Postdoctoral Research Associate - Scientific Machine Learning

Requisition Id 13782 

Overview: 

We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate with expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for multiscale physical systems. This position resides in the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division (CSED) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). CSED focuses on transdisciplinary computational science and analytics at scale to enable scientific discovery across the physical sciences, engineered systems, and biomedicine and health. It provides foundations and advances in quantum information sciences to enable quantum computers, devices, and networked systems. It develops community applications, data assets, and technologies and provides assurance to build knowledge and impact in novel, crosscut-science outcomes.

The selected candidate will join the Multiscale Materials (MsM) group within the Advanced Computing Methods for Physical Sciences Section in CSED. The MsM group is dedicated to delivering multiscale, multi-fidelity computational models, systems, and AI/ML tools using algorithms and analytics for materials and related physical sciences for a broad range of energy, transportation, and advanced manufacturing applications. In this role, the postdoctoral researcher will focus on developing trustworthy foundation models for fluid dynamics and turbulent flows. This will involve designing efficient and trustworthy ML algorithms for physical systems, scalable data loading and training methods for exascale computing platforms, and model verification and validation. The position offers an excellent opportunity to collaborate with multi-disciplinary domain scientists and advance large-scale scientific AI/ML models.       

As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, ORNL has an extraordinary 80-year history of solving the nation’s biggest problems. We have a dedicated and creative staff of over 6,000 people! Our vision for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) is to cultivate an environment and practices that foster diversity in ideas and in the people across the organization, as well as to ensure ORNL is recognized as a workplace of choice. These elements are critical for enabling the execution of ORNL’s broader mission to accelerate scientific discoveries and their translation into energy, environment, and security solutions for the nation.

Major Duties/Responsibilities: 

• Research and development of scalable AI, ML, and deep learning models using the systems at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF).
• Conduct research using scalable Transformer-based foundation models and large volume of spatiotemporal physical data, with a focus on fluid dynamics and turbulent flows.
• Collaborate within a multi-disciplinary research environment consisting of computational scientists, experimentalists, and engineers conducting basic and applied research in support of the Laboratory’s missions.
• Author peer reviewed papers, technical papers and reports for internal and external release as well as represent the organization via technical presentations in workshops and conferences.

Basic Qualifications:

• A PhD in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a field closely related completed within the last five years.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong background in scientific AI/ML, computational fluid dynamics, and turbulence modeling.
• Demonstrated programming ability and knowledge of Python and/or C++.
• Experience with deep learning frameworks like PyTorch or Tensorflow, Hugging Face libraries, and application on high-performance computing (HPC) environments using distributed data or model parallel training.
• Experience with multi-physics simulations on HPC and ML.
• Experience working in a multi-disciplinary research environment.
• Demonstrated written and oral communication skills, a proven publication record, and effective interpersonal skills.

Special Requirements:

Applicants cannot have received their Ph.D. more than five years prior to the date of application and must complete all degree requirements before starting their appointment. The appointment length will be up to 24 months with the potential for extension. Initial appointments and extensions are subject to performance and availability of funding.

Please submit three letters of reference when applying to this position. You may upload these directly to your application or have them sent to postdocrecruitment@ornl.gov with the position title and number referenced in the subject line.

Instructions to upload documents to your candidate profile:

• Login to your account via jobs.ornl.gov
• View Profile
• Under the My Documents section, select Add a Document

Cover Letters: A detailed cover letter outlining the applicant’s experience relative to the basic and preferred qualifications must be provided.

Benefits at ORNL: 

ORNL offers competitive pay and benefits programs to attract and retain talented people! The laboratory offers many employee benefits, including medical and retirement plans and flexible work hours, to help you and your family live happy and healthy. Employee amenities such as on-site fitness, banking, and cafeteria facilities are also provided for convenience.

Other benefits include the following: Prescription Drug Plan, Dental Plan, Vision Plan, 401(k) Retirement Plan, Contributory Pension Plan, Life Insurance, Disability Benefits, Generous Vacation and Holidays, Parental Leave, Legal Insurance with Identity Theft Protection, Employee Assistance Plan, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, Wellness Programs, Educational Assistance, Relocation Assistance, and Employee Discounts.

If you have difficulty using the online application system or need an accommodation to apply due to a disability, please email: ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov

This position will remain open for a minimum of 5 days after which it will close when a qualified candidate is identified and/or hired.

We accept Word (.doc, .docx), Adobe (unsecured .pdf), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and HTML (.htm, .html) up to 5MB in size. Resumes from third party vendors will not be accepted; these resumes will be deleted and the candidates submitted will not be considered for employment.

If you have trouble applying for a position, please email ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov.

ORNL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, are encouraged to apply.  UT-Battelle is an E-Verify employer.