The Postdoc Experience in MSEL (video) 

Every year, MSEL receives more than 50 applications for NRC-NIST postdoctoral fellowships and 10 to 15 successful appointments. MSEL programs are significantly enriched by the fresh ideas and talent brought by NRC postdocs, who enjoy close interactions with a broad range of experienced researchers and access to world class equipment and resources. MSEL has nearly 200 postdoctoral research opportunities that span the materials spectrum, from metals and semiconductors to polymers and biomaterials. These include exciting opportunities in materials measurements for applications in electronics, energy, healthcare, nanotechnology, physical infrastructure and manufacturing.

The benefits for MSEL and for the Associates from this program do not end upon completion of their two-year postdoctoral tenure. The alumni of the NRC-NIST postdoctoral program are typically in high demand because of the high quality of their work and because of NIST’s excellent reputation worldwide. Because the program opens doors to a wide range of research careers, MSEL postdoctoral fellows take on leading positions in industry, academia and government agencies. Indeed, a significant fraction of the permanent staff in MSEL began their careers as NRC postdoctoral associates. In addition, a measure of the success of the MSEL program is the large number of postdoctoral alumni who remain in contact with NIST as their careers progress, often as part of scientific collaborations or to recommend one of their own graduate students to the fellowship competition.

To learn more about NRC postdoctoral research opportunities in the NIST Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory, visit this link.

To apply: To learn more about NRC postdoctoral research opportunities in the NIST Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory, visit this link.

The NIST Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory (MSEL) promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness in the development and use of materials by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology – in ways that enhance economic security and improve the quality of life. 

MSEL research and services lower measurement barriers to innovative materials and devices in a broad spectrum of industries. Recent examples include:

• Test methods that ensure the reliability of high strength steels for petroleum and hydrogen pipelines, and that provide the pipeline industry with key data to predict the lifetime, and safety, of this critical energy infrastructure.
• Nanoparticle standard reference materials, first produced by MSEL researchers, are helping the National Cancer Institute develop biomedical applications of nanotechnology, and will enable assessment of the potential environmental, health and safety hazards of nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes.
• Advanced x-ray measurements and models that are helping the automotive industry improve vehicle fuel efficiency with lightweight materials.
• Groundbreaking measurements that enable the semiconductor electronics industry to produce smaller and faster electronic devices, to identify critical limitations in nanomanufacturing processes, and to pioneer the technologies of organic and flexible electronics.