Postdoctoral Scholar - Law Group - Materials Science and Engineering
Position Specifics
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences is searching for a postdoctoral scholar. The position will involve machine learning for autonomous thin-film materials synthesis by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). This work will be performed as part of LATTICE (Layered and Thin Film Technologies with Intelligent Cloud Experimentation), a National Science Foundation Programmable Cloud Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University's University Park campus.
This is a term position; length of the term will be discussed during the interview process. Continuation past the term length discussed will be based on university need, performance, and/or availability of funding.
Responsibilities
- Help integrate existing III-V and chalcogenide MBE systems into the LATTICE ecosystem, with emphasis on in situ feedback and control, autonomous operation of deposition tools, and AI/ML workflows for synthesis and characterization.
- Support integration of experimental data and model outputs into the Lifetime Sample Tracking database.
- Contribute to cloud-lab interfaces for external users of the LATTICE platform.
- Collaborate closely with equipment vendors, AI researchers developing agentic workflow frameworks, data scientists, and future users of the LATTICE cloud laboratory.
Requirements
- Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
- Hands-on experience with molecular beam epitaxy synthesis.
Preferred
- Experience with chalcogenide, two-dimensional, and/or III-V semiconductor materials.
- Programming experience in Python or experience with machine automation or AI/ML workflows.
Benefits
Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional well-being. For more detailed information, please visit our Benefits Page. (Note: For Postdoctoral benefits, please see our Postdoctoral Benefits page.)