"Postdoctoral Research Associate – Physicist"

The Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University seeks candidates to apply for the Postdoctoral Research Associate- Physicist position.

Since its inception in 1996, the Virginia Commonwealth University College of Engineering has brought innovative, real-world engineering education to Central Virginia. Comprised of five different departments plus the Dean’s office, the College of Engineering enrolls more than 2,000 undergraduate and 450 graduate students in several degree programs supported by more than 600 full-time, part-time, and student employees. As part of a premier research university known for tenacity, love of the city of Richmond, and commitment to respect and access, the College of Engineering values the significant and positive impact of our people and ideas in the promotion of regional and global prosperity involving research and life sciences.

Position Responsibilities:

The successful candidate will have a unique opportunity to develop and expand upon a diversified technical skill set while making a positive contribution to the research project on radiative photon transfer in plasmas and multi-scale, multi-physics modeling of the effects of radiation in materials.

Research projects for this position will involve the high fidelity modeling of Sn plasma for Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) radiation sources and predictive multi-scale modeling of material degradation in mirror layers of EUVL systems. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in the atomic and plasma physics, computational materials science, condensed matter, radiation-material interactions, and ion-induced material degradation. Preference will be given to candidates who have experience in computational physics with applications to plasma physics and radiation-induced damage of materials caused by ions. In this position, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to work and collaborate with a vast network of scientists and engineers.

Required Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Physics or related fields.
• Experience in the field of computational plasma physics, radiative transfer in plasmas, material degradation induced by hydrogen (H) ions, diffusion, H-bubble formation, and H-blistering
• Experience with developing, implementing and applying computational software and tools for materials modeling from nano-scale to macro-scale
• Ability to mentor junior team members, and ensure the highest levels of laboratory safety
• Excellent communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to work in multi-disciplinary teams
• Ability to work under tight deadlines and short turnaround times
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering an environment of respect, professionalism, and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from various backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a postdoc at VCU.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ph.D. degree in quantum physics, condense matter, materials science, or a related field
• Strong interest in advanced multi-scale simulations using high-performance computing.
• Proficiency in object-oriented programming (C++, Fortran, Python)
• Experience with modeling of ion-material interactions (Density Functional Theory, quantum and classical Molecular Dynamics, kinetic Monte Carlo, macro-scale modeling software tools)

About the College of Engineering:

Additional information about the department’s programs and faculty may be found at https://egr.vcu.edu/departments/mechanical-nuclear-engineering/

FLSA Status: Exempt

ORP Eligible: Yes