DMSE Job Opportunities
DMSE occasionally hires for a wide range of positions. Opportunities include faculty positions for people with a PhD in materials science and engineering; research scientists or postdoctoral fellows or associates for recent PhD graduates or experienced researchers who want to pursue advance research in the field; lecturers and technical instructors; and administrative and support staff positions.
Please note that the availability of these positions varies over time and depends on the department’s specific needs, ongoing projects, and funding opportunities. To browse all open positions at MIT, visit MIT Human Resources’ Careers page.
Tenure-Track Faculty Position: Metallurgy
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) in Cambridge, MA, seeks candidates for a tenure track faculty position to begin July 1, 2025 or on a mutually agreed date thereafter. Faculty duties include teaching classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels, advising students, conducting original scholarly research, and developing course materials at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The search is for candidates to be hired at the assistant professor level; under special circumstances, however, an untenured associate or senior faculty appointment is possible, commensurate with experience.
Metallurgy is an essential, foundational component of materials science and engineering, which is of critical importance to society, industry, sustainability, and climate. We seek candidates with proven excellence in the science and engineering of metals with an ambitious vision for addressing the grand challenges of the field. Areas of interest include physical metallurgy, alloy and microstructure design, chemical metallurgy, sustainable metal extraction and utilization, corrosion, archaeometallurgy, structure – processing – property relationships of metals, and development and use of experimental, computational, and theoretical approaches towards the understanding and design of metals for structural, electronic, biological, and energy applications and beyond. Candidates with industrial experience are encouraged to apply. Candidates from other fields of materials science and engineering are welcome to apply and are expected to discuss their commitment to metallurgy innovation.
Candidates should hold a Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field by the start date of employment.
Tenure-Track Faculty Position: Biomaterials
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) in Cambridge, MA, seeks candidates for a tenure track faculty position to begin July 1, 2025 or on a mutually agreed date thereafter. Faculty duties include teaching classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels, advising students, conducting original scholarly research, and developing course materials at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The search is for candidates to be hired at the assistant professor level; under special circumstances, however, an untenured associate or senior faculty appointment is possible, commensurate with experience.
Biological systems exhibit unparalleled hierarchical complexity enabling a diversity of distinct structural and functional properties across length scales ranging from nanometers to kilometers. We seek candidates with proven excellence in the synthesis, growth, characterization, modeling, or application of biological or bioinspired materials with an ambitious vision to apply biomolecular design principles to address critical societal needs. Areas of interest include biomolecular solids, cargo delivery systems, computational biomaterial design with biophysical simulations and/or AI, synthetic biomaterials, tissue engineering, biomechanics, immune-active materials, biotic-abiotic interfaces with applications in healthcare, sustainable manufacturing, food security, and energy. Other topics related to biomimetic, bioinspired, or biokleptic materials will also be considered. Candidates with industrial experience are encouraged to apply. Candidates from other fields of materials science and engineering are welcome to apply and are expected to discuss their commitment to biomaterials innovation and the central role that materials science will have in their research plans.
Candidates should hold a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, Biophysics, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field by the start date of employment.
Postdoctoral Associate in Maritime Transport Decarbonization
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) in Cambridge, MA, seeks candidates for a postdoctoral associate to play a pivotal role in studying the supply chain viability and environmental impacts of low-carbon fuels to decarbonize the global maritime transport sector. The role involves collaborative work with researchers at the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium and the MIT Energy Initiative, along with industry experts and NGOs. Key responsibilities may include: developing sustainability metrics to compare impacts of maritime transport activities across a range of environmental and social dimensions; performing regional well-to-wake assessment of costs, emissions, and feedstock requirements for low-carbon maritime fuels; assessing theoretical best-case performance of processes and technologies involved in alternative fuel production, distribution, and end-use; adding novel functionality to maritime fleet models to represent alternative powertrains (fuel cell, battery electric, etc.); and assessing the impacts of low-carbon fuel adoption on global maritime transport networks and bunkering activities.
Postdoctoral Associate
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) in Cambridge, MA, seeks candidates for a postdoctoral associate to join an interdisciplinary research team investigating low-energy nuclear reactions in an ARPA-E research program. This research effort investigates reports of purported nuclear binding energy release in metal hydrogen systems from low-energy stimuli (e.g., laser pulses and induced phase transitions). Key responsibilities will include: leading replication efforts of experimental reports in the literature; working collaboratively to design novel experimental setups and protocols guided by recent theoretical insights and simulation results; and working at the intersection of quantum dynamics, nuclear physics, radiation diagnostics, and materials science and characterization. Accompanying theoretical efforts focus on the acceleration of hydrogen isotope fusion rates in metal hydrides as a result of collective superradiant effects (i.e., Dicke enhancement), which have been demonstrated to accelerate chemical reactions and nuclear decay.
Postdoctoral Associate
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) in Cambridge, MA, seeks candidates for a postdoctoral associate to join an interdisciplinary research team that aims to automate defect generation processes and optical measurement within the microscope, allowing for scalable spin defect arrays and enhanced photonic functionalities, merging quantum photonics with state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) capabilities, and enabling simultaneous quantum nanophotonic measurements and atomic defect generation in materials. Key responsibilities will include: designing, fabricating, and characterizing nanophotonic devices and quantum defect systems; performing cryogenic quantum optical spectroscopy and contributing to the development of a novel STEM sample holder for optical measurements at cryogenic temperatures; and working closely with a team of experts in quantum photonics, defect physics, materials science, and microscopy to push the boundaries of photonic device engineering at the atomic level.
There are currently no open positions. Please check again for updates.
There are currently no open positions. Please check again for updates.