Job opportunities in plasma modelling of compact fusion reactor

The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) has established an ambitious national programme that is exploring the options, challenges and solutions for accelerating the delivery of power from nuclear fusion: the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP). This compact fusion reactor is expected to operate in a high beta burning plasma domain. UKAEA operates MAST-U, one of the world’s leading spherical tokamaks, which is exploring the physics basis for STEP. It also operates JET, the world’s largest tokamak, which is uniquely capable of running deuterium-tritium plasmas. Further details of the STEP project can be found at https://ccfe.ukaea.uk/research/step/.

In support of the goals of STEP, we are seeking to recruit physicists to work in the following areas of tokamak plasma modelling:

1. Radio-frequency physics
2. MHD of tokamak plasma disruptions
3. Runaway electron physics
4. Fast particle physics
5. Gyrokinetic simulations of core plasma turbulence (2 positions)

While each of these positions will be primarily focused on STEP plasma modelling, appointees will have opportunities to work on modelling of plasmas in other tokamak devices, including MAST-U. In all cases applicants should hold, or be about to hold, a PhD in plasma physics (this could be in solar plasma physics) or possess equivalent experience. Further details of each of the vacancies can be found here:

https://ccfe.ukaea.uk/careers/vacancies/physicist-opportunities-on-the-step-programme/