Postdoctoral Position at UC Davis in Computational Materials Science

Update: The position has been filled; thanks to all who responded.

A post-doctoral position is immediately available at UC Davis. The individual will work on a joint project led by myself and John Pask at LLNL on the development and application of a new finite-element based approach for large-scale quantum mechanical materials calculations.

The research is aimed at getting beyond standard planewave based methods for large-scale quantum molecular dynamics, and addressing a range of problems that have been inaccessible so far by such accurate,  quantum-mechanical means. The key ingredient of the new finite-element based approach, as currently formulated, is the partition-of-unity basis which allows known physics to be built into the basis set without sacrificing locality or systematic improvability; thus allowing for a substantial reduction in basis size while retaining natural and efficient parallelization.

The candidate should possess a strong background in finite elements and computational mathematics, with excellent programming skills. Knowledge and research experience in quantum mechanics, electronic-structure calculations, and/or nanomechanics will be advantageous. Interested individuals should send a copy of their curriculum vitae, a list of three references, and a short statement of research interests (upto a page) to me via e-mail. Please send a single PDF file to me at nsukumar@ucdavis.edu