The Plasmas and Fluids group of the Mechanical Engineering Department invites 
applicants for a postdoctoral research position in the area of computational 
physics and/or fluid dynamics. The position involves research in hydrodynamic 
instabilities, complex flows, modeling, and turbulence. The project is of 
special relevance to Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF), where hydrodynamic 
instabilities are a primary obstacle in achieving ignition. The applicant is 
expected to collaborate with the theory and experimental groups at the 
Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) where ICF research is conducted.  The 
research has other important applications, including in combustion, 
astrophysics, and geophysics. The project is a collaboration among Professor 
Hussein Aluie, Professor Riccardo Betti, and other scientists at the LLE/UofR 
working in this area.

We welcome applications from candidates with experience in computational fluid 
dynamics and/or plasma physics, engineering, applied math, or related 
disciplines. 

Evaluation of applications will begin on January 4, 2021 and continue until the 
position is filled. The position is initially for 2 years with the possibility 
of extending it for a third year, subject to satisfactory performance. Salary 
and benefits are competitive and will be commensurate with qualifications and 
experience.

Applications should be emailed as a single pdf file to Hussein Aluie 
(hussein**At*rochester.edu) and must include (i) a cover letter briefly 
outlining the candidate’s academic background, interests, and his/her future 
research/career plans, (ii) CV, and (iii) contact information of three 
references.

About the University of Rochester (UofR) and the City
Founded in 1850, UofR is a highly competitive private research university which 
enrolls approximately 6,000 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students. It has 
historical links to pivotal US social movements, including women’s suffrage 
(Susan B. Anthony) and abolitionism (Frederick Douglass).



Fluids and Plasma research at UofR has a well-established collaborative group 
involving several faculty and a large number of students and postdocs. Recently, 
we have been awarded ~$13 million to establish and host a multi-institution NSF 
Physics Frontier Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP). Successful 
candidates would join a large group with diverse backgrounds and interests, 
including active collaborators at MIT, Princeton, UC Berkeley and UC Davis, U. 
Buffalo, and Livermore National Lab. Our department offers a friendly and 
stimulating research environment, and enjoys strong ties to a leading DOE fusion 
research facility, the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, which is adjacent to 
campus, and to the medical school, one of the top in the US.

The city of Rochester is a thriving and affordable, low-stress, medium sized 
metropolis (metro area population ~1 million) with excellent public services and 
amenities. It enjoys a vibrant performing arts culture thanks in-part to UofR’s 
Eastman School of Music, often ranked as the top music school in the US, and 
several small colleges that focus on the arts. For outdoors enthusiasts, there 
are many well-maintained parks that offer sanctuaries within the city and many 
gorgeous state parks that are less than a 1 hour drive. Many of the beaches 
along lake Ontario are within 15-30 minutes from the city, and the Adirondack 
mountains are within a 3 hour drive.