Doctoral student in fusion plasma physics and nuclear engineering

Doctoral Student In Fusion Plasma Physics And Nuclear Engineering

KTH Royal Institute of Technology, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Project description

Third-cycle subject: Electrical Engineering

The provision of plasma-facing components (PFCs) with sufficient lifetime is one of the major technological obstacles to be overcome in developing fusion reactors. Recently, the damage of PFCs due to interaction with runaway electrons (RE) has become a highly critical issue in evaluations of disruption consequences. ITER, currently seeks for the validation of relevant numerical models and tools against existing experimental evidence in order to gain confidence in their applications to predictive reactor modelling.

PhD project will focus on the development of modelling tools for simulations of RE-induced PFC damage and their validation against data from EUROfusion Consortium, and DIII-D (USA). The validated models will be employed for predictive modelling of specific ITER scenarios following input from the ITER Organization. The modelling of MeV RE energy deposition in PFCs will be performed with Monte Carlo simulations. These results will serve as input for the thermomechanical models to be developed in FEM and CFD software to address severe deformation and potential explosion of the material.

We offer expertise in the theory and modelling of plasma-surface interactions and electron transport into matter, access to state-of-the-art experimental data from the largest tokamaks worldwide and close collaboration with the Experiments & Plasma Operation Section of the ITER Organization.

Supervision: Prof. S. Ratynskaia. Decisions are made on admission.

Admission requirements

To be admitted to postgraduate education (Chapter 7, 39 § Swedish Higher Education Ordinance), the applicant must have basic eligibility in accordance with either of the following:

• passed a second cycle degree (for example a master's degree), or
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 second-cycle higher education credits, or
• acquired, in some other way within or outside the country, substantially equivalent knowledge

Programming skills in languages such as Fortran, Python, or C/C++, is required for this position.

In addition to the above, there is also a mandatory requirement for English equivalent to English B/6.

Selection

In order to succeed as a doctoral student at KTH you need to be goal oriented and persevering in your work. During the selection process, candidates will be assessed upon their ability to:

• independently pursue his or her work,
• collaborate with others,
• have a professional approach,
• analyze and work with complex issues,
• demonstrate familiarity with the modelling of electron transport into matter with Monte Carlo techniques (i.e. GEANT4, PENELOPE, FLUKA etc).
• demonstrate familiarity with basic computational fluid dynamics techniques and
• demonstrate familiarity with basic computational solid mechanics techniques.

After the qualification requirements, great emphasis will be placed on personal skills.

Target degree: Doctoral degree

Information regarding admission and employment

Only those admitted to postgraduate education may be employed as a doctoral student. The total length of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education in four years' time. An employed doctoral student can, to a limited extent (maximum 20%), perform certain tasks within their role, e.g. training and administration. A new position as a doctoral student is for a maximum of one year, and then the employment may be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time. In the case of studies that are to be completed with a licentiate degree, the total period of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education for two years.

As a doctoral student, you are entitled to a workplace with many employee benefits and monthly salary according to KTH's Doctoral student salary agreement. Read more about Doctoral studies (PhD) | KTH | Sweden.

Tagged as: Engineering, Physics