Postdoc Experience in the Materials, Chemistry, and Computational Sciences Directorate at NREL (Text Version)

This is the text version for the video Postdoc Experience in the Materials, Chemistry, and Computational Sciences Directorate at NREL.

[A car drives on a road and passes a sign reading, "NREL – National Renewable Energy Laboratory – U.S. Department of Energy." Footage of the exterior and interior of various facilities and laboratories, and people working inside them, plays.]

>>Matthew Hautzinger: I chose to do my postdoc at NREL because I think the researchers are the best in the world.

>>Nikita Dutta: I was really interested in NREL because of our mission around doing all kinds of renewable energy research.

>>Marissa Martinez: People seem very passionate about what they're doing.

>>Prakash Mohan: The mission is great. The people are really good. And there's really interesting problems to work on.

>>Ian Leahy: It feels like a karmically good place to work. And that's always been important to me.

[Text on screen: The Postdoc Experience in the Materials, Chemistry, and Computational Sciences Directorate at NREL]

[Text on screen: Marissa Martinez, Postdoctoral Researcher – Materials Science, National Renewable Energy Laboratory]

>>Marissa Martinez: NREL has really helped me develop as a scientist. And being around so many people who know a lot about what they do, it's really motivated me to be the best scientist that I could be and hold myself up to a very high standard.

[Text on screen: Nikita Dutta, Postdoctoral Researcher – Director's Fellowship, National Renewable Energy Laboratory]

>>Nikita Dutta: At NREL, I've really gotten experience with designing and directing my own research. But I think that I have really gained a lot of the skills in managing a research project that are setting me up for a long-term career as a PI.

[Text on screen: Matthew Hautzinger, Postdoctoral Researcher – Chemistry and Nanoscience, National Renewable Energy Laboratory]

>>Matthew Hautzinger: Access to equipment is something that's really great at NREL. And we have some of the best equipment in the world. We also have access to people who have expertise in their equipment.

[Text on screen: Ian Leahy, Postdoctoral Researcher – Materials Science, National Renewable Energy Laboratory]

>>Ian Leahy: I feel really seen. I feel really supported. I feel really valued by my mentors.

>>Nikita Dutta: Being from a national lab carries a lot of weight outside of NREL. I think that there's just an element of trust that other people have in you if you come from a national lab.

>>Marissa Martinez: I also feel valued during meetings. And we really communicate with each other as equals. Even at the staff scientist level, I really feel that they see me as a scientist, and they take my word for things.

[Text on screen: Prakash Mohan, Postdoctoral Researcher – Computational Science, National Renewable Energy Laboratory]

>>Prakash Mohan: It's a very collaborative environment in the true sense of collaboration. Ideas are valued at face value and not for who it is coming from.

>>Ian Leahy: My creative input is like actively driving the direction of some project that I think has an important interesting outcome.

>>Prakash Mohan: So I'm a hybrid onsite worker at NREL. This helps both me and my family a lot, and it reduces the emissions of the commute—cutting it down by 20–30% every week.

>>Matthew Hautzinger: I think the flexibility at NREL is great. If I want to stay at home and do data interpretation, if I want to go do it at a coffee shop, no one's going to bug me about it. We have a lot of flexibility on our PTO. I value it a lot because it allows you to go do some of your hobbies outside of work and things like that. I really enjoy mountain biking. And I can even commute to work mountain biking, just over South Table Mountain, which is a great way to start or end your day. I really enjoy that.

>>Ian Leahy: I like to hike. I like to climb. I really, really like writing music and playing music.

>>Nikita Dutta: Hiking. I like to play tennis.

>>Prakash Mohan: I love doing a lot of outdoor activities. Me and my partner go hiking and camping a lot. And it's a really great location for us to be in as a family as well.

>>Marissa Martinez: My partner and I, we like to host parties and just love to build community of people. I highly recommend people to apply for postdoc positions here. It's very competitive wages. It is a great environment for feeling included and heard as a scientist.

>>Ian Leahy: So I would absolutely recommend a postdoc position at NREL. So far, I'm having a great time. I'm getting to do very cool science. And I feel like I'm making progress. And I feel supported. It doesn't feel like I could ask for anything else.

>>Matthew Hautzinger: I would definitely recommend a postdoc at NREL. I think that the science is great. I think that the mentors are really great. There's tons of stuff that you can explore. I think that the quality of life as a postdoc is awesome.

>>Prakash Mohan: There's a lot more research that happens at NREL that even I didn't knew about when I was applying that I've learned about since being at NREL. So if you're at all interested I would recommend that you reach out to folks at NREL to see if there are problems that sound interesting.

>>Ian Leahy: Besides a community of unbelievably talented scientists, the benefits, the location, it's like the dream postdoc. You can rest assured that you're doing something that's really important for the world.

[Music plays as the NREL logo, "Transforming Energy," and nrel.gov/careers appear on the screen.]