory to analyze simulation results.
• Basic understanding of parallel application development (parallel models, algorithms, software).

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with ORNL researchers to use the resources of the OLCF effectively and efficiently.
• Develop and port scalable materials science applications and algorithms for OLCF supercomputers.
• Develop and apply advanced, compute-intensive materials simulation methodologies to study molten salt materials.
• Debug and profile high-performance applications.
• Publish results in journal publications, conference papers and technical manuals.

Skills

Computational chemistry

Quantum simulations

Machine learning

Parallel programming

Python programming

FORTRAN

C

C++

Communication skills

Independent work

Education

PhD in Computational Chemistry/Physics/Materials Science

Tools

VASP

CP2K

MPI

OpenMP

OpenACC

Job description

Oak Ridge National Laboratory seeks a Postdoctoral Research Associate to advance computational materials science in the Science Engagement Section of NCCS, CCSD. The role focuses on molten salt systems for fission/fusion reactors, using ab initio quantum simulations, machine-learning potentials, and statistical mechanics to study tritium transport and speciation.

Collaboration with internal and external fusion efforts is encouraged.