Research Scientist: Laser-Plasma Accelerators & X-ray Tech

The University of Texas at Austin; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employer-paid health insurance

Dental, vision, life and disability保险

Job summary

The University of Texas at Austin’s Center for High Energy Density Science (CHEDS) seeks an accomplished experimental physicist to lead a program on laser wakefield electron accelerators, laser-driven x-ray sources, laser-driven muon sources, and the physics they enable.

The successful candidate will build UT's laser-based x-ray capability for semiconductor and medical applications, support the LaVHEE effort on radiotherapy, and lead UT's part in TeX-Ray.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Physics or related field with 6+ years post-PhD experience in experimental laser-plasma physics or accelerator science.
• Proven record of leading laser wakefield acceleration and laser-driven x-ray experiments with peer‑reviewed publications.
• Experience with x-ray imaging or scattering techniques (radiography, micro-CT, XRD, phase-contrast).
• Experience with high-power (50 TW) Ti:sapphire laser systems and external laser facilities.
• Experience securing external funding and supervising researchers and students.

Responsibilities

• Lead the research program on laser wakefield accelerators and laser-driven x-ray sources at UT Austin and partner facilities.
• Develop laser-based x-ray diagnostics for semiconductor and medical applications and support LaVHEE radiotherapy efforts.
• Lead the x-ray beamline portion of TeX-Ray and support laser development for the facility.
• Coordinate UT’s LaNeXT contributions, define UT’s laser-driven x-ray contributions, and foster user-program funding.
• Publish results, present at conferences, and supervise postdoctoral researchers and students.

Skills

Leadership

Experimentation

Collaboration

Proposal writing

Education

Ph.D. in Physics or related field

Tools

Ti:sapphire lasers (50 TW+)

X-ray imaging techniques

WarpX/Osiris/Geant4

Python/C++

Job description

The University of Texas at Austin’s Center for High Energy Density Science (CHEDS) seeks an accomplished experimental physicist to lead a program on laser wakefield electron accelerators, laser-driven x-ray sources, laser-driven muon sources, and the physics they enable.

The successful candidate will build UT's laser-based x-ray capability for semiconductor and medical applications, support the LaVHEE effort on radiotherapy, and lead UT's part in TeX-Ray.