A new postdoctoral position in continuum mechanics is available at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Candidates should have a strong background in physics and/or theoretical mechanics, as well as experience with analytical and computational methods for solving partial differential equations. Possible projects include the mechanics of frictional sliding, the mechanics of biomaterials, the mechanics of glassy materials and dislocation-mediated plasticity. Highly motivated candidates are requested to send their CV, publications list and statement of research interests to Dr. Eran Bouchbinder eran.bouchbinder@weizmann.ac.il

A postdoctoral/PhD position in various non-equilibrium problems in solid mechanics is available at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Candidates should have a strong background in physics and/or theoretical mechanics, as well as experience with analytical and computational methods for solving partial differential equations. More details can be found in http://www.weizmann.ac.il/chemphys/bouchbinder/ For information about specific research projects, please send CV, a publications list and a statement of research interests to Dr. Eran Bouchbinder, eran.bouchbinder@weizmann.ac.il (PhD candidates must have a Master of Science (MSc) degree)

Solids that are driven beyond their elastic limit exhibit strongly disspative and irreversible dynamical behaviors. Such behaviors call for the development of nonequilibrium approaches that go beyond standard equilibrium thermodynamics. In a recent work we have developed an internal-variable, effective-temperature non-equilibrium thermodynamics for glass-forming and polycrystalline materials driven away from thermodynamic equilibrium by external forces [1, 2]. The basic idea is that the slow configurational (structural) degrees of freedom of such materials are weakly coupled to the fast kinetic-vibrational degrees of freedom and therefore these two subsystems can be described by different temperatures during deformation. The configurational subsystem is defined by the mechanically stable positions of the constituent atoms, i.e. the "inherent structures", and is characterized by an effective temperature. The kinetic-vibrational subsystem is defined by the momenta and the displacements of the atoms at small distances away from their stable positions, and is characterized by the bath temperature.