Postdoc: Fusion Materials Modelling & Irradiation Damage in Sheffield

You will join the group of Professor Chris Race, the UKAEA Chair in Fusion Materials at the University of Sheffield. We are working closely with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) to develop methods and tools that can be used to predict the performance of candidate materials in future fusion reactors.

We are seeking a post-doctoral research associate in materials modelling, keen to join us in the challenge of delivering safe, efficient fusion energy. Fusion reactors will subject the materials they are made of to the most extreme engineering environment on earth. We need to be sure that these materials are up to the task, but direct testing under reactor conditions is impossible. Modelling and simulation, informed by physics, will play a critical role in predicting performance and certifying materials for use.

If you are an experienced materials modeller who enjoys applying insights from computer simulations to address real world challenges, then this post is your next challenge. You will develop and benchmark tools for the prediction of irradiation damage in a variety of materials. This will include using classical molecular dynamics to undertake simulations of irradiation damage and developing and deploying novel analysis methods to characterise the emerging patterns of damage. You will develop methods to predict how damage accumulates and microstructure evolves over time to high doses. You will create tools encapsulating the insight from your simulations and analysis and share them with the community.

We are looking for an enthusiastic communicator and team player, with a commitment to best practice in open and reproducible science and a keenness to work with industry to understand how their research can address real-world challenges. You will be an independent-minded researcher, capable of directing your own research and managing your own time, with a willingness to contribute to group activities, including helping to supervise PhD students.

Amongst other benefits, we offer 41 days annual leave (including closure days and Bank Holidays), with the possibility to purchase up to ten additional days, and up to 5 days of paid time off to cover emergency caring responsibilities. We have a commitment to work life balance including flexible working opportunities and hybrid working where possible, with the possibility of holding this post on a part-time basis.

The role will involve significant interaction with UKAEA and is an excellent opportunity to form or deepen links with the growing academic and industrial fusion energy research community. We are committed to exploring flexible working opportunities which benefit the individual and University. We build teams of people from different heritages and lifestyles from across the world, whose talent and contributions complement each other to greatest effect. We believe diversity in all its forms delivers greater impact through research, teaching and student experience.