Post-Doctoral Researcher - Time-Dependent Integrated Modeling for Advanced Scenarios

General Atomics; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

General Atomics in San Diego, CA, hosts a research role collaborating with the Tokamak Research program on DIII-D to support advanced plasma modeling and scenario development. The successful candidate will investigate time-dependent transport and stability, improve tools, and help design experiments for next-step devices.

PhD in plasma physics is required with preferred experience in tokamak research and Julia; publication and conference communication are expected as part of this research track.

Qualifications

• PhD in plasma physics or related field required.
• Experience with tokamak plasma research and integrated modeling preferred but not required.
• Strong publication and conference communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Conduct time-dependent plasma transport and stability analyses for DIII-D plasmas.
• Improve modeling tools and physics modules based on results.
• Design plasma scenarios for next-step devices like ITER.
• Publish research findings and present at conferences.

Skills

Plasma physics

Research modeling

Scientific communication

Education

PhD in plasma physics or related field

Tools

Julia

Job description

Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) administers the Postgraduate Fusion Research Program of General Atomics.

The successful candidate will collaborate with the Burning Plasma Core Sub-Topical Area (STA) in the Tokamak Research (TR) program of DIII-D to support modeling tasks charged to the group. The DIII-D National Fusion Facility is a tokamak research device operated by General Atomics in San Diego, California, for the US Department of Energy. DIII-D is the largest magnetic fusion research facility in the USA. The TR program is focused on establishing the scientific basis for the optimization of the tokamak approach to fusion energy production, in part through the development of advanced steady-state operating scenarios.

The candidate is expected to conduct researches on the following tasks:

1. Use the time-dependent 1.5-D plasma transport and stability modeling tools to analyze and understand the time evolution of DIII-D high-performance advanced tokamak plasmas, including the plasma current ramp-up phase.
2. Use the simulation results and acquired physics understanding to improve the modeling tools/physics modules.
3. Exploit the validated models to help designing and executing new DIII-D experiments.
4. Ultimately, design plasma scenarios for next step steady-state devices (e.g. ITER and fusion pilot plants, FPPs).

The candidate is expected to publish scientific papers on research and communicate results through conference presentations.

The candidate should work on-site at General Atomics in San Diego, CA. The position is expected to begin in 2027.

Ph.D. (or equivalent professional degree) in plasma physics or a related field is required. Previous experience of tokamak plasma research, integrated modeling and computational language Julia is preferred, but not required.