Design Physics Division - Postdoctoral Researcher: Planetary Defense

Join us and make YOUR mark on the World! Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has turned bold ideas into world-changing impact advancing science and technology to strengthen U.S. security and promote global stability. Our mission spans four critical national security areas nuclear deterrence, threat preparedness, energy security, and multi-domain defense empowering teams to take on the toughest challenges of today and tomorrow. With a culture built on innovation and operational excellence, LLNL is a place where your expertise can make a real impact. We have an opening for a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Planetary Defense Group . We invite PhD graduates from STEM fields to apply (including, but not limited to, the various physics disciplines, engineering, experimental science, computational physics, geological science, planetary science, chemistry, or material science). This opportunity is intended for individuals who have finished their PhD and wish to further develop their skills, knowledge, and/or abilities to better position themselves for a future staff position within the Design Physics Division or elsewhere at LLNL. The Planetary Defense Group at LLNL uses high-fidelity hydrocode simulations to address challenging problems related to the mitigation of hazardous asteroids and the consequences of asteroid impacts on Earth. We operate within a larger planetary defense community with collaborations (both domestic and international) spanning the national laboratory complex, other government agencies, and academic institutions. We primarily focus on dynamic, high-strain-rate events. Past projects have involved simulating the NASA DART impact on Dimorphos to better understand how impact ejecta affects deflection, constructing a simplified model for the deflection of an asteroid with a nuclear explosive device, developing new hydrocode methods to better model asteroid airbursts, and validating our codes against relevant experiments. This position is in the D