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Pre-doctoral IKUR positions: Computational Materials Science

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly motivated PhD student to join the MonteQarlo research project funded by the IKUR program. MonteQarlo focused on the development of quantum algorithms for molecular simulations. The successful candidate will be working on adapting the Markov-chain Monte Carlo method and the Virtual move Parallel Tempering algorithm to be run on gate model and quantum annealing quantum computers. This project will involve collaboration with industry partners and the opportunity to work with state-of-the-art quantum computers.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in physics, computer science, or a related field, and experience in computational modeling and algorithms is desirable. Familiarity with quantum computing and molecular simulations is a plus, but not required. The candidate should have excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently as well as in a team.

Job Description

BCMaterials, Basque Center on Materials, Applications and Nanostructures, Leioa, Spain
(www.bcmaterials.net), is an autonomous research center, belonging to Ikerbasque, the
Basque Foundation for Science and the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).
IKUR is the strategic program promoted by the Education Department of the Basque
Government to boost Scientific Research in specific strategical areas, including Quantum
Technologies, High Performance Computing, NeutrIonics and NeuroBiosciences.


The work will be carried out at BCMaterials in the Computational Soft Matter and Biophysics
group and in close collaboration and coordination with different institutions from the Basque
Scientific and Technological network as well as in cooperation with international leading
research institutions. In particular, the other partern of the MonteQarlo project is the Intelligent Systems Group under the supervision of Dr José Antonio Pascual Saíz and Dr Javier
Navaridas Palma at the UPV/EHU.

For the successful candidate, the position represents an excellent opportunity to develop both
collaborative and personal scientific research career, exploiting the capabilities of advanced
functional materials and their application.


SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS
The candidate must have a Master in Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, Biology,
Biotechnology or related areas.
Proficiency in speaking and writing in English.
Self-motivated and ability to work in a team and willing to coordinate the research in a
particular topic.
A high level of motivation and independent thinking abilities.
Ability and eagerness to learn new skills outside own discipline.
Presentation skills and able to meet the deadline are also required.


WORK PROGRAM/DUTIES
The PhD candidate will work in an ambitious research program in one of the aforementioned
research areas. Materials will be designed, characterized, the functional properties evaluated
and optimized and their integration into applications demonstrated, whenever suitable.

The main activity of the succesful candidate will be to combine the computational power of
Quantum Ccomputing with the advantages offered by the Virtual Move Parallel Tempering
(VMPT) algorithm. We will then test our approach to the study of protein folding and protein
design. The frustration coming from the heterogeneous interaction between the amino acids
make both problems computationally hard, hence they are an ideal test system to test the
efficiency of our new quantum VMPT

Benefits

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