Neutron and Gamma Assistant Diagnostic Physicist

Fusion Energy Base; Abingdon; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent pension

Flexible working

Job summary

Fusion Energy Base in Abingdon is seeking a Neutron and Gamma Assistant Diagnostic Physicist based at Culham, Oxfordshire. The role involves supporting a range of diagnostics for plasma research, covering requirements, design, manufacturing, and commissioning, with a path to CS/CR role in the MAST Upgrade control room.

The two-year fixed-term appointment requires hands-on hardware experience, data analysis skills, and strong communication.

Qualifications

• Degree or PhD in a scientific/engineering field with research experience.
• Hands-on experience operating diagnostics hardware and analyzing experimental data.
• Good oral and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Supporting the routine operation of neutron and gamma diagnostics in MAST-U.
• Ensuring diagnostics operate in accordance with local safety rules and commissioning procedures.
• Calibrating diagnostics and maintaining calibration procedures.
• Contributing to refurbishments for physics studies and updating inter-shot analysis codes.
• Maintaining tools to routinely produce analysed data from diagnostics.

Skills

Diagnostics hardware operation

Data analysis

Communication skills

Education

Degree in scientific/engineering/technical field

PhD in a relevant scientific field

Tools

IDL

Python

Job description

Neutron and Gamma Assistant Diagnostic Physicist

Overview of Responsibilities The salary for this role is £38,500 (inclusive of a Specialist Allowance). Onsite working is expected for 3 days a week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working. This role can be based at any of the following sites: Culham, Oxfordshire. This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions and possibly a search of open source data.

The Role Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As Neutron and Gamma Assistant Diagnostic Physicist, you will play a pivotal role in supporting a range of Neutronics, Gamma and Fast Particle Diagnostics used for Plasma research and operations. The job encompasses the full product lifecycle (Requirements, design, manufacturing, commissioning, maintenance decommissioning) and includes data analysis and validation. The post holder will be expected to contribute towards parts of each lifecycle under the guidance of senior staff. Dependent on their knowledge, experience, and interest, the post holder will be encouraged to train for a role within the MAST Upgrade control room, working with the operational team to configure and safely operate the MAST Upgrade Tokamak to achieve experimental goals.

Please note that this position is offered as a two-year fixed-term appointment.

Key Responsibilities

• Supporting the routine operation of neutrons and gamma diagnostic in MAST-U. This includes, but is not limited to Fission Chamber, Neutron Camera, Hard X-ray Detector, Reciprocating Probe, Divertor Reciprocating Probe.
• Ensuring the diagnostics operate in accordance with local safety rules, including following and updating commissioning procedures.
• Calibration of diagnostics and ensuring appropriate calibration procedures are in place and properly maintained.
• Contributing and supporting designing and implementing refurbishments required for physics studies.
• Contributing and supporting the maintenance of inter-shot analysis codes to routinely produce analysed data from the diagnostics.

Salary

£38,500 (inclusive of Specialist Allowance) + excellent benefits including outstanding pension

Programme

Sensors and Control

Department

Science

Site Location

UKAEA Culham, Oxfordshire

Type of Employment

Full-time

Reference Number

REF4413K

Qualifications

Essential Requirements:

• Degree in a scientific, engineering or technical subject with experience working in an academic or industrial research environment or PhD in a relevant scientific field.
• Hands on experience operating diagnostics hardware.
• Ability to carry out analysis of experimental data, use of suitable tools, error analysis, etc.
• Ability to conduct physics research as part of a team.
• Good oral and written communications skills.

Desirable Requirements:

• Experience of working with radioactive sources and/or radiation related diagnostics.
• Experience with data analysis codes
• Proficiency programming languages, e.g. IDL, Python.

Additional Information

A full list of our benefits can be found here https://careers.ukaea.uk/life-at-ukaea/employee-benefits/

UKAEA’s mission is clean energy for all, and we welcome talented people from all backgrounds to help us achieve this goal. We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion and strive to ensure fair representation across our workforce. We particularly encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented in STEM, including women and individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, while ensuring all appointments are made on merit.

UK Atomic Energy Authority is committed to being accessible. Please email [e-mail] if you have any questions or require help or adjustments to compete on a fair basis, for example, changes to the way we interview or share information.

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.