Postdoctoral Fellow in Multiphysics Modelling for Advanced Nuclear Systems

Postdoctoral Fellow in Multiphysics Modelling for Advanced Nuclear Systems

EPFL - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne

Lausanne, Switzerland

Mission

Join the Laboratory for Reactor Physics and Systems Behaviour (LRS) at EPFL for an exciting postdoctoral project focused on advanced nuclear energy systems modelling, with applications to next-generation fission reactors and potentially fusion-related systems.

You will work with two cutting-edge open-source multi-physics simulation tools developed at LRS:

• GeN-FOAM (system and reactor multi-physics);
• OFFBEAT (fuel behaviour and performance).

A strong emphasis will be placed on close collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), where key developers of these tools are now based. You will contribute to software development, modelling improvements, and high-impact simulation studies targeting Sodium Fast Reactors (SFR), High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGR) and breeding blanket concepts in Fusion Reactors.

Beyond research, you will actively contribute to the lab’s academic mission through PhD supervision, Master-level teaching, and support to major European research activities and proposal writing.

Main duties and responsibilities

In this postdoctoral role, you will:

• Perform multi-physics simulations of advanced fission reactor concepts (SFR and HTGR) using GeN-FOAM and OFFBEAT;
• Contribute to the development, verification, and validation of open-source modelling tools;
• Support modelling work related to fuel performance and behaviour for advanced reactor systems;
• Support modelling work related to breeding blanket modelling in fusion systems;
• Participate in the supervision of 4–5 PhD students working on advanced reactor modelling and fuel-related topics;
• Contribute to the teaching of Master-level courses in the area of nuclear engineering and simulation;
• Support LRS activities within major EURATOM projects, including: TRANSPARANT, EVEREST, OperaHPC, ESFR-SIMPLE;
• Assist with the preparation of new research proposals to secure further modelling-related funding.

Profile

• Candidates will have to hold a PhD in STEM and will have a background in the modelling and simulation;
• Master and/or PhD in Nuclear Engineering will be considered as a plus. Fluency in English, both written and oral, is compulsory.