Two Postdoc Positions in Autonomous Materials Discovery

Two Postdoc Positions in Autonomous Materials Discovery (AiMade)

Two postdoc positions will be offered at the Department of Energy Conversion and Storage (DTU Energy) in connection with a new initiative on Autonomous Materials Discovery (AiMade, www.aimade.org). AiMade is a four-year cross-disciplinary project that is focused on establishing a platform for accelerated, autonomous materials discovery of clean energy materials through creation of a common data-infrastructure and holistic ontology for materials data, connecting data and information from simulations, characterization, synthesis and testing, spanning multiple time- and length-scales. The project revolves around four central competence areas plus a general machinery, involving different sections of the department and experts in various fields, from computational materials design and machine learning, to advanced synthesis and in situ characterization, and testing. 

Two postdocs will be hired in relation to the project. The titles of the projects are:

Modelling of cathode and electrolyte materials for Mg-ion and Mg-Sulfur batteries 
The postdocs will perform accelerated screening and discovery of materials relying on Density Functional Theory (DFT) to find high voltage cathode inorganic materials, efficient solid electrolytes and new electrolyte solutions for Mg-ion batteries. The search of materials will be carried out through Machine Learning algorithms trained on data sets produced by DFT calculations. The DFT computations will be coupled to other techniques, such as the Nudged Elastic Band (NEB) method (for the simulations of Mg2+ ions diffusion, both in cathode and solid electrolyte inorganic materials), Cluster Expansion (e.g. to determine open circuit voltages), and Molecular Dynamics (to account for solvation energies in electrolyte solutions). In addition simulations of complex process in Mg-sulfur batteries, such as the formation of magnesium polysulfides in the electrolyte or the electron conductivity in the sulfur-carbon cathode composite, will be carried out. Contact persons: Juan Maria Garcia-Lastra, Associate Professor, and Tejs Vegge, Professor and Head of Section for Atomic Scale Materials Modelling.

The projects will be carried out in close collaboration with leading international computational and experimental groups, as well as industry, and the employment will be at DTU Energy in Lyngby.

Qualifications
The successful candidate should hold a PhD degree in physics, chemistry or computational science.

A successful candidate:
•    has good communication skills in English, both written and spoken
•    is able to work independently and take responsibility for progress and quality of projects. 

We favor candidates with experience in materials physics, chemistry, electrochemistry, artificial intelligence and related areas.

Assessment
The assessment of the applicants will be made by: Head of Section, Professor Tejs Vegge and Associate Professor Juan Maria García Lastra.

We offer
DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility. 

Salary and terms of employment
The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The allowance will be agreed upon with the relevant union.

Period of employment is for two years.

You can read more about career paths at DTU here.

The employments are expected to start January 1st, 2019 or within the following months.

Further information
If you need further information concerning these positions, please contact Project manager, Professor Tejs Vegge at teve@dtu.dk 

Please do not send applications to these e-mail addresses, instead apply online as described below.

Application
We must have your online application by 10 December 2018. Apply via the "Ansøg" link.

Remember to specify which subproject/position you are applying for.

Applications must be submitted as one pdf file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link "Apply online," fill in the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one pdf file.

The file must include:

• A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
• Curriculum vitae
• PhD diploma
• List of publications
• 2-3 references

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, disability, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.
 

Please write in your application that you've seen the job at Jobfinder.