As our group has moved from MIT to the University of California, Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, all openings are based on in Berkeley, California. Please visit our new website for updated information on our group activities and openings.


The Ceder group is involved in the design of materials, from ab initio computation to experimental synthesis and characterization. Applications include energy capture, conversion and storage. Our experimental efforts in the synthesis and characterization of novel materials work closely with our theory and modeling group, leading to many opportunities for cross-fertilization. More information about our research group can be found at http://ceder.mit.edu. We particularly value innovation and a passion to bridge fundamental scientific inquiry and high-impact applications. Our group offers candidates the opportunity to work in a highly interdisciplinary and dynamic environment. There are no citizenship restrictions. Starting dates are negotiable. We ask those interested to send their curriculum vitae and references to ceder-hr-comp@mit.edu.

Positions are available in the following areas:

1. Computational design of materials for novel battery technologies.

The successful candidate will work in close collaboration with experimental colleagues by predicting novel materials, providing synthesis guidelines, and/or understanding experimental observations. The position requires:

• A strong background in solid state physics,
• Excellent practical knowledge of the pseudopotential plane-wave DFT approach, and
• Strong communication skills (in both, written and spoken English).

In addition, expertise in one or more of the following subjects is beneficial:

• Electrochemical energy storage,
• Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics,
• Beyond GGA electronic structure methods, such as DFT+U, hybrid functionals, GW, and TD-DFT,
• Molecular dynamics simulations and/or Monte-Carlo techniques, and
• Scientific programming skills, preferably in the Python programming language.

2. Computational support for the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research

The Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR, http://www.jcesr.org) is a major interdisciplinary North American partnership of academic, industrial, and governmental research institutes. The successful candidate will therefore interact closely with scientists from diverse backgrounds. The Ceder group contribution to JCESR is focused on the development of novel methodologies for the computational design of liquid electrolytes for electrochemical storage applications. Hence, this position requires:

• A strong background in chemistry and soft matter simulations based on first principles,
• Excellent scientific development skills, preferably in the Python programming language, and
• Good communication and presentation skills (in spoken and written English).

In addition, expertise in one or more of the following subjects is beneficial:

• Electrochemical energy storage,
• Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics,
• Solid state physics and DFT calculations using a plane-wave basis set, and
• Molecular dynamics simulations and/or Monte-Carlo techniques.

3. Materials informatics within the Materials Project

The Materials Project aims at computing the properties of all known compounds, and providing that information to the materials community to query, learn from and evaluate, thereby creating a Materials Genome. By providing materials researchers with the information they need to design better materials, the Materials Project aims to accelerate innovation in materials research. More information about the Materials Project can be found at http://www.materialsproject.com.

This position requires:

• Excellent scientific development skills, preferably in the Python programming language,
• The ability to translate physical models to efficient numerical algorithms, and
• Some experience in atomistic simulations, preferably based on DFT.

Expertise in the areas mentioned in the previous two advertisements is beneficial.

In addition, we ask the applicant to comment on the Materials Project web site (http://www.materialsproject.com). In no more than 500 words, tell us how it can be improved in terms of design and functionality.


4. Experimental postdoctoral positions in the group of Professor Gerbrand Ceder at MIT

The group of Professor Gerbrand Ceder at the MIT Materials Science Department has two postdoctoral positions available in experimental investigation and design of materials for energy storage and conversion. The Ceder group is involved in the design of technologically-important materials, from ab initio computation to experimental synthesis and characterization. Applications include energy capture, conversion and storage, e.g. photovoltaics, thermoelectric, lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries. Our experimental efforts in the synthesis and characterization of novel materials are guided, as well as informed, by our computational work, leading to many opportunities for cross-fertilization. More information about our research group can be found at http://ceder.mit.edu.

1. Position #1: The successful candidates will have experience in some of the following areas:

• Synthesis of bulk or nanoscale solid state inorganic materials (e.g. oxides, phosphates).
• Electrochemical, spectroscopic, or microscopic methods of materials characterization, including for:

 a. understanding relationships between structure and ionic/electronic properties 
 b. discerning property changes between bulk and nanoscale 

Candidates with experience in Li- or Na-ion batteries, powder X-ray crystallography are particularly encouraged to apply.

2. Position #2 : The successful candidates will have experience in some of the following areas:

• Organic/conductive polymer/ionic liquid synthesis and electrochemical characterization methods.
• Electrochemical energy storage systems, including but not limited to: batteries, supercapacitors.

We particularly value innovation and a passion to bridge fundamental scientific inquiry and high-impact applications.

A successful candidate must have a PhD in materials science, physics,chemistry, chemical engineering or a related field by the commencement of employment. There are no citizenship requirements. Starting dates are negotiable. We ask those interested to send their curriculum vitae and references to ceder-hr-exp@mit.edu.