Quantum Theory Research Associate

Fermilab is America’s premier laboratory for particle physics and accelerator research, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.  We support discovery science experiments in Illinois and at locations around the world, including deep underground mines in South Dakota and Canada, mountaintops in Arizona and Chile, and the South Pole.

We are strategic risk takers, innovators, and collaborators. We are engineers, scientists, technicians, administrative professionals. We are 1,800 employees advancing knowledge for the benefit of humankind. Fermilab has been at the forefront of particle physics for more than 40 years. We build world-leading accelerators and detectors to conduct some of the most advanced particle physics experiments possible. We collect and analyze the data from those experiments with some of the most powerful computers in the world. We conduct this research on a 6,800-acre prairie, 35 miles outside Chicago, a treasure that has been designated a National Environmental Research Park.

Fermilab’s Quantum Theory Department in the Theory Division is inviting applications for one or more postdoctoral Research Associate positions in the area of theoretical quantum physics and/or information science, working at its interface with High Energy Physics, quantum field theory, and fundamental physics. This position is for a three (3) year term. We are seeking candidates with a doctorate in theoretical physics who have demonstrated outstanding creativity and a high level of competence in their research.

Topics of interest include: 

QIS is an active and growing research direction at Fermilab’s Theory Division (https://theory.fnal.gov) and in the lab more broadly (https://quantum.fnal.gov/). Quantum Theory Department members also play a role in the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems center (SQMS), Fermilab’s National Quantum Initiative (NQI) center (https://sqms.fnal.gov) which will build a beyond state-of-the-art quantum computer and advance quantum sensing. The Theory Department also leads a QIS-HEP theory QuantISED consortium in collaboration with groups at Caltech, U. of Washington - (INT and IQuS), MIT, UIUC, and Purdue U. The successful candidate will play central roles in these efforts and enhance the theoretical QIS research in the department. Within SQMS, theorists will have an opportunity to interact with experimentalists advancing the state of the art in coherent superconducting devices to pursue applications in both quantum computation and quantum sensing.

The Fermilab Theory Division has a strong research program in high energy physics, astro-particle physics, cosmology and quantum theory. Current staff members of the Quantum Theory Department are Asher Berlin, Marcela Carena, Roni Harnik, Gordon Krnjaic, Henry Lamm, Ruth Van der Water, and Michael Wagman, together with several postdoctoral researchers. They interact frequently with other division scientists (John Campbell, Bogdan Dobrescu, Patrick Fox, Walter Giele, Nick Gnedin, Christopher Hill, Stefan Höche, Dan Hooper, Andreas Kronfeld, Pedro Machado, Stephen Parke, Noemi Rocco, and Albert Stebins). Further details about the Theory Division are posted on our website: https://theory.fnal.gov/.

Candidates should submit applications via Academic Jobs Online (https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/22995):  

1) Curriculum Vitae, 

2) List of publications, 

3) Statement of research interests, and 

4) Three or more letters of recommendation, submitted to AJO by the reference writers. 

To learn more about members of the Particle Theory Department and the Theory Division, please visit https://theory.fnal.gov/.

For other general information about these positions, please contact Theory Division Administrative Assistant Olivia Vizcarra at olivia@fnal.gov.

Fermilab is an Equal Opportunity Employer and believes a diverse and inclusive environment based on mutual respect is essential to our mission. Fermilab is committed to recruiting and developing the most hardworking people and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, military/veteran status, country of birth, geography/postal code, disability, marital status, parental or gestational status, or other non-merit factor.