General Description

Salary: $82,000-$85,000 a year

PREP Research Associate

Sensor Science Division Pressure Metrology Project

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

Research Title:

Fixed-Length Optical Cavity (FLOC) for pressure metrology

The work will entail: 

Our multidisciplinary team is developing Fixed-Length Optical Cavity (FLOC) pressure standards to cover a broad range from vacuum (< 1 mPa) to high pressure (> 1000 kPa). We are exploring optical cavities machined from a variety of materials including metals, single crystals, and glasses to cover this broad pressure range.  We seek a postdoc to help investigate the performance of new optical pressure standards based on (1) low-expansion Invar metal for an ongoing Air Force funded project and (2) ultra-low expansion (ULE) glass for low pressure (vacuum) metrology.  A qualified candidate would have a PhD in chemistry, physics, engineering or related fields and have expertise in one or more of the following areas: pressure metrology, optical physics, laser spectroscopy, optical cavities, digital acquisition and instrument control (Labview, Python, etc.).

Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Improve stability of stable optical cavities by implementing vibrational and temperature control
• Labview coding for data acquisition and instrument control
• Analyze data to determine metrics for stability (Allan variance, statistical analysis)

§  Present results at internal group meetings and external meetings and conferences

§  Ensuring that results, protocols, software, and documentation have been archived or otherwise transmitted to the larger organization.

Qualifications

§  PhD in chemistry, physics, engineering or related fields

§  3 years of relevant experience

§  Demonstrated experience working with lasers and optical cavities

§  Ability to write code to control, operate, and automate data acquisition

§  Familiarity scripting languages for instrument control and data analysis

§  Familiarity with programming languages like Labview, Python, and/or Matlab

§  Strong oral and written communication skills.

Application Instructions

Please upload the following with your application:

-         CV/Resume

*Please limit C.V to 3 pages only and ONLY include a valid email address for your contact info. Please DO NOT include telephone numbers, home address or photos on your resume. 

Privacy Act Statement

Authority:  15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)

Purpose:  The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the  Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor's degree holders, graduate students, master's degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.  

PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate administrative functions of the PREP Program.

Routine Uses:  NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices:  NIST-1: NIST Associates. 

Disclosure:  Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use of the information you submit for the purpose stated.

About Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University remains committed to its founding principle, that education for all students should be grounded in exploration and discovery. Hopkins students are challenged not just to learn but also to advance learning itself. Critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and entrepreneurship are all encouraged and nourished in this unique educational environment. After more than 130 years, Johns Hopkins remains a world leader in both teaching and research. Faculty members and their research colleagues at the university's Applied Physics Laboratory have each year since 1979 won Johns Hopkins more federal research and development funding than any other university. The university has nine academic divisions and campuses throughout the Baltimore-Washington area. The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the Whiting School of Engineering, the School of Education and the Carey Business School are based at the Homewood campus in northern Baltimore. The schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing share a campus in east Baltimore with The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Peabody Institute, a leading professional school of music, is located on Mount Vernon Place in downtown Bal...timore. The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies is located in Washington's Dupont Circle area.

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