Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Personnel Office

Position ID:

ITPCAS-Personnel Office-SRA [#31194]

Position Title:

Postdoctoral Positions Available in 2026

Position Type:

Postdoctoral

Position Location:

Beijing, Beijing 100190, China

Subject Areas:

Condensed Matter Physics / Condensed Matter Physics, Electronic Structure, Strongly Correlated Materials, Condensed Matter Theory, condensed matter theory; ultracold quantum gases, Energy Materials, Quantum Information, Soft Condensed Matter Physics, Strongly Correlated Electrons, Strongly Correlated Materials, Superconductivity, Theoretical Condensed Matter, Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics/ Quantum Condensed Matter Theory/ Superconductivity/ strongly correlated electrons/ Topology, Theory, Topology
High Energy Physics / Dark Matter, cosmology, Lattice QCD, LHC, Neutrino physics and Astrophysics, Nuclear Theory, Quantum Field Theory, quantum gravity, Theoretical Particle Physics
Biophysics / Biological Physics, microfluidics, Nanopore Science, Single Molecule Spectroscopy
Nuclear Physics / hadronic structure; Nuclear structure; Lattice QCD;, Heavy-ion collisions, High-Energy Physics, High-Energy QCD, Parton Saturation, Lattice QCD, Low-energy nuclear theory, Nuclear and Particle Theory, Dark Matter, Nuclear astrophysics, nuclear instrumentation or radiation detection, nuclear engineering, experimental nuclear or particle physics, Physics/Nuclear Physics, QCD, theoretical nuclear, Ultrarelativistic Heavy Ion Collisions
Statistical and Biological Physics / Statistical and Biological Physics, Statistical Physics (more...)

Appl Deadline:

2026/01/10 11:59PM help popup

(posted 2025/11/13, listed until 2026/02/28)

Position Description:

The Institute of Theoretical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ITP-CAS) (http://english.itp.cas.cn) is calling for application for a few postdoctoral fellow positions in 2026. Research areas include but not limited to: 1) Theoretical particle physics and nuclear physics, 2) Quantum field theory and superstring theory, 3) Gravitational theory, astrophysics and cosmology, 4) Statistical physics, theoretical biophysics and bioinformatics, 5) Condensed matter theory, 6) Quantum physics, quantum information and interaction between light and matter, 7) Plasma, accelerator physics, kinetic turbulence, 8) New areas of theoretical physics or related interdisciplinary fields. For more information of the faculty members, please search the website: http://english.itp.cas.cn/people/faculty/.

The applicant must have obtained a Ph.D. degree in theoretical physics or other related fields and should be under 35 years old. The deadline is January 10, 2026.

The following materials are required: (1) Cover letter (2) CV with a list of publications (3) Research statement and plans (4) At least two recommendation letters one of which should be from the applicant's doctoral supervisor. (Reference letters should be sent by the referees)

I. Laser Plasma Group Recruitment Information

Our group invites applications to fill one postdoctoral position in computational study of high-energy-density plasma. The starting date is negotiable. The appointment is initially for two years, with the possibility of being extended to the third year.

The postdoc will work on one of the two research fields: 1. High-energy-density plasmas: plasma kinetic instabilities. 2. Laser-plasma accelerators: particle acceleration, radiation sources.

Qualifications

1. Recently obtained (or about to obtain) a doctoral degree, with a strong interest in the computational study of high-energy-density plasma. 2. Have published high-level research papers in related professional fields. 3. Have a good team spirit, good communication, good organizational skills, a spirit of scientific exploration and the ability to conduct scientific research independently.

Review of the applications will start on January 1, 2026. However, the position will remain open until filled.

Materials should be sent to zgong92@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Zheng Gong

II. Recruitment Information of Gravity and Cosmology Group 1

Our group invites applications for at least one postdoctoral position in high-energy theoretical physics. The initial appointment is for two years, with extension to a third year subject to available funding. Prior experience in QCD, gravitation, gauge/gravity duality, and/or numerical methods is an advantage.

Review of the applications will start on January 1st, 2026, and will continue until the positions are filled.

Materials should be sent to mattijarvinen@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Li Li (liliphy@itp.ac.cn), Jarvinen Matti Oskari

III. Recruitment Information of Gravity and Cosmology Group 2

Our group focus on any intersection areas with cosmology, including but not limited to inflationary cosmology, particle cosmology, late-time cosmology, and gravitational-wave cosmology. Our group is calling for one postdoctoral candidate with special preference for experience in cosmology-related data analysis and numerical simulation. The starting date is no later than October 2026 and the position is guaranteed for two years, with a possible extension for a third year depending on the funding and performance situations.

Materials should be sent to schwang@alumni.itp.ac.cn. Contact: Shao-Jiang Wang

IV. Biophysics Group Recruit Information

Our group focus on two research fields: 1. The dynamics of cell state transitions in high-dimensional phase space be characterized quantitatively. 2. The critical properties of cell state transitions be studied.

Qualifications 1. Recently obtained (or about to obtain) a doctoral degree, with a strong interest in interdisciplinary research in biophysics. 2. Have a professional background in physics or mathematics or interdisciplinary biophysics, and experience in machine learning is preferred. 3. Have published high-level research papers in related professional fields. 4. Have a good team spirit, good at communication, have good organizational skills; have a spirit of scientific exploration and the ability to conduct scientific research independently.

Materials should be sent to wangwk@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Wei-Kang Wang

V. Recruit Information of Particle Physics and Quantum Field Theory Group 1

Our group focus on gravitational quantum field theory, hyperunified field theory, and gravitational-wave physics. Our group is calling for one or two postdoctoral candidate with special preference and high interest in such research fields and has published high level research papers.

The initial appointment is for two years, with extension to a third year subject to available performance.

Materials should be sent to gaoshanshan@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Shan-Shan Gao

VI. Recruit Information of Particle Physics and Quantum Field Theory Group 2

Our group focus on dark matter theory and detection, space-base gravitational-wave detection. Our group is calling for one or two postdoctoral candidate with special preference and high interest in such research fields and has published high level research papers.

The initial appointment is for two years, with extension to a third year subject to available performance.

Materials should be sent to yfzhou@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Yu-Feng Zhou

VII. QFT and String Theory Group Recruit Information

Our group invites applications for 1-2 postdoctoral positions. The expected starting date is fall 2026.

Preference will be given to applicants with expertise in: scattering amplitudes, conformal bootstrap, and exactly solvable lattice systems. We also encourage applications with experience in strongly-correlated condensed matter theory and machine learning applications to theoretical physics.

The initial appointment for the positions is for two years, with the possibility of a third-year extension.

Review of applications will begin on January 11, 2026. The positions will remain open until filled.

Materials should be sent to yangg@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Gang Yang

VIII. Recruit Information of New Physics and Effective Field Theory Group

Our group invites applications for a (2+1 years) postdoctoral position (starting in the autumn of 2026) in directions of effective field theory, scattering amplitudes, QCD and electroweak precision calculation, neutrino physics, and related new physics. Candidates with experiences or expertise in effective field theory, scattering amplitudes, electroweak precision calculation, neutrino physics, dark matter physics, and particle cosmology are especially encouraged to apply.

Review of the applications will start on January 1st, 2026. However, the position will remain open until filled.

Materials should be sent to jhyu@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Jiang-Hao Yu

IX. Nuclear Theory Group Recruit Information

Our group invites applications to fill up 1-2 postdoctoral positions for the study of nuclear fusion, nuclear fission, and structure and synthesis mechanism of superheavy nuclei. The positions are for two years with a possible extension for a third year or a potential to be promoted to a 3-year research associate position.

Materials should be sent to sgzhou@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Shan-Gui Zhou

X. Recruit Information of Condensed Matter Physics and Quantum Computing Theory Group

Our group invites applications to fill 1-2 postdoctoral positions working on quantum many-body theory, quantum computing, quantum AI, or related topics. The initial appointment for the positions is for two years, with the possibility of a third-year extension. The start date is negotiable.

The interests of our group span quantum many-body theory, topological quantum field theory, quantum computing, quantum information, and related interdisciplinary fields. Our current focuses are conventional and unconventional topological phases of matter, and quantum error correction codes and other quantum computing related topics.

We invite theorists with backgrounds in condensed matter physics, quantum computing, quantum information, quantum AI, or related fields to join us. We encourage theoretical exploration of new research directions and provide opportunities for collaboration with related experimental teams.

Materials should be sent to songhao@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Hao Song

XI. Condensed Matter Physics Group 1 Recruitment Information

Our research group is dedicated to exploring the intersection of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and foundational physics. We focus on understanding the emergent physical phenomena within AGI, helping to enhance AGI's reasoning capabilities, exploring the applications of AGI in solving frontier scientific problems, and proactively investigating AGI in the quantum era. We emphasize originality and systematic approaches, encouraging independent exploration and interdisciplinary collaboration. Due to current research needs, our group invites one postdoctoral fellow to join our team.

Research Directions

(1) Mechanisms of Emergent Phenomena in AGI and Efficient Training: Investigating whether many-body statistical theory can explain the origin of AGI's reasoning capabilities, catastrophic forgetting, scaling laws, and other emergent physical phenomena. Building on this foundation, we aim to explore more effective training algorithms for Large Language Models (LLMs).

(2) Applications of AGI in Foundational Science: Leveraging the high-order reasoning capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) to explore their applications in foundational scientific research, such as systematically mapping out the logical structure of foundational science.

(3) Exploration of Quantum AI: Developing AGI architectures capable of running on quantum computers, and exploring new paradigms for long-chain-of-thought (LCoT) reasoning by Large Language Models on quantum computers.

Qualifications

(1) A strong theoretical foundation and research experience in quantum many-body physics, quantum information, or related fields.

(2) A passion for scientific research, with strong English communication and writing skills, and the ability to conduct research independently.

(3) Preference will be given to candidates who have published high-quality papers in leading international academic journals.

Materials should be sent to chenkun@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Kun Chen

XII. Condensed Matter Physics Group 2 Recruitment Information

Our group invites applications to fill one postdoctoral position in the area of condensed matter theory. The starting date is negotiable. The appointment is initially for two years with possibility of promotion to the research associate. For details of recent research progress of the group, please visit ORCID: 0000-0002-8591-2652

Research Fields

(1) Use density functional theory, many-body perturbation theory, and analytical models to study the novel physical properties of materials, such as new topological states, magnetism, electrical/thermal transport, superconductivity, and corresponding material predictions.

(2) Develop numerical algorithms and computing software, such as electrical/thermal transport-related codes, machine learning, high-throughput computing, etc.

Materials should be sent to ttzhang@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Tian-Tian Zhang

XIII Condensed Matter Physics Group 3 Recruitment Information

Our group is seeking two postdoctoral fellows to advance the frontiers of quantum many-body physics. We focus on developing tensor network methods and other advanced computational approaches to explore novel quantum states and correlation effects in many-body systems, including but not limited to frustrated magnetism, unconventional superconductivity, and correlated topological phenomena. The starting date is flexible, and outstanding performers may be promoted to research associate upon completion of the appointment. For our recent research progress, please visit: https://www.cqm2itp.com/ Research fields (1) Quantum many-body theories and numerical methods, particularly tensor network-based algorithms for studying ground states, finite temperatures, and dynamics. (2) Frustrated quantum magnetism: exotic quantum spin states like quantum spin liquid and spin supersolid, novel magnetocaloric effects, and ultralow-temperature refrigeration.

(3) Novel correlated electronic states and materials, including unconventional superconductivity and correlated topological states in moiré materials.

The materials should be sent to w.li@itp.ac.cn. Contact: Wei Li

We are not accepting applications for this job through AcademicJobsOnline.Org right now. Please apply at http://english.itp.cas.cn/join/oppt/202511/t20251113_1115070.html .

Postal Mail:

: Zhong Guan Cun East Street 55 #, P. O. Box 2735, Beijing 100190, P. R. China

Web Page: http://english.itp.cas.cn