Postdoctoral Fellow - Nuclear Physicist - Berlinguette Group (UBC Vancouver)

Application procedure: Please email a single PDF to [email protected] with the following:

• Cover letter that describes your interest in the role, professional aspirations, and availability with respect to start date (summer 2022 is preferred, but later dates will be considered)
• CV
• Three papers that represent your best work
• Names and email addresses for individuals willing to serve as references

Review of applications will begin June 8, 2022 and will continue until the position is filled.

Overview: The Berlinguette Group at the University of British Columbia is an interdisciplinary team of >40 scientists and engineers who design and build electrochemical reactors to power the planet. We are seeking highly motivated, self-driven individuals to join a sub-group that studies nuclear fusion at low energy in solid-state materials. We specialize in the development of benchtop plasma fusion systems and materials that allow for expansive studies in underexplored energy regimes for nuclear fusion. This research thrust builds upon foundational work summarized in a 2019 Nature Perspective article entitled “Revisiting the Cold Case of Cold Fusion” (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1256-6#Ack1 ). Our mission is to create a low-cost energy source that can scale within the span of a human lifetime.

Position summary: This position will lead signal detection for a project focused on studying low energy fusion in solid-state materials, and will contribute to the coordination of experimental and analytical investigations by designing, constructing, installing, and maintaining scientific analytical instrumentation of a complex and technical nature. The successful candidate will work in close collaboration with a team of scientists, engineers, and software developers at UBC to generate solutions that meet all respective design criteria for various components of the project and will contribute to project planning, high level communications with stakeholders, and technical mentorship of other team members.

Responsibilities: 

• Provide on-site leadership and expertise in nuclear physics;
• Lead instrument design and integration of custom and semi-custom scientific detection apparatus into plasma discharge deuterium fusion apparatus. Examples of equipment to be developed may include:
• Neutron detector development and integration with the existing system;
• 3He proportional counters and supporting software;
• Plasma spectroscopy instrumentation;
• Arrays of liquid scintillation neutron detectors;
• Mass spectrometry development and integration with a high vacuum system;
• Develop and integrate all hardware and software components of the detection systems into a framework usable by an unfamiliar technician;
• Manage the manufacturing/procurement of custom components and assemblies needed for the instrumentation by collaborating with campus technical services, outside machine shops, and other vendors;
• Create and organize CAD files, schematics, and other documentation to support manufacturing/procurement and to facilitate deployment of instrumentation in other academic and industrial laboratories;
• Fabricate and/or modify electrical and mechanical components using manual and/or automated machine tools to support rapid prototyping and commissioning of components and assemblies;
• Contribute to assembling, commissioning, and testing of equipment in collaboration with the project team at UBC;
• Collaborate with the project team and leveraging test data to optimize accuracy of the detection system through electrical and physical design improvements;
• Gather and understand the functional requirements for each subsystem to be developed;
• Generate design concepts and review the requirements of design concepts with the project team to downselect the most promising concepts;
• Oversee the procurement and/or fabrication of all necessary components (from vendors, internal/external machine shops etc.);
• Assemble, commission, and test subsystems off and on the plasma discharge platform, including test-script development in Python and external calibration of detection systems;
• Contribute to project documentation with professional reports containing design details, drawings, and supporting information;
• Write manuscripts;
• Other duties as assigned. 

Duration: 1 year with possibility for extension. 

Minimum qualifications:

• PhD in physics;
• Experience in nuclear physics;
• Extensive, demonstrable experience with particle detection;
• Experience with signal processing of large datasets;
• Experience with at least one programming language (e.g. Python, MATLAB, C++ etc.);
• Exceptional communication and collaboration skills; and
• Ability to work toward milestones and manage deadlines.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with particle detection--specifically neutrons--and the design of high figure-of-merit (FoM > 1.27) detection platforms;
• Experience with multiple spectroscopic techniques for characterizing and quantifying nuclear reactions;
• Familiarity with high vacuum systems and beam-target systems;
• Familiarity analyzing data from analytical instruments or other types of sensors; and
• Familiarity with complex signal processing.

Location: Our laboratories are located at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. The proximity of the campus to downtown Vancouver, the pacific ocean, world renowned ski resorts, and Canada’s premier wine region lends itself to numerous outdoor and social activities to balance the rigors of academic research.