John S. Foster, Jr. and Harold Brown Postdoctoral Fellowships

John S. Foster, Jr. and Harold Brown Postdoctoral Fellowships

Entry Level | Full-time

Postdoctoral/Fellowship | Livermore, CA | 06/29/2026

Reference #: REF
8507V

Job Code: PDS.
4 Lawrence Fellow Post Doc

Organization:
Strategic Deterrence

Position Type:
Post Doctoral

Security Clearance:
Anticipated DOE Q clearance (requires U.S. citizenship and a federal background investigation)

Drug Test:
Required for external applicant(s) selected for this position (includes testing for use of marijuana)

Medical Exam: A job-related pre-placement medical examination may be required.

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Join us and make YOUR mark on the World!

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has turned bold ideas into world-changing impact advancing science and technology to strengthen U.S. security and promote global stability.

Our mission spans four critical national security areas nuclear deterrence, threat preparedness, energy security, and multi-domain defense empowering teams to take on the toughest challenges of today and tomorrow. With a culture built on innovation and operational excellence, LLNL is a place where your expertise can make a real impact.

We have two openings for our prestigious and distinguished postdoctoral fellowships in the Strategic Deterrence Directorate: the John S. Foster, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellowship and the Harold Brown Postdoctoral Fellowship. Named after the Laboratory’s renowned physicists, Dr. John S. Foster, Jr. and Dr. Harold Brown, these fellowships recognize individuals whose research aligns with the Laboratory’s national security mission. Dr. Foster was a key figure in establishing Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as essential to the nation’s defense.

He helped invent and then spearheaded the innovations that led to the modern stockpile, as well as introducing many important programs at the Laboratory that continue to this day. Dr. Brown was a nuclear deterrence pioneer, a former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory director, and Secretary of Defense under President Jimmy Carter. An intellectual giant who led the development of technologies that modernized nuclear deterrence and played integral roles during the most dramatic moments of the Cold War, Dr.

Brown’s life was indelibly intertwined with national security.

These prestigious postdoctoral fellowships will allow you to take your skills to the next level and apply them to solving the nation’s most pressing science and engineering challenges. The purpose of these fellowships is to pursue groundbreaking science and to stimulate ideas across LLNL organizations and DOE facilities. Foster and Brown Fellows will participate in creative and independent research in an aspect of science and engineering relevant to the competencies lows participate in experimental, computational, and/or theoretical work, and will have access to LLNL's extensive computing facilities, talent pool, specialized laboratory facilities, and field equipment.

We invite PhD graduates from a variety of STEM fields (including, but not limited to, the various physics disciplines, engineering, experimental science, computational sciences, planetary science, chemistry, and materials science) to apply for these distinguished postdoctoral fellowships. These opportunities are intended for individuals who have finished their PhD and wish to further develop their skills, knowledge, and abilities. These positions are in the Design Physics Division within the Strategic Deterrence Directorate.

Our postdoctoral fellowship positions are atypical — we select highly qualified candidates based on demonstrated research aptitude and then customize the project assignment to fit their abilities and interests as well as our needs. Recent projects have involved:

• Physics of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF)
• Turbulence and fluid instabilities
• Atomistic and continuum models of transport
• Planetary defense (asteroid deflection and impact modeling)
• Computational solid and fluid dynamics
• Chemical physics
• Nuclear physics
• Particle and radiation transport algorithm development
• Artificial intelligence and uncertainty quantification

These positions may offer a hybrid schedule, which includes…