IMDEA Materials Institute is a public research organization founded in 2007 by Madrid’s regional government to carry out research of excellence in Material Science and Engineering by attracting talent from all over the world to work in an international and multidisciplinary environment. IMDEA Materials has grown rapidly since its foundation and currently includes more than 120 researchers from 22 nationalities and has become one of the leading research centers in materials in Europe which has received the María de Maeztu seal of excellence from the Spanish government. The research activities have been focused on the areas of materials for transport, energy, and health care and the Institute has state-of-the-art facilities for processing, characterization and simulation of advanced materials.

More information can be found at our webpage.

IMDEA Materials Institute has an opening for a postdoctoral research position in “Atomistic Modeling of Solid-Liquid Interfaces to Guide the Design of Sustainable Metallic Alloys”.

Modern technological metallic alloys have become increasingly chemically complex, posing sustainability challenges as many alloying elements are difficult to recover economically. Aluminum recycling offers significant energy savings, making it a viable alternative to ore reduction. Microstructure-driven alloy design, which emphasizes simpler, more recyclable compositions and microstructural optimization, e.g. through additive manufacturing (AM), presents a promising path toward sustainable metallurgy. However, key mechanisms governing microstructure selection at high cooling rates (e.g., dendrite growth orientation transitions) remain poorly understood, and critical solid-liquid interfacial properties (e.g., kinetic coefficients) are difficult to measure or predict.

This project aims to develop atomic-scale modeling tools to analyze solid-liquid interface properties in aluminum alloys, with a focus on impurity effects. The overarching goal is to enhance alloy robustness and provide the scientific community with reliable tools for exploring solidification kinetics at the atomic scale. The research will focus on atomistic calculations of solid-liquid interface properties (e.g., excess free energy, kinetic coefficients, and their anisotropies) in Al alloys. The work will heavily rely on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using LAMMPS, scientific programming (developing automated scripts to streamline MD calculations and result analysis), and potentially the development of new, reliable interatomic potentials for Al alloys in the latter phase of the project.

The selected candidate will join the “Modeling and Simulation of Materials Processing” research group and engage in multiple international collaborations, particularly with researchers at the University of Florida (MD simulations), the University of Alberta (experiments), and various European institutions. The position includes short research stays and visits at international institutions, notably at the University of Florida (Gainesville, FL, USA).

This research is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science (Agencia Estatal de Investigación) under the project "Kinetics-Enabled Sustainable Alloy Design via Innovative Atomistic Simulations" (KESADIAS) [Reference CNS2024-154608].

• PhD in computational physics, computational chemistry, computational materials science, or a related field.
• Experience in molecular dynamics simulations of metals and alloys (particularly using LAMMPS).
• Strong theoretical background in metallic materials physics, thermodynamics, and interfaces.
• Proficiency in scientific programming (e.g., Python, C, C++, Fortran) and data analysis.
• Scientific curiosity and attention to detail.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English.

• Contract duration of 18 months.
• Start date expected between April 1st and September 1st 2025.
• Gross salary in the range 33-36k€/year, commensurate with experience.