Post-Doctoral Research Associate - Gas Phase Actinide Chemistry

At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget.  

Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus. 

The Energy and Environment Directorate delivers science and technology solutions for the nation’s biggest energy and environmental challenges. Our more than 1,700 staff support the Department of Energy (DOE), delivering on key DOE mission areas including: modernizing our nation’s power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure; research, development, validation, and effective utilization of renewable energy and efficiency technologies that improve the affordability, reliability, resiliency, and security of the American energy system; and resolving complex issues in nuclear science, energy, and environmental management.  

The Nuclear Sciences Division, part of the Energy and Environment Directorate, delivers science and technology innovations for the environment, energy, and national security. At a time when complex challenges are emerging on many fronts, we address some of the most challenging national and international nuclear issues. This includes providing technological solutions that protect the public health and safety around nuclear facilities, developing durable new materials for extreme nuclear environments, innovating new nuclear processes for the safety and security of the nation, and delivering new approaches for accelerating environmental cleanup of nuclear sites. The division’s capabilities and efforts are focused on environmental management of nuclear sites, nuclear regulatory processes, national nuclear security, and advancing nuclear energy. 

Responsibilities
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is seeking a postdoctoral research associate to join the Nuclear Chemistry Team, which supports the goals of the Nuclear Sciences Division. The ideal candidate will support a mass spectrometry capability in the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL). 

The candidate will help build a gas phase actinide science capability at the RPL, a nuclear facility, within PNNL. This team currently utilizes tandem mass spectrometry to measure actinide reaction kinetics and thermochemistry. The ideal candidate would have experience applying physical chemistry techniques to measure chemical rates or physical constants (e.g. bond energies, ionization energies, etc.). Candidates with experience handling actinide or lanthanide materials will also be considered.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Candidates must have received a PhD within the past five years (60 months) or within the next 8 months from an accredited college or university.

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD in chemistry, physics, radiochemistry, nuclear engineering or related degree. 
• The candidate must be willing to work with radioactive materials.
• The candidate must have experience applying physical chemistry principles to experiments to determine physical measurables.
• The ideal candidate will have experience operating mass spectrometry experiments and maintaining the instrument(s).
• Candidates with significant gas phase spectroscopy, actinide/lanthanide coordination chemistry, or computational chemistry experience will also be considered.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, a demonstrated ability to work individually and as a team member.