Postdoctoral Researcher: Computational Design of Quantum Sensing Materials
TU Berlin, Semiconductors and Microelectronic Systems. Five years. Ref. IV-359/26. Applications are reviewed as they arrive. The current deadline of 2 October 2026 will be extended into late October.
Today’s quantum sensors were found rather than designed. Most operate well below what their host materials would allow, because the properties that decide sensor performance are expensive to calculate. Therefore, promising candidates are still identified one at a time, and largely by trial.
This project sets out to change that. In it, you would develop a platform that predicts sensor performance directly from atomic structure, covering coherence, relaxation, optical readout contrast and charge-state stability. You would build that workflow in two stages. The first is a high-throughput layer, driven by machine learning and foundation models, that screens large numbers of host-defect candidates. The second is a first-principles pipeline, that computes the spin and excited-state properties governing sensor performance, for candidates that survive screening. We would then use this workflow to identify novel host-defect combinations.
The appointment runs for five years and is intended to prepare you for applications to independent group leader or faculty positions.
What it takes is a PhD in a relevant field, a deep command of quantum mechanics, and a strong, independent command of first-principles materials science. Beyond that, we are looking for research experience in at least two of four areas: spin physics of point defects, machine learning for materials discovery, multi-scale simulation methods, and excited-state quantum chemistry. The PDF below sets out the formal requirements in full.
Please send applications to personal@tmp.tu-berlin.de, quoting reference IV-359/26.