Research Associate / Postdoctoral Scientist, Materials Lab

Periodic Labs

Menlo Park, California, United States permanent

Posted: March 30, 2026

Required Skills

Job Description

Type: Full-time, 12-month term, possible extension

About Periodic Labs
We are an AI + physical sciences lab building state of the art models to make novel scientific discoveries. We are well funded and growing rapidly. Team members are owners who identify and solve problems without boundaries or bureaucracy. We eagerly learn new tools and new science to push forward our mission.

About the Role

Join a world-class team of scientists and engineers pushing the boundaries of materials research in a groundbreaking lab where AI and automation unlock discoveries at unprecedented speed and scale.

As a Research Associate or Postdoctoral Scientist within the Periodic Labs experimental effort, you bring AI predictions into reality through materials science, physics, and chemistry. You will work closely with AI and automation teams to accelerate and scale up materials development to enable unprecedented capabilities for scientific discovery.

Responsibilities

Research Associates / Postdoctoral Scientists in our lab play key roles in a variety of aspects of the material discovery and development process. These include:

• Material Synthesis: High-throughput synthesis and structural characterization of materials connected with AI predictions

• Materials Characterization: Rapid characterization of structure and physical properties of bulk and thin film materials, feedback and interaction with AI predictions

• Analysis: Partner with AI team to develop and implement automated analysis and reasoning pipelines for evaluating and predicting materials

• Automation: Collaboration with engineering team to establish robotics-enabled materials development architectures

Qualifications

• PhD in Physics, Materials Science, Solid State Chemistry, or related field.

• Strong background in experimental science and data analysis

• Deep expertise in one or more of synthesis, characterization and automation techniques relevant for materials R&D

• Strong track record of performing highly impactful research, demonstrated by publications in top tier journals and/or inventions

• Excellent scientific writing, collaboration across disciplines, and strong ownership of experiment quality.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with automation in physical sciences laboratories

• Experience with computational prediction and experimental verification design loop

• Experience with handling data at scale

• Experience with lab buildout and process safety

• Previous work at National Laboratories (e.g., user facilities)

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