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Doctoral Candidate in the area of edge-plasma physics in magnetic fusion energy devices

Aalto University is a university in Finland with over a century of experience in education and research. Created from a high-profile merger between three leading universities in Finland – Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economics, and the University of Art and Design Helsinki – Aalto University opens up new possibilities for strong multidisciplinary education and research. The university has over 20 000 students and a staff of 5 000, including 370 professors. The campus of the School of Science is located on the Otaniemi peninsula in Espoo within the metropolitan area of Helsinki.

The Department of Applied Physics (http://physics.aalto.fi) at the School of Science is looking for a

Doctoral Candidate in the area of edge-plasma physics in magnetic fusion energy devices

to the Fusion and Plasma Physics Group (http://physics.aalto.fi/groups/fusion/). The group focuses on experimental and computational plasma physics in magnetically confined fusion experiments. The PhD project aims to improve understanding of the physics of the tokamak edge plasma for ITER and future burning plasma experiments by interpretative analysis of measurements in present devices, such as JET, ASDEX Upgrade and DIII-D, and predictions from state-of-the-art numerical simulation, like EDGE2D-EIRENE and SOLPS. The primary physics goals of these studies are controlling particle and power exhaust, and minimizing plasma-wall interaction in magnetically confined fusion devices.

Job description

The successful candidate will be trained in experimental data analysis and in executing plasma edge codes to interpret these data. As a team member, she or he is anticipated to participate in experiments, in data mining and analysis of past and on-going experiments, and to carry out simulations utilizing existing edge codes. She or he will be working in a team of senior and junior research members toward development and implementation of new physics models in these computational tools. The successful candidate is expected to document and publish research results in peer-reviewed scientific or technical journals and present results at external conferences, seminars and/or technical meetings. At Aalto University a PhD dissertation typically includes 3-4 peer-reviewed publications within four years. While the primary location of the studies will be at the Otaniemi campus in Espoo, the research pertaining to the thesis will be carried out in collaboration with JET in the UK or ASDEX Upgrade in Germany. The candidate is expected to spend some time at these research facilities.

Requirements

As a successful candidate for this position, you should have:

  • M.Sc. degree in physics or related field
  • Knowledge in basic plasma physics
  • Basic experience in programming languages, such as C, C++, and Fortran
  • Basic experience with data analysis programming languages, such as IDL, Python, and MatLab
  • Good verbal and written English communication skills necessary to work in a multidisciplinary team environment, author technical and scientific reports and publications, and deliver scientific presentations

The primary language of communication within the Fusion and Plasma Physics Group is English.

Skills, knowledge and abilities in the following areas are highly desirable:

  • Experience in at least one of these fields: diagnostics, data analysis or computational physics; experience in high performance computing highly desirable

For more information about this doctoral position, please check the website of Aalto University.
The deadline of application for this position is: May 13, 2016.

Type of position/job
Doctoral
Deadline
Institute
Aalto University, Finland