RESEARCH & EDUCATION PROGRAMS -

Candidates Sought for Two DOE Energy Biosciences Positions

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences is seeking two Energy Biosciences program managers - one for the Photosynthetic Systems Program and one for the Physical Biosciences Program.  Richard Greene, who currently manages these programs is also the Lead for the new Photo- and Bio-Chemistry Team in which these programs are housed.  Joining the Biosciences Programs in this team is the Solar Photochemistry program.  The team is designed to promote cross-disciplinary research that will lay the foundation for breakthroughs in future energy capture and conversion strategies.

Job Opportunities: Program Managers for Photosynthetic Systems and Physical Biosciences
The Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, US Department of Energy, is seeking qualified applicants for two career federal positions managing either the Photosynthetic Systems Program or the Physical Biosciences Program.  Both programs fund mission-oriented, basic science on plant and non-medical microbial systems at universities and national laboratories.

The Photosynthetic Systems Program supports fundamental research on the biological conversion of solar energy into chemically stored forms of energy.  This entails studies on light harvesting, exciton transfer, charge separation, transfer of reductant to carbon dioxide, as well as the biochemistry of carbon fixation and carbon storage.  Areas where biological sciences intersect heavily with energy-relevant chemical sciences and physics, such as in self-assembly of nanoscale components, efficient photon capture and charge separation, predictive design of catalysts, and self-repairing systems, are accentuated.

The Physical Biosciences Program combines experimental and computational tools from the physical sciences with biochemistry and molecular biology.  The interdisciplinary approach provides a fundamental understanding of the complex processes that convert and store energy in living systems.   Research supported includes studies that investigate the mechanisms by which energy transduction systems are assembled and maintained, the processes that regulate energy-relevant chemical reactions within the cell, the underlying biochemical and biophysical principals that determine the architecture of biopolymers and the plant cell wall, and active site protein chemistry that provides a basis for highly selective and efficient bioinspired catalysts.

Announcements and on-line application instructions can be found via the BES website or directly at USA Jobs:
To apply as a chemist use the following url: http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/ftva.asp?seeker=1&JobID=69368527.
To apply as a biologist use the following url: http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/ftva.asp?seeker=1&JobID=69368677.

Applications must be submitted on or before May 9, 2008.
The complementary Photosynthetic System and Physical Biosciences Programs are described at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/eb/ebhome.html. These programs also intersect with other research programs of the BES Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division, described at http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/chm/chmhome.html. For questions about this position and working at BES, please contact Richard Greene or Eric Rohlfing.