As a part of the NRF Fellowship Project on Materials-by-Design, School of Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) is looking to hire a Research Assistant with expertise in high-throughput synthesis of inorganic materials and optimization using machine learning. The Research Assistant will build upon our team's experience toward developing high-throughput experimental platforms for synthesis, characterization and functional performance testing (thermoelectric performance, catalytic performance) of a library of materials. The Research Assistant will focus on synthesizing and characterizing inorganic materials, specifically inorganic chalcogenides for thermoelectrics and metal alloy catalysts for CO2 reduction.

Additionally, the Research Assistant will conduct in-depth structural and elemental characterization and analysis of the materials using XRD, SEM-EDX and XPS. Finally, thermoelectric measurements experiments will be conducted. The Research Assistant should be able to utilize design-of-experiments and high-throughput experimental workflows. In addition, materials science and metallurgical concepts such as phase diagrams, mapping and separating different phases and oxidation states of compounds and rapid structural analysis are required. Finally, machine learning will be applied to guide experimental campaigns.

Key responsibilities:

• Conduct synthesis of inorganic thermoelectric materials using various high-throughput synthesis techniques.
• High-throughput synthesis of materials for CO2 reduction will also be conducted.
• Develop new high-throughput methods, and accordingly modify hardware for their execution.
• Perform in-depth characterization of synthesized materials using XRD, SEM, and EDS.
• Deploy machine learning techniques to guide future experimental campaigns. In addition to regression methods (Gradient Boosting, Random Forest) it is desirable to be familiar with Bayesian Optimization.

Job Requirement

• Bachelors or Masters in Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering with research experience in synthesis and lab skills
• Experience in inorganic synthesis of nanomaterials and solid-state compounds.
• Experience in advanced analysis of X-ray diffraction e.g. through Rietveld refinement
• Knowledge of Bayesian Optimization
• Ability to work in a team with clear communication skills and to develop own ideas in 1-2 years' time.
• A can-do attitude in a fast-paced research environment.

We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Hiring Institution: NTU