Post-Doctoral Research Associate: Department of Physics and Astronomy - UTK

The Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics Group at the University of Tennessee is seeking candidates for one to two postdoctoral positions in computational quantum materials simulations. These positions are part of two large-scale multi-institution efforts. The first is to develop and apply methods in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science for modeling collective excitations in strongly correlated quantum materials with connections to resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) experiments. The second effort seeks to develop nonperturbative frameworks for simulating quantum materials driven far from equilibrium. The successful candidates will have the opportunity to interact with a team of faculty members, scientists, and students from the University of Tennessee, San Jose State University, Stanford University, the University of California, Davis, as well as Brookhaven, Los Alamos, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. 

The successful applicant(s) will carry out interdisciplinary materials research in correlated electron systems, electron-phonon interactions, quantum magnetism, superconductivity, nonequilibrium phenomena, and theory of spectroscopy. Research will be performed at the UTK campus but in active collaboration with the institutions listed above.

The responsibilities for this position include developing and conducting original independent research; collaborating with senior researchers; preparing manuscripts and presenting research findings at conferences; developing and implementing new algorithms; assisting in preparing requests for computational resources to support simulations and data analysis; mentoring graduate students; working with experimentalists, computational scientists, and other interdisciplinary researchers to translate findings into practical applications, where relevant; and upholding the highest standards of academic integrity in all aspects of research, ensuring results are reproducible, transparent, and rigorously tested.

Required Qualifications

• Education: PhD in Physics or related field at the start date. 
• Experience: Demonstrated research experience in one or more of the following areas is highly desirable: using numerical methods for solving interacting quantum systems (examples include but are not limited to auxiliary field or path integral quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods, embedded cluster methods like DCA, density matrix renormalization group); methods in AI, ML, and data science; and modeling strongly correlated systems, broadly defined. Substantial programming experience and algorithm development will be a significant asset. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: knowledge of one or more current computational many-body approaches and code/software development. Depending on the position, experience with machine learning and/or nonequilibrium physics would be an asset.     

Work Location

• Onsite at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, main campus and Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing. 

Compensation and Benefits 

• Anticipated hiring range: $65,000 – $70,000
• Maximum moving allowance: $2000

Application Instructions 

For best consideration applicants should submit the below materials:

• CV
• List of publications
• Statement of Research and research interests (brief, 2-page max)
• References – 3 names and email addresses. 

About The Department

The Department has an exemplary research record, with eight professors earning NSF CAREER awards since 2012, four professors earning DOE Early Career awards, eight professors among the world’s top two percent of physicists based on citation count, the award of the prestigious American Physical Society 2021 Bonner Prize, ten APS Fellows, and three AAAS Fellows. Sixteen physics faculty members are part of UT’s Quantum Materials for Future Technologies (QMFT) Research Cluster, which ultimately won funds from the National Science Foundation to establish a Materials Research and Engineering Center (MRSEC), one of only 20 such centers nationwide. 

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