Applications for Post-Doctoral Positions

Description of available positions

NREL's Solid State Theory Group accepts each year 1-2 highly qualified new postdoctoral researchers and research associates for a 2-3 year appointment. The process of hiring is highly competitive. The group performs state-of-the-art theoretical research in the areas of

• Quantum Nanostructures

• Alloy Phase Stability(metals, semiconductors, oxides).

• hotovoltaic Semiconductor Materials

• Development of Methods for Large Scale Electronic Structure Calculations.

The group has a distinguished record of publication and innovation, which has resulted in a highly successful citation record.

Postdoctoral and research associate positions are for two years, renewable upon mutual agreement to a third year. Salary range is $48,000-62,000 per year. The Solid State Theory Group currently consists of ten Ph.D.'s in condensed matter theory and interacts with a broad range of experimentalists at NREL. (See an online list of current and past personnel in the group.) Furthermore, the group has outstanding computational facilities: remote access to NERSC and Oak Ridge supercomputers, and to NREL's own computing center consisting of a 240 processor Opteron Cluster, a 24 processor Altix (shared among few others at NREL). The solid state theory group also owns a 48 processor Athlon Cluster. The group has an excellent basic-research atmosphere, and is located in the beautiful Rocky Mountains (less than one hour from hiking and ski resorts).

How to apply

• When to apply: Jan. 1 - Mar. 15
• Acceptance decisions are made: March-April
• Work starts: Aug.-Oct.
• What to submit: Interested candidates should send a curriculum vitae, list of publications (including preprints of unpublished papers, if possible) and arrange for two references, addressed to:
  Dr. Alex Zunger
  Solid State Theory Group
  National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  1617 Cole Boulevard Golden,
  Colorado, 80401
  

Location, nearby academic/high-tech institutions, and other Government labs

NREL is located in Golden (population 13,127) part of the greater Denver metro area (population ~2,000,000). Golden is ~10 miles west of downtown Denver, 22 miles south of Boulder (population 100,000) and directly northwest of Lakewood (population 135,000). For further information on the Denver area see http://www.denver.org/media/releases/S99_denver.asp.

Academic Institutions in this area include:

• Colorado University at Boulder (27,000 students)
• Colorado School of Mines at Golden (3,273 students)
• Denver University (9,021 students)

NREL exchanges seminars with these institutions and enjoys active collaborations, including training students from these institutions for graduate degrees and collaborations on joint projects and proposals.

Research and Technology Institutions in this area include:

• AMGEN, Boulder (Biotech.)
• Hewlett-Packard, Colorado Springs (Electronics)
• IBM, Boulder (Software Development)
• Quantum, (tape and magnetic storage)
• Storage-Tech (disc subsystems)
• Sun-Microsystems, Boulder, expanding to 10,000 ee's (design/development)
• Ball-Aerospace, Boulder
• Martin-Marietta

Government Research Laboratories in the area include:

• NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), Boulder. An NSF research and high-performance computing center, staff ~1000. See http://www.ncar.ucar.edu
• NIST (National Institute for Standards and Technology), Boulder. A Department of Commerce research lab, Bose-Einstein condensation…, staff 500. See http://www.boulder.nist.gov
• NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Boulder. A research lab on environmental, climate and astronomy sciences, staff 650. See http://www.oar.noaa.gov
• JILA (Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics), Boulder. Atomic physics. See http://jilawww.colorado.edu

Further information may be obtained by contacting the Human Resources Office at NREL: (303) 275-4315. NREL is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Clarifications or further details can be obtained via e-mail to alex_zunger@nrel.gov.