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Principal Transport Physicist

Employer
UK Atomic Energy Authority
Location
Culham, UK
Salary
Unspecified
Posting live until
28 Feb 2023

Job Details

Abingdon Rd, Culham, UK

Full-time

Department: Tokamak Science

Salary: £60,317 to £63,855 (inclusive of MPP) + excellent benefits including outstanding pension

Confirmed Grade: Level 6

Site Location: UKAEA Culham, Oxfordshire

Company Description

By 2050, the planet could be using twice as much electricity compared to today. Are you interested in a leading-edge role in a team contributing towards shaping the future of the world’s energy? If so, read on.

Fusion, the process that powers the Sun and Stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs. UKAEA are at the forefront of realising energy from fusion, working with industry and research partners to deliver the ground-breaking developments that will underpin tomorrow’s fusion power stations with the aim of bringing fusion electricity to the grid. As we work towards our mission and goals, UKAEA has devised values (Innovative, Committed, Trusted and Collaborative) that capture the spirit of how we work.

Job Description

Who are we looking for?

The Principal Transport Physicist will play a leading role in UKAEA’s work to advance our scientific understanding of turbulent transport in tokamak plasmas, and/or in developing and exploiting high fidelity computational modelling tools for predicting and optimising plasma performance. As the successful applicant you will bring considerable scientific and technical expertise to the role and apply this to the delivery of high quality and impactful research on turbulent transport and its impacts on magnetically confined plasma devices.

Taking a leading role in collaborative projects both internally and externally you will be able to influence UKAEA’s priorities in this critical area.

What will you be responsible for?

  • Technical leadership of international class research on turbulent transport and its impacts on tokamak performance, carried out through integrated modelling, experiments, and/or turbulence simulation/theory;
  • Delivery of high quality and impactful research and/or software outputs;
  • Mentoring and guiding junior researchers in integrated modelling, turbulence and transport experiments, and/or turbulence simulation/theory;
  • Contributions to planning of state-of-the-art research and experiments in transport/turbulence;
  • Leading, building and fostering collaborations within UKAEA and with external partners;
  • Providing deep technical knowledge in transport, turbulence, and/or integrated modelling;
  • Developing leading edge understanding of plasma transport in regimes relevant to burning plasmas, exploiting data from experiments including MAST-U.

Qualifications

Essential skills, experience and competence required:

  • Extensive high level research experience in integrated modelling; turbulence and transport experiments; and/or turbulence simulation/theory;
  • PhD (or equivalent experience) in plasma physics;
  • In-depth knowledge and passion for understanding plasma transport and turbulence;
  • Track record of strong independent and self-driven research;
  • Outstanding publications and/or software outputs aligned with the role;
  • Experience of scientific technical leadership;
  • Leading collaborative projects with external or internal partners;
  • Supervision of PhDs and/or PDRAs;
  • Excellent communication and influencing skills.

Desirable skills, experience and competence

  • Currently active in scientific research directly relevant to the post;
  • Experience of working with UKAEA’s collaborators in transport and turbulence;
  • High level of experience in software development for world leading codes in transport, turbulence and/or integrated modelling;
  • Experience of higher level scientific management;
  • Enthusiasm for engaging stakeholders.

Additional Information

What we offer

Our comprehensive benefits package includes a vibrant culture committed to being fully inclusive, an Employee Assistance Programme and trained Mental Health First Aiders, Flexible working options including family friendly policies, Emergency paid leave, Generous annual leave allowance (30.5 days) increased with length of service, wide range of career development opportunities, outstanding defined benefit pension scheme; Corporate bonus scheme and a Relocation allowance (if eligible).

We welcome applications from under-represented groups, particularly from individuals from black and other ethnic minority backgrounds, including nationality and citizenship, people with disabilities and women. The Executive team with support from our ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’ (EDI) Partner and Inclusion Ambassadors, is actively promoting EDI and taking steps to increase the diversity of our people through reinforcing best practice in recruitment and selection, and revaluating approaches where it is clear we can remove barriers to success.

Please be advised that this vacancy is due to close on 28/02/2023. We may close earlier than this date if large or sufficient numbers of applications are received.

Please note all employees working at the UK Atomic Energy Authority will be required to complete an online Disclosure Certificate application as part of their clearance – The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks will show the details of all current criminal convictions or will confirm that there are no such convictions.

Note for applicants who are applying for employment with UKAEA either from outside the United Kingdom or who have spent time outside the United Kingdom in the last five years. Please visit the UK Government website. If the country you are resident in or have resided in is not listed on this website or that the UK Government is not aware of how to obtain a criminal records check from that state then we are unable to process your application.

Company

UKAEA profile imageUKAEA researches nuclear fusion (the power source of the Sun), to develop a viable future low carbon energy source. UKAEA operates two major fusion experiments, Europe’s JET and UK’s MAST Upgrade; has technology centres in robotics, materials and component testing; and is embarking on a UK powerplant design activity – STEP.

Why study with us
Harnessing fusion power for future electricity production is an enormous scientific challenge. It requires a very hot gas of fusion fuels to be confined and controlled. A scientific career at UKAEA promises to be intellectually stimulating. Research roles range from experimental physicists on UKAEA’s MAST Upgrade and the European JET fusion experiments to theoretical physicists modelling complex plasma behaviour. And ultimately, you are working directly towards a new zero carbon future – what better reason to get up in the morning?

Training and development
UKAEA is committed to developing all employees by offering a range of programmes and support to suit their individual career aspirations. Our advanced apprenticeship and graduate schemes are certified by IMechE and IET and we are members of the IET Power Academy. In the physics field we offer PhD and MSc opportunities and Culham Research Fellowships. In addition to the structured development schemes we also provide individual development as needed by the business and career trajectories, including management development opportunities.

Graduate schemes
UKAEA’s two-year graduate programme provides the opportunity to obtain skills and experience to launch your career, working on projects that make a real contribution to developing clean energy from fusion. You will spend 80% of your time on your job role and technical development and 20% on graduate scheme activities. Some of the 20% is allocated to specific tasks with the remaining time dedicated to activities chosen by you in discussion with your line manager, mentor and graduate scheme management.

What we are looking for
We are currently seeking to recruit physicists to work in a number of areas of tokamak plasma modelling such as:

  • Gyrokinetic simulations of core plasma turbulence (two positions)
  • Fast particle physics
  • Plasma disruptions
  • Runaway electron physics
  • Radiofrequency (RF) physics

Come and join us on the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme, which is an exciting programme that aims to demonstrate fusion as a net-zero carbon energy source.


Location
Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK

Number of researchers
6

How to apply
Apply online at www.ccfe.ukaea.uk/physicist-opportunities

Closing date
All year round

Contact
Tel +44 (0)1235 528822
E-mail recruitment@ukaea.uk
https://ccfe.ukaea.uk

Company info
Website
Telephone
+44 (0)1235 528822
Location
Culham Science Centre
Abingdon
OX14 3DB
GB

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