The Extreme Chemistry group (X-chem) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has an immediate opening for a Postdoctoral Research Staff Member in the area of first-principles computational modeling of astrobiological phenomena for a project recently funded by the NASA Astrobiology: Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology program. The primary research thrust of this position involves molecular dynamics (MD) modeling designed to identify and understand chemical reactions and mechanisms of prebiotic materials in condensed phases under shock compression. The successful candidate will help elucidate the necessary thermodynamic and chemical conditions for the formation of species such as amino acids and lipids during impact events from comets and asteroids on early Earth. The technical goals of this work are to create computational models that will allow for the study of long time-scale reaction dynamics of astrobiological materials under high pressures and temperatures.

Please see https://careers.llnl.gov/ (posting #009956) for more information and to apply.