DTRA Postdoc Scholars

The Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute is recruiting candidates for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Postdoctoral Scholars Program. This program trains recent PhD graduates in areas of program management relevant to DTRA-funded national security research.

As a DTRA Postdoctoral Scholar you will work directly with DTRA program managers in support of the DTRA mission to counter the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction. In addition to technical training, you will gain experience with program management of federally-funded research.

Scholars will:

• Learn first-hand from operators in the field about state-of-the-art technology,
• Translate complex national security needs into basic research and development requirements,
• Provide technical programmatic oversight, and
• Actualize innovative ideas and solutions in CWMD mission space.

Position Description:

The DTRA Nuclear Survivability Postdoctoral Fellow will advance research and development (R&D) efforts to provide technologies, standards, historical data, and testing capabilities to ensure that

U.S.nuclear and conventional forces survive and fight through adversary nuclear attacks. Post-Doctoral Fellows assist in the development of research topics and programs, monitoring and evaluating research efforts, analyzing components and systems, and transitioning promising technologies. Depending on expertise and mission alignment, candidates may be directly involved in applied research, modeling, and analysis efforts. This is not a lab research position. Depending on expertise and interest, the Nuclear Survivability Postdoctoral Fellow may be involved in a range of projects, including developing nuclear survivability standards and test methods, operational system vulnerability assessments and verification, and developing next-generation experimental facilities to test nuclear survivability.

Those with strong quantitative skills and excellent communication abilities are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants should hold a PhD or be within 6 months of obtaining a PhD in a relevant engineering or physics discipline. Experience in engineering specialties such as antennas, radio frequency scintillation, aerospace, power/grid, and communications or physics specialties such as electromagnetics, magneto hydrodynamics, radio frequency scintillation, and geomagnetic disturbances, would be beneficial.

Experimental, modeling and simulation, and theoretical specialists are welcome to apply, but candidates must be open to learning and applying concepts beyond their primary area of expertise.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Investigate scientific or technological areas of interest under guidance of a Mentor.
• Advise the Government on methods to address sensor critical warfighter needs.
• Learn program management processes and help the Government guide research investments.
• Interact with operational military units to understand their needs, limitations, and potential concepts for employing new technologies.
• Support the evaluation of technical proposals, research findings, and research topics.
• Be flexible at learning and reviewing concepts beyond a narrow specialty.
• Other duties and responsibilities may arise as the candidate’s experience matures.
• Note that this position is focused on support of DTRA program management, and does not involve bench research

Experience Desired:

• Knowledge in areas of radiation detection, physics, or engineering with a moderate understanding of the state-of-the-art in data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence and the application of those tools to scientific problems. Alternatively, the candidate may have a strong background in data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence with a moderate understanding of radiation detection, physics, or engineering.
• Ability to work in a highly complex environment, both individually and as part of a team, while showing initiative to learn about new scientific disciplines, think about new ways to solve a problem, and get involved in projects.
• Strong written and verbal communications.

Education Required:

Candidates must have a STEM Ph.D or equivalent in physics, engineering, computer science,…