Research Assistant Positions Open

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Sanders Faculty Fellow in Engineering

University of Colorado at Boulder

Open Research Assistant/Associate Positions

(Updated on January 02 , 2009)

We are interested in recruiting 1-2 post-doctoral research associates (starting ASAP) and 2-3 Ph.D students in Fall 2009. In general, we are interested in the applications of micro/nano-structures for renewable and sustainable energy applications such as photovolatics, thermoelectrics, lithium ion battery, and supercapacitor, to name a few, and the multifunctional system integration of energy harvesting/storage and thermal management. Our research group integrates the engineering frontier applications with fundamental research on transport properties and reliability of micro/nano-structures. The research associates and students working in our lab need to be highly self-motivated and have a strong sense of collaborative teamwork. We usually commit our financial support for > 2 years for post-doctoral research associates and >3 years for Ph.D students (hopefully until they complete their Ph.D degrees). The two immediate open positions for post-doctoral researchers are:

Position #1: Modeling of electron and thermal transport in nanostructures. The research associate or assistant should have ample experiences in one of these modeling/simulation approaches -- first principles calculation, nonequilibrium Green’s function theory, molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo simulations and/or Boltzmann-transport theory. An ideal candidate should have experiences and strong interests in bridging the simulations and theories of different time and length scales and have sound background and experiences in theoretical work on one of the above mentioned energy application areas – photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, and electrochemical energy storage. These are rather broad areas of our interests. We are looking forward to filling multiple positions complimentary to our existing infrastructure with one post-doctoral research associate starting ASAP.

Position #2: Micro/nano-fabrication, especially integrating standard and non-standard micro/nano-fabrication techniques for micro/nano-enabled systems with superior performances. Energy harvesting and storage systems with structural integrity and thermal management functionality are of our top priorities. Research associates or assistants with strong hands-on experiences need to be recruited to pursue a number of patent-pending micro-fabrication processes for these systems.

For post-doctoral research associate positions, applications including the following should be sent in a single email to Professor Ronggui Yang (Ronggui.Yang@Colorado.Edu) with the subject “post-doctor application”:

1). Detailed CV, 2). 3). Names of reference letter writers, 3). A 2-3 page research statement describing the past achievement and his/her visions of his/her own research field. 4). A short statement of how he/she fits to any of the above mentioned open positions and his/her career goal.

We usually respond to a complete application package within a week with follow-up inquiries if we see a match.

For graduate research assistant positions, you have to be admitted to our Ph.D program first. As an individual group, we do not offer answers or guidance to general inquiries since those could be well taken care of by our graduate office. We generally offer Research Assistantship (RA) positions to high profile students who have demonstrated research capabilities through their master’s study.