Postdoctoral Fellow, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering

Job Posting

Title:

Postdoctoral Fellow, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering

Hiring Department: Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering

Position Open To: All Applicants

Weekly Scheduled

Hours:

40

FLSA Status: Exempt

Earliest

Start Date:

Immediately

Position Duration: Expected to Continue Until Feb 16, 2027

Location: UT MAIN CAMPUS

As a top-10 engineering school with the No. 1 program in Texas, the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin has been a global leader in technology innovation and engineering education for over a century. With 11 undergraduate and 13 graduate programs, over 20 research centers and a faculty community that boasts one of the highest number of National Academy of Engineering members among U.S. universities, Texas Engineering has launched some of the nation's most accomplished leaders and pioneered world‑changing solutions in virtually every industry, from space exploration to energy to health care.

Situated in the heart of Austin - named "America's Coolest City" by Expedia and "The Best Place to Live in the U.S." by U.S. News and World Report - the Cockrell School embodies the city's innovative spirit. Major companies with Austin campuses, such as Dell, National Instruments, Apple, IBM, Samsung, Google and many others, continue to recruit Cockrell School students at a remarkable rate, launching thousands of successful careers and developing Texas Engineers into industry leaders.

The purpose of this position is to advance the state-of-the-art in the chemistry modeling of molten salt reactors and support the development of chemistry-specific digital twins of molten salt systems.

In this position, you will report directly to Dr. Shayan Shahbazi and Dr. Kevin Clarno and your primary research area will be investigation of chemical and nuclear phenomena supporting digital twins of molten salt reactors. This will include supervising students, writing journal articles, developing new project proposals, and potentially conducting experimental research. This is a temporary training position that may be renewed annually based upon performance review, progress towards research goals, and continuation of funding.

• Conducting independent research
• Mentoring students in the research group
• Publication of results in peer‑reviewed journals
• Support to faculty on writing research grant proposals

• Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Chemistry received within the past 3 years.
• Demonstrated coursework and research experience in radiochemistry, computational chemistry, and/or nuclear materials science.

• Depending on the project, experience with Python, machine learning techniques, and any of the following tools is desired:
  Fact Sage, PyCalphad, Thermochimica, MSTDB‑TC, MSTDB‑TP, SAM, Pronghorn, Nek, MOOSE‑based tools, Cardinal, Griffin, or OpenMC. Excellent written and oral communication skills.

$80,000

• May work in standard office conditions
• May require repetitive use of keyboard at a workstation
• May require use of manual dexterity
• May work around chemicals
• May work around electrical and mechanical hazards
• Lifting and moving

• Resume/CV
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
• Letter of interest

You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi‑select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded.

Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

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