Open Positions

1

Time Span

01 Mar 2026 for 36 months

Application Deadline

31 Jan 2026

Financing

yes

Areas of study

Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, Materials Technology, Materials Sciences

Description

With cutting-edge research in the fields of ENERGY, HEALTH and MATTER, around 1,500 employees from more than 70 nations at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) are committed to mastering the great challenges facing society today.
 

The Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) is a German-Polish research center for data-intensive digital systems research.
 

The Department of Theoretical Chemistry is looking for a PhD Student (f/m/d) Theoretical Chemistry subject to pending project approval.

Your tasks

• Simulations of activation energy barriers of adsorption/desorption of radionuclides on clay mineral surfaces using DFT
• Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations with activation energy barriers as input to simulate large-scale interactions of nuclides with surfaces
• Preparation and benchmarking of clay mineral surface finite models for DFT simulations
• Speciation simulations of the radionuclides in various environments

Your profile

• Completed university studies (Master/Diploma) in the field of Chemistry or Materials Science or Physics or related field
• Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, quantum simulations, theoretical chemistry
• Excellent teamwork and communication skills in an interdisciplinary research environment
• Excellent command of spoken and written English

Our offer

• A vibrant research community in an open, diverse and international work environment
• Scientific excellence and extensive professional networking opportunities
• A structured PhD program with a comprehensive range of continuing
  education and networking opportunities - more information about the PhD program at the HZDR can be found here
• Salary and social benefits in accordance with the collective agreement for the public sector (TVöD-Bund) including 30 days of paid holiday leave, company pension scheme (VBL)
• We support a good work-life balance with the possibility of part-time
  employment, mobile working and flexible working hours
• Numerous company health management offerings
• Employee discounts with well-known providers via the platform Corporate Benefits
• An employer subsidy for the "Deutschland-Ticket Jobticket"

We look forward to receiving your application documents (including cover letter, CV, diplomas/transcripts, etc.), which you can submit via our online-applicationsystem: https://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pNid=490&pLang=en&pOid=76059