Work Experience opportunities 2026

Fusion Technology 

July Opportunity  

Using real modelling results, students will create an Interactive Fusion Power Calculator in Python to show how different fusion reactions generate electricity and how long they could power cities of different sizes. 

• Fusion physics and energy calculations  
• Python programming with interactive notebooks  
• Data visualization and (optional) basic ML for scenario analysis  

Safety, Health and Wellbeing 

Students will assist in delivering Mental Health Awareness Week activities, including supporting the organisation of a football tournament and coordinating internal communications. 

Learning and Development 

May opportunity 

Helping create a visual, user-friendly guide to all UKAEA training courses with instructions on how to book onto training. This would suit someone who is creative and has excellent attending to detail.  

July opportunity 

Help create a visual, engagement, user-friendly guide to our leadership and line management courses with instructions for who will benefit from the learning and how to sign up.  

Portfolio Management Office 

May Opportunity

Embracing AI. By creating short videos, presentation slides and new articles, research how can project professionals better embrace AI in their day job to create efficiencies. Can AI be used to help better map and keep engaged with key stakeholders? Can AI help with requirements capture or benefits management in projects?

Central Operations 

May or July opportunities  

Engineering simulations. The student will set up and run an engineering simulation – essential to the design process – that includes some simple CAD, applying loads and boundary conditions (requiring some simple hand calculations), and executing the final simulation. Produce the findings and present them. 

Materials Research Facility  

July Opportunity

An introduction to nuclear energy and nuclear fusion, explaining how nuclear power stations generate electricity, and developing core understanding and confidence in radioactivity and related calculations.

Computing

May or July opportunities  

Supporting development of Omniverse-based digital twin solutions for visualising and exploring simulation data in real time. This will involve working with CAD / 3D models, fusion related simulation data as well as helping with writing some python code for custom extensions through the Omniverse Kit template.

May or July opportunities 

Research and summarise bubble formation, rise, and coalescence using articles and videos. Modelling bubble rise velocity using Spreadsheet calculations and formulas. Analysing molten-salt material properties and exploring temperature dependant properties such as density, heat capacity, and thermal conductivity using prepared datasets. 

Materials  

May or July opportunities

Learning about radioactive decay law, solving Ordinary differential equations, and application to radioactivity generation in fusion (computational programming).  

Plasma Science Fusion Operations

May opportunity    

During the work experience week, students will step into the shoes of the scientists and engineers tackling one of the biggest challenges on the planet: creating clean, near limitless fusion energy. They’ll explore the world of fusion research through hands-on activities such as: 

• Cracking the mystery of fusion energy – discover why it’s so hard, and how scientists are solving it. 
• Designing your own plasma – yes, the same stuff stars are made of! 
• Joining the MAST-U experiment team – plan experiments, sit in the real control room when they happen. 
• Working inside our cutting-edge labs – see where innovations are born. 
• Building and testing vacuum systems – how airtight can you make it? 
• Firing lasers to take scientific measurements – because who doesn’t want to use lasers? 
• Decoding scientific signals – analyse data like a detective cracking a high-tech puzzle. 
• Using infrared imaging – like a spy uncover hidden details in e.g. materials. 
• Exploring electrical systems – get a glimpse of the circuitry powering some of the world’s most advanced machines. 

By the end of the week, students will have worked alongside real scientists and engineers, explored cutting-edge technology, and discovered what it takes to power the future. 

Material Modelling group 

Shadow team members to learn what we do and why it matters for Fusion Energy. Shadowing and brief interviews with scientists, attending team activities, and a guided demonstration of modelling/HPC workflows 

Finance and Business system 

July opportunity 

Getting involved in Finance and Business Systems continuous improvement programme. This could involve writing a procedure, designing a training presentation or updating internal webpages. This will ultimately improve the overall user experience within UKAEA.

Tritium Fuel Cycle  

July opportunity 

Providing support with the design and setup of the non-active laboratory space, including helping to plan the layout, organise equipment and furniture, and assist with the installation of any required fixtures or materials.