Full-Time
Dislocation Analysis Computational Materials Science
Postdoctoral Researcher
Posted on 8/23/2026
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
5,001-10,000 employees
National security research laboratory
Compensation Overview
$123k/yr
Livermore, CA, USA
In Person
PhD
 AI & Machine Learning (1) |
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- PhD in Materials Science, Condensed Matter Physics, Nuclear Engineering, Computational Science, Applied Mathematics, or a closely related field
- Demonstrated experience in atomistic and/or dislocation simulation methods (e.g., Molecular Dynamics, Dislocation Dynamics, Crystal Plasticity)
- Ability to independently develop massively parallelized codes using C/C++/Python and proficiency in high-performance computing environments
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Proficient verbal and written communication skills as reflected in effective presentations at meetings and a demonstrated strong publication record
- Initiative and interpersonal skills with desire and ability to work in a collaborative, multidisciplinary team environment
- Develop and validate a multiscale simulation framework for virtual X-ray diffraction in plastically deformed alloys
- Implement the framework in parallel simulation codes intended to run on LLNL supercomputers
- Design and conduct complex molecular and dislocation dynamic simulations to investigate deformation mechanisms in FCC and BCC alloys
- Develop a machine-learning based methodology to perform dislocation analysis from high energy X-ray diffraction patterns
- Develop and present written analyses and verbal briefings that capture and communicate research results as well as periodic progress reports
- Publish research results in peer-reviewed scientific or technical journals and present results at external conferences, seminars and/or technical meetings
- Perform other duties as assigned
- Experience with multiscale modeling frameworks and integration of multiple simulation methods
- Familiarity with synchrotron high energy X-ray diffraction experiments and/or theory
- Experience in the design of algorithms, development of simulation codes, and their implementation and validation
- Familiarity with data-driven and machine-learning methods
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) conducts scientific and engineering research funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to tackle national-security, energy, and environmental challenges. Its work turns into concrete technologies and tools—advanced materials, computer simulations, software, vaccines, and other solutions—through multidisciplinary teams collaborating on government contracts and grants. Unlike private vendors, LLNL operates as a national laboratory with unique facilities and long-term, mission-driven funding, focusing on large-scale programs and public-interest outcomes. Its goal is to protect people, advance energy and environmental sustainability, and push scientific knowledge forward for national security and public good.
Company Size
5,001-10,000
Company Stage
Grant
Total Funding
$7.8M
Headquarters
Livermore, California
Founded
1952
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- July 23, 2026, LLNL won $2 million with Oxylus to commercialize methanol reactors.
- July 29, 2026, LLNL and UC Davis launched food-and-health translation partnership.
- July 16, 2026, LLNL's Pacific Fusion partnership surpassed 3,000 shots on Sirius 1.
What critics are saying
- FY 2026 energy and cleanup funding stayed tiny while nuclear weapons consumed about 90%.
- Tri-Valley CAREs litigation still targets NNSA plutonium pit production impacts at Livermore.
- Federal budget shifts to fewer weapons programs strand LLNL's nondefense portfolio.
What makes Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) unique
- NIF remains the only facility to achieve laboratory fusion ignition, anchoring LLNL credibility.
- LLNL led 10 Genesis Mission Phase I projects on August 22, 2026.
- LLNL pairs supercomputing, synthetic biology, and high-energy-density physics across mission programs.
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Benefits
Hybrid Work Options
Phone/Internet Stipend
Wellness Program
Flexible Work Hours
Health Insurance
401(k) Retirement Plan
401(k) Company Match
Paid Vacation
Paid Holidays
Remote Work Options
Paid Sick Leave
Life Insurance
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 8%1 year growth
↑ 8%2 year growth
↑ 8%How LLNL won a $2M grant and found a commercialization partner for its methanol reactor design. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is partnering with Oxylus, a Yale spinout focused on CO[2] electrolysis technology, to develop and, potentially, commercialize a reactor that could convert carbon waste to methanol without alkali cations. Researchers at LLNL and partners at Oxylus Energy are developing an electrochemical reactor that transforms waste carbon into valuable chemicals. (Photo: Garry McLeod/LLNL) LLNL won $2 million from the DOE's Industrial Technologies Office through the Technology Commercialization Fund with the aim of advancing the technology toward commercial use. The partnership between LLN and Oxylus is a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), a mechanism that lets a federal lab and non-federal partner jointly conduct research while sharing resources, costs and negotiating in advance who owns and can commercialize the resulting technology. Typically, electrolysis requires alkali cations to catalyze the reaction. However, they also cause salt precipitation which creates blockages in the reactor. "[The alkali cations] induce failure modes, typically seen under 100 hours, and longer-term problems through non-steady-state operation," Maxwell Goldman, a scientist at LLNL, said in an interview with R&D World. "So, the dream is to run it with deionized water, since deionized water isn't conductive." Goldman's team at LLNL developed a reactor that can convert CO[2] to CO without alkali cations. Now, they are looking to see if they can use the same method to convert CO[2] to methanol. Goldman met Conor Rooney, CTO and co-founder of Oxylus, at a scale-up workshop LLNL held two years ago. "I remembered Conor had said that salting is a problem for their system, and for everyone doing electrochemical CO[2] conversion to methanol," Goldman said. "I had an idea and I wasn't sure if it would work. It works for CO[2] to CO, so maybe it could work for CO[2] to methanol. I asked if they were interested, and that started the conversation about what the project could look like and how we could help each other." Oxylus has developed its own catalyst for electrolysis, which the company is bringing to the partnership with LLNL. Oxylus' catalyst solves a common problem for bulk metal catalysts: selectivity. "Typically, catalysts for these types of devices are just bulk metal catalysts. For CO[2] electrolysis, that's often gold, silver or copper... The challenge with those is that it's hard to control where the CO[2] binds on the surface and how it gets converted, because there can be many different types of sites on the surface of those metals, like imperfections and defect sites, that steer the reactivity," Rooney said in an interview with R&D World. Oxylus' catalyst is a single cobalt atom surrounded by four nitrogen atoms in an organometallic complex that is placed on a conductive carbon surface. "We coat these cobalt-containing molecules onto the conductive carbon nanotube surface, and this has a special property in that it behaves like a metal, it's very conductive, but it has well-defined sites where the CO2 binds," Rooney said. The company has been able to demonstrate its catalysts can operate continuously for over six months. The partnership aims to combine Oxylus's catalyst with LLNL's reactor technology. "There are two bottlenecks in CO[2] electrolysis commercialization. One is having a stable catalyst, and I think at Oxylus we've solved that problem. The other is having a stable reactor, and the main reason reactors fail is salt precipitation... Lawrence Livermore has figured out a way not to use salt," Rooney said. "So, together we've ideally solved both the catalyst and reactor bottlenecks." Under the partnership, Oxylus is also looking at the economic side, Goldman said, including how the balance of plant, the supporting equipment and infrastructure around the reactor itself, changes with and without salt and what commercialization could look like when scaling up the reactor. The U.S. Department of Energy's Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) awarded LLNL $2 million to develop its reactor. Managed by the Office of Technology Commercialization, TCF seeks to bridge the gap between research and commercial applications, LLNL said in a press release. Since the project began earlier this year, LLNL has been running experiments to produce the electrolyzer and optimize its performance while Oxylus provides materials and expertise on the catalyst system, Rooney said. The first big milestone for the project is the proof of concept of the electrolysis reaction without alkali cations, Goldman said. "Right now, it looks extremely promising," he added. "By the end of the grant, our hope is to be at a large single-cell pre-pilot size, around the 100 square centimeter target," he said. "If we go through there, then it would make a lot of sense to take it to the next step."
IIFH and Lawrence National Laboratory partner on food and health innovation. Key takeaways. * IIFH at UC Davis and LLNL announced a strategic partnership to speed innovation in food systems and human health. * The organizations will launch talent and discovery programs and share scientific and technological advances to create a hub to boost next-gen ingredients. * The collaboration follows earlier IIFH partnerships to commercialize nutrition research. The Innovation Institute for Food & Health (IIFH) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have announced a strategic partnership to translate scientific discovery into technology and innovations across food systems and human health. IIFH, at the University of California (UC), Davis, US, and LLNL aim to create a hub to speed the development of next-generation ingredients, technologies, diagnostics, computational tools, and biotechnology platforms. "Lawrence Livermore's mission has always been to apply cutting-edge science and technology to society's most complex challenges," says Kim Budil, LLNL's director. "This collaboration creates new opportunities to combine scientific excellence with entrepreneurship and technology translation. Together, we can build stronger pathways for innovation to reach the people and communities it is intended to serve." Scientific and technological development. The partnership will launch talent and discovery programs for students and researchers. The institutions will also organize joint events and share scientific and technological advances. Through this, they aim to accelerate the development and commercialization of science-based solutions and technologies that "could transform the food and health sector." LLNL's mission is to enable US security and global stability and resilience through innovative science and technology, with expertise in AI, supercomputing, synthetic biology, biosecurity, and advanced engineering. "The next generation of breakthroughs in food and health will come from intentionally connecting the world's best scientific capabilities," says Justin Siegel, IIFH faculty director and professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Molecular Medicine at UC Davis. "By combining Lawrence Livermore's expertise in advanced science and technology with UC Davis' leadership in food and health, IIFH serves as the catalyst that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and industry partners to turn discoveries into technologies, companies, and solutions that improve lives." Expanding UC Davis collaborations. UC Davis and IIFH have been expanding partnerships with other research organizations and companies in the past year. For example, IIFH partnered with Food Frontier and Nestlé Health Science to commercialize nutrition science innovations. The institute is also collaborating with ScottsMiracle-Gro and ofi to make healthier products for people and the planet. Last year, Nutrition Insight spoke with IIFH's Siegel and AG1 CEO Kat Cole about the organizations' work to create products that support metabolic health by merging UC Davis' scientific expertise with AG1's market access. The institute also set up a program to develop future food and health leaders with the Novo Nordisk Foundation. With this foundation's BioInnovation Institute, the IIFH launched the Amplified African Food project to address malnutrition and stunting in Africa through precision nutrition.
CU, Infleqtion tapped to help build 'world's most powerful scientific platform' BOULDER - Two Boulder organizations - the University of Colorado and quantum firm Infleqtion Inc. (NYSE: INFQ) - have been recruited for key roles in the Genesis Mission, a Trump administration effort, led by the U.S. Department of Energy, that the government says will "build the world's most powerful scientific platform." The Genesis Mission "unites DOE National Labs, industry, academia, and more to harness AI for breakthroughs in energy dominance, discovery science, and national security," according to the mission website. Administration officials pledged this week that federal agencies will commit $5 billion to the mission, and some of that funding is flowing into Boulder. Sponsored Content CU said that it will receive six grants totalling $2.4 million for scientific discovery efforts that run the gamut from using artificial intelligence to control plasma in fusion energy systems to applying quantum computers to fusion energy simulations to discovering new fundamental particles in physics using AI to creating an AI-driven flood-prediction framework. "These awards reflect the strength of CU Boulder's research enterprise and our researchers' ability to build ambitious, interdisciplinary collaborations needed to tackle some of our nation's most important scientific challenges," Massimo Ruzzene, CU senior vice chancellor for research and innovation, said in a prepared statement. "By applying advances in artificial intelligence to world-class research, our teams will help accelerate discovery in ways that will address complex challenges and benefit society." For its part in the Genesis Mission, Infleqtion said it will partner with CU, Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to develop "AI-optimized quantum circuit design for nuclear applications, deployable atomic quantum sensing with Agentic AI and nuclear fusion energy research." While Infleqtion is part of a much broader cohort of Genesis collaborators earmarked for $250 million, it wasn't immediately clear Thursday how much of that total the Boulder quantum firm expects to receive. "AI data centers are pulling more power than the grid was ever built to handle, and the industry is recognizing that these types of issues are beyond the capabilities of classical computing alone," Infleqtion CEO Matthew Kinsella said in a prepared statement. "By applying quantum computing to some of the hardest problems in nuclear and energy research, Infleqtion is playing a critical role in advancing the objectives of the Genesis Mission." Infleqtion inked a separate deal in May with the U.S. Department of Commerce's CHIPS Research and Development Office that could provide the Boulder quantum firm with as much as $100 million in new funding, should it reach certain technological development milestones. Two Boulder organizations - the University of Colorado and quantum firm Infleqtion Inc. - have been recruited for key roles in the Genesis Mission, a Trump administration effort, led by the U.S. Department of Energy, that the government says will "build the world's most powerful scientific platform." Already have a paid subscription? * Infleqtion awarded 6M+ by DOE Infleqtion, a quantum information company, was recently awarded $6.2 million in funding from the U.S... * Infleqtion gets millions from Energy Dept. quantum program Infleqtion was recently selected to receive $3.9 million from the U.S. Department of Energy's Quantum... * Infleqtion to establish research center at University of Texas BOULDER - Boulder-born quantum-technology company Infleqtion, the trade name used by ColdQuanta Inc., has signed... * Charlotte's Web forming scientific advisory board Louisville-based CBD company Charlotte's Web Holdings Inc. (TSX: CWEB) will form a scientific advisory board.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Oxylus Energy have secured $2 million in funding from the US Department of Energy's Industrial Technologies Office to develop reactor technology that converts waste carbon into methanol. The modular reactors transform carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals that can be used as fuel or precursors for plastics and other commodities. LLNL's novel electrochemical reactor converts carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide without alkali cations, which typically cause salt deposits that block reaction pathways. Oxylus Energy contributes technology for converting carbon monoxide to methanol. The partnership aims to integrate both systems to achieve direct carbon dioxide-to-methanol conversion in a single step. The technology could be deployed to existing plants and refineries, eliminating infrastructure costs whilst bolstering domestic manufacturing and energy security.
Connecting autonomous laboratories to speed scientific advancement. Media Inquiries Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University will develop AI-based tools that will enable autonomous laboratories to work together as one connected research ecosystem. The project has been selected to receive funding by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the Genesis Mission. The CMU research team, led by Herman Herman(opens in new window), director of CMU's National Robotics Engineering Center(opens in new window) (NREC), will partner with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to design and deploy a new generation of AI agents - intelligent software assistants that can make decisions and carry out tasks with minimal human guidance - to accelerate scientific breakthroughs by enabling robotic laboratories with different scientific equipment to work on complex experiments at the same time with minimal human involvement. Rather than requiring engineers to manually program each robot and scientific instrument, the AI agents will automatically generate the software instructions needed to perform complex tasks in each laboratory's unique environment. Using digital twins - virtual copies of each laboratory - the agents will practice, test, refine and optimize robotic workflows before deploying them to physical laboratory systems. "This project represents an important step toward intelligent laboratories that can learn, adapt, and collaborate," said Herman. "By combining AI agents, digital twins, and advanced robotics, we aim to create a scalable foundation for autonomous scientific discovery across Carnegie Mellon's AI Science Foundry and the national laboratory ecosystem." During the initial phase of the program, the team will demonstrate autonomous generation of robotic software instructions for increasingly complex laboratory tasks at CMU's AI Science Foundry(opens in new window) and testing at ANL and LLNL. The Genesis Mission is a historic national initiative led by the U.S. Department of Energy, which is building the world's most powerful integrated science discovery platform. By uniting government, industry, academia and philanthropy, it is accelerating breakthroughs in energy, scientific discovery and national security through a new platform that combines AI, supercomputing, quantum systems and advanced scientific instruments. The goal of the Phase I RFA awards is to identify promising pathways toward transformative scientific capabilities and establish a foundation for future investment and scale. Project teams will design and demonstrate research workflows that integrate AI with scientific investigation, while rigorously evaluating whether those approaches can accelerate discovery, improve predictive capabilities, enhance experimentation, or generate new scientific insights. Carnegie Mellon will lead the development of the AI-generated robotic autonomy stack and systems integration, while researchers at ANL, led by Arvind Ramanathan, a computational biologist in ANL's Data Science and Learning Division, will contribute expertise in data science and AI for biological research. Researchers at LLNL, led by Aldair Gongora, staff engineer in the Analytics for Advanced Manufacturing Group, and Yongqin Jiao, director of LLNL's Center for Bioengineering and Biomanufacturing, will advance autonomous experimentation platforms and synthetic biology capabilities that support distributed AI-driven scientific workflows. The project will use intelligent AI agents that can reason about laboratory capabilities, generate reusable robotic skills, adapt to differences in instruments and layouts, and continuously improve performance through simulation-based learning. By enabling laboratories to share robotic capabilities and AI-generated software modules, the platform is expected to dramatically reduce the time required to deploy new autonomous experiments across multiple sites. More stories. National Science Foundation research at CMU. National Science Foundation support helps Carnegie Mellon researchers across disciplines tackle some of society's most complex challenges. Explore the spotlights below to learn how CMU's NSF-funded research is making an impact.