APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

• CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.

• CURRENT PENN STATE STUDENT (not employed previously at the university) and seeking employment with Penn State, please login to Workday to complete the student application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.

• If you are NOT a current employee or student, please click “Apply” and complete the application process for external applicants.

 

Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.

This is a term position; length of the term will be discussed during the interview process. Continuation past the term length discussed will be based on university need, performance, and/or availability of funding.

 

POSITION SPECIFICS

Postdoctoral Researcher in Defect Modeling
The Pennsylvania State University
Department of Nuclear Engineering

The Computational Nuclear Materials Group (https://sites.psu.edu/cnmg/) at Penn State invites applications for a postdoctoral research position focused on modeling of coupled lattice defect dynamics and charge carrier transport in GaN-based materials and devices. This position is part of an interdisciplinary effort to understand and predict the behavior of radiation-induced defects and their coupling with electrical performance in wide-bandgap semiconductors.

The successful candidate will lead the development of models that capture the kinetics of point defects and their interaction with electronic charge carriers under various conditions, including electric fields and irradiation environments.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop models for coupled reaction-drift-diffusion of point defects and charge carriers.

• Implement models of defect-charge interactions including trapping, recombination, and field-driven migration.

• Support integration of defect models into existing TCAD or custom simulation platforms.

• Collaborate with experimental and atomistic modeling teams to inform model inputs and validate results.

• Prepare publications, technical reports, and assist with proposal development.

Required Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Materials Science, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.

• Expertise in continuum modeling of defect or carrier transport (e.g., rate theory, drift-diffusion, reaction-diffusion models).

• Solid understanding of defect physics and semiconductor transport phenomena.

• Strong computational skills, including numerical methods and scientific programming (Python, MATLAB, C++, etc.).

• Effective communication and collaborative skills.

Preferred Qualifications:<