Assistant Research Scientist; PREP

General Description

PREP Research Associate (US Citizen)

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas.

Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

The position is in the Applied Economics Office (AEO), a part of the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at NIST, which provides economic products and services through research and consulting to industry and government agencies in support of productivity enhancement, economic growth, and international competitiveness, with a focus on improving the life‑cycle quality and economy of constructed facilities and manufacturing processes that support social and economic functions.

AEO is integrated within EL's major research thrusts. AEO delivers high quality research and tool development that informs and assists stakeholders in their decision‑making processes.

Research

Title:

Life Cycle System Science of Materials and Engineered Systems

• Review, assess, and improve NIST's existing LCA data models and decision‑support tools.
• Identify, quantify, and prioritize data gaps for large format batteries and other product categories of interest to NIST.
• Develop and maintain a repository on the Federal LCA Commons for large format batteries.
• Identify research and data gaps in current LCA‑related activities at NIST.
• Validate LLM‑based tools.
• Write research slide decks, reports, and/or journal articles.
• Participate in ACLCA committees and sub‑committees and LCA‑relevant NIST consortia as appropriate.

• US Citizen.
• Master's in Engineering, Environmental Science, or related field.
• Experience in ISO compliant LCA modeling and related research.
• Experience using OpenLCA.
• Experience using public life cycle inventory (LCI) databases, including the Federal LCA Commons repositories and GREET suite of tools.
• Experience using technical document reference software (e.g., Zotero, End Note).
• Knowledge of construction materials and building sciences and systems.
• Extensive knowledge of EPDs and OpenEPD JSON schema.
• Knowledge of large language model (LLM) applications for document parsing, information formatting, and text summary.
• Experience in life cycle assessment of at least 5 of the following: large format batteries, concrete, cement, asphalt, gypsum, other building materials and systems, material recovery pathways, and whole buildings.
• Proficient in spatial analysis using GIS‑based software (e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS).
• Experience solving complex LCA‑related problems (e.g., long supply chains and production processes, and evaluation of multiple impact indicators and methods).
• Experience writing literature reviews and conducting statistical analysis.
• Excellent writing and communication skills, including at least 2 technical publications and at least 2 conference presentations.
• Self‑driven and capable of working independently with minimal supervision.

Please upload the following with your application:

• CV/Resume (maximum 3 pages; must contain a valid email address for contact; disallowed content listed below will result in rejection).
• Self portraits.
• Phone number.
• Home address/Country.
• Citizenship status.
• Languages spoken.
• Sex/Gender.

Disallowed CV content:
1) It is directed to any Chief Executive Officer,
2) It is a cover letter that claims you are the CEO,
3) The CV/Resume states you work for a business with a company address or a contact name,
4) Duplicate data records or repeated paragraphs,
5) Itemized “Waivers”, “Special license”, “Custom Element”, “Custom Requirement etc.",
6) Large “Claim” or “Exclusion” sections,
7) Any content that may form a company confidentiality or property.
8) Any admission that you have misled the hiring organization.
9)© or “©” or any references to copyright. 10) Any non‑English text. 11) Any foreign patent version name with a foreign language name. 12) Any other disallowed content.