Turbulence and Coherent Structures Postdoctoral Researcher Ocean or Fusion

What You Will Do

Be a part of our innovative new project to model and control turbulence focusing on two critical applications: magnetically confined fusion and transport in the ocean. Our interdisciplinary team of turbulence scientists, ocean modelers, and plasma physicists is working to develop a new paradigm of coherent structure-based turbulence modeling. The goal is fast, accurate, low-order models which can be used to provide robust predictions of ocean currents and for control of fusion systems.

We are looking for candidates with a background in any of these fields who are excited by the opportunity to develop cross-domain skills. You will have the opportunity to work with Los Alamos National Laboratory staff from our X Computational Physics and Theoretical divisions and in close collaboration with faculty at the University of Michigan. The position may be located in either Ann Arbor, MI, or Los Alamos, NM.

Up to three positions are available.

Research experience in at least one of the following areas:

• The theory, simulation, or modeling of fluid turbulence
• Magneto hydrodynamics or plasma physics
• Modeling and simulation of ocean flows

Programming experience working in computational fluid dynamics codes. You will need to be familiar with at least one of the languages C++, Fortran, or Python.

Demonstrated proficiency in mathematical techniques relevant to fluid and/or plasma dynamics.

Verbal and written communication skills are critical for this position. In addition to scientific publication and conference presentations, you will be expected to educate LANL staff about your research and work collaboratively to apply it to problems of LANL interest.

This position involves developing novel research tools and applying them in new ways. The successful candidate needs to demonstrate initiative for continuous learning and skill development as an approach to new challenges.

Ability to obtain a Q clearance, which typically requires US citizenship.

A Ph.D. in Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or related field, in the areas of fluid dynamics, plasma physics, or oceans, completed withing the last five years or soon to be completed.

Research in the interactions between turbulence and other physics processes is a plus. This would ideally include magneto hydrodynamic turbulence, geophysical turbulence, or turbulence in environmental flows at any scale.

Research in the broad area of developing reduced-order models that describe or predict turbulent flow physics.

Experience with the theory or computation of exact coherent structure and invariant solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations.

Experience or training in the theory, modeling, and simulation of dynamical systems and control theory.

Experience in scientific computing is a plus, especially any of the following: modern software engineering practices and tools, high-performance optimization including MPI and GPU programming, or being part of a code development team.

The work location for this position is onsite and located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the LANL Michigan SPARC. All work locations are at the discretion of management. Depending on applicant preference and job requirements, this position could also be located in Los Alamos, NM.

Due to federal restrictions contained in the current National Defense Authorization Act, citizens of the People's Republic of China-including the special…