• Postdoctoral Research Scientist

    Fordham University (Bronx, NY)


    About Fordham:

    Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering an exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to more than 16,000 students in its nine colleges and schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan, a campus in West Harrison, N.Y., the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y., and the London Centre in the United Kingdom.

     

    The University offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance; flexible spending accounts; retirement plans; life insurance; short and long-term disability; employee assistance program ( EAP ); tuition remission; and generous time off.

     

    Successful candidates should have a knowledge of and commitment to the goals of Jesuit Education.

     

    Department: Chemistry

     

    Campus: Multiple Campuses

    Position Summary:

    Reporting to the Bepler Chair, the Postdoctoral Research Scientist performs computational research, software development, and data processing to support research and development of new lanthanide and actinide separation methods.

     

    This is a postdoctoral researcher position that aims to advance the state of critical mineral separations (in particular lanthanides and actinides) by using a combination of machine learning,

     

    atomistic simulation, and automated experimentation.

     

    Work at Fordham focuses on computational research, specifically machine learning/AI aspects of extracting design and experimental optimization in close collaboration with researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Work at Fordham also includes the maintenance and continued development of the SAFE database (https://safe.lanl.gov), an emerging international resource for sharing data in the field.

     

    A recent visitor to our laboratory described some of our work on the SAFE database, agentic AI, and the problem: https://substack.taosresearch.ai/p/ai-agents-in-the-lab-the-quest-to

    Essential Functions:

    Performs scientific research on applications of machine learning and AI to lanthanide and actinide separations.

     

    Writes computer programs needed to perform research tasks and database maintenance.

     

    Writes scientific papers and other technical publications describing the research.

     

    Communicates with technical staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory and NERSC and presents work at conferences.

     

    Mentors students (as aligned with career development plans).

    Required Qualifications:

    Ph.D. or equivalent degree/experience in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or related field ( ABD or upcoming graduation is permitted).

    Preferred Qualifications:

    Experience in Python.

     

    Experience with machine learning methods for chemistry is highly desirable.

     

    Experience with SQL and Flask for web database development is highly desirable.

     

    Experience with f-element chemistry and/or separation science is highly desirable.

     

    Minimum Salary: $65,000

     

    Maximum Salary: $70,000