FOSTER University Placements 2025

The project is to demonstrate the potential of silicon carbide JFET based logic for reliable long term operation in extreme environments that mimic those found in fusion. Focussing on the operation at temperatures above 400C, the project will optimise the characteristics of logic gates and use the characteristics to generate computer models that will enable the design of more complex circuits, including timers, memory and decoders. These functional blocks will be key components in the development of control systems for deployment in the vicinity of the reactor, supporting the monitoring and control of the plasma during operation.

Application

Covering letter and CV to alton.b.horsfall@durham.ac.uk

The purpose of this project is to enhance the capabilities of a Python-based synthetic diagnostic suite for high-energy-density and inertial fusion plasmas. The current codebase allows the tracking of billions of geometric optics rays through 3D RMHD simulations. The physics capabilities are currently limited to optical wavelengths. To date, this code has been used to produce synthetic shadowgraphy, interferometry, Schlieren and refractometry diagnostics. The proposed project will expand this code to support synthetic X-ray diagnostics and improve computational performance through GPU acceleration.

By supporting X-ray energies this will enable modelling of refraction-enhanced radiography. This is a critical diagnostic technique for understanding shock propagation in inertial fusion energy capsules and high-energy-density plasma experiments. By coupling the model to spectroscopic quality opacity models, this X-ray capability will also allow absorption spectroscopy. This extension will enable a detailed comparison between simulations and experiments across a broad range of X-ray diagnostics.

As with any Monte Carlo based simulation model, statistical noise can be problematic and large numbers of particles/rays are needed to combat this. The current model is limited in its ability to perform calculations with a large number of rays efficiently. Improved computational performance will be achieved by introducing GPU acceleration via JAX, a high-performance numerical computing Python library. As each ray is independent, the ray tracing model stands to achieve significant performance improvements by leveraging GPU parallelism. This will enable faster and more scalable simulations, compatible with modern high-performance-computing architectures.

The extended synthetic diagnostic tool will prove a powerful validation tool, providing a means for 3D MHD simulations to be directly compared to experimental data. The Imperial code Chimera has been used to model both inertial fusion and high-energy-density physics experiments. The project will perform this validation exercise using experimental data from the MAGPIE Pulsed Power Generator and other partner institutions within the AMPLIFI Prosperity Partnership. This validation will ensure the accuracy and reliability of the simulation tools for real-world fusion research applications.

Application

A Project advert will be published on the Plasma Physics Group page of Imperial College London website (https://www.imperial.ac.uk/plasma-physics/) and students will be able to apply by contacting directly the project supervisor at the email: s.merlini19@imperial.ac.uk

Inertial fusion is inherently a multi-physics problem. One needs to describe the hydrodynamics, transport of heat and radiation, and the physics of material properties. Accurately capturing this complex physics can be prohibitively expensive to computationally model. This project would aim to create reduced physics models via machine learning (ML) methods to capture the required physical behaviour but at reduced computational expense.

The fundamental model of ICF simulation codes is radiation hydrodynamics, which captures the longer time and length scales (ns and mm) of experiments. However, radiation hydrodynamics coarse-grains the smaller scales. Many significant physical processes operate at the finer ‘kinetic’ scale. Of particular interest to this proposal are laser-plasma interactions and non-local electron transport. These respectively describe how energy from the laser is absorbed by the plasma and how the energy is transported in both an advective and diffusive manner. These phenomena are, if included at all, post-hoc additions to radiation hydrodynamic models. They are predominantly included in the form of reduced order models of lower accuracy. Higher fidelity kinetic models can accurately model the smaller scales but are often too prohibitively expensive to run in-line with the radiation hydrodynamics. To improve the accuracy of our simulators, we must find a way to efficiently computationally model both the multi-scale and multi-physics aspects of inertial fusion.

For addressing multi-scale problems, the most effective ML surrogates insert learnable data-driven terms, also known as ‘closures’, into physics-driven models. These can seamlessly integrate into existing, fully physics-driven models. Capitalising on the advances in differentiable programming made in ML research, many libraries have emerged which implement differentiable differential equation solvers. For this project we will use diffrax in JAX to train our learnable closures. We will use a dataset of integrated calculations of a particular laser plasma interaction (cross-beam-energy-transfer, CBET) to train a reduced model for this phenomenon. CBET causes a significant reduction in coupled laser energy and represents a major barrier to inertial fusion energy’s success. Including this reduced model into our existing laser ray trace module will allow us to perform accurate and efficient design of inertial fusion energy targets with CBET physics within our radiation hydrodynamics code.

Applications 

Interested students should email Aidan Crilly directly: ac116@ic.ac.uk

Computer simulations are an essential tool for advancing our understanding of Plasma Physics. The complexity of plasmas mean that these simulations are usually very computationally intensive. Quantum computers offer the potential to solve many problems significantly faster than can currently be done on classical computers. However, it is not yet clear how quantum computers can speed up the solving of a class of problems that commonly occur in Plasma Physics, namely, the numerical solution of partial differential equations. This project will focus on the development of a quantum computing algorithm for solving the Vlasov-Fokker-Planck equation (an equation which governs the kinetic behaviour of plasmas), using a technique known as Carleman linearization. The project will involve some analytic work as well as the development of both classical and quantum computing models.

Applications 

To apply, please visit Summer research placement | Research groups | Imperial College London for further details.

This project aims to investigate the feasibility of scaling existing MIF (magneto-inertial fusion) targets to larger conceptual facilities than what exist today.

Magneto-inertial fusion is a class of inertial confinement fusion that utilises a magnetic drive to apply the compression. The most well known scheme of this type is MagLIF (Magnetised Liner Inertial Fusion), which is routinely performed on the Z facility at Sandia National Laboratories. The Z Machine is the largest pulsed-power device in the world, supplying ~2 MJ to a target out of the stored 22 MJ, making the energy delivered comparable to the National Ignition Facility, where the highest yield ICF experiments are performed. Pulsed power has been demonstrated to have excellent efficiency, making it a promising approach to fusion energy. In MagLIF, Z’s 26 MA of current are applied to a thin metallic can (“liner”) that contains deuterium fuel, subjecting the liner to immense compressional (Lorentz) forces that bring the fuel to fusion conditions. Additional components include a laser preheat phase that ionises the fuel, and allows an externally applied axial magnetic field to diffuse through, reducing thermal conduction losses.

Scaling studies have been performed at Sandia National Laboratories [1] that suggest that MagLIF could reach a gain of great than 100 on a 60 MA facility, only 3 times the size of the Z machine. This and other similar investigations [2] utilise simplified scaling laws that make several underlying assumptions. While desirable, it is currently computationally unfeasible to perform such studies using 3D multi-physics simulations at the required resolutions. Instead, it is proposed that the existing scaling studies be extended to 1D integrated simulations using the Imperial College London in-house radiative magnetohydrodynamics code Chimera. This code has a unique set of physics modules that are strongly suited to MagLIF modelling, including a resistive MHD solver for the pulsed-power drive, a laser-tracing module for the preheat phase, a Monte-Carlo alpha tracing package for the burn phase, etc. The validation of existing scaling studies using integrated simulations up to high yield conditions will have important consequences to the prospects of MagLIF as a feasible fusion energy scheme.

[1] S. A. Slutz and R. A. Vesey, ‘High-Gain Magnetized Inertial Fusion’, Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 108, no. 2, p. 025003, Jan. 2012, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.025003.

[2] D. E. Ruiz, P. F. Schmit, D. A. Yager-Elorriaga, C. A. Jennings, K. Beckwith; Exploring the parameter space of MagLIF implosions using similarity scaling. I. Theoretical framework. Phys. Plasmas 1 March 2023; 30 (3): 032707. https://doi-org.iclibezp1.cc.ic.ac.uk/10.1063/5.0126696

Applications 

Email Nikita Chaturvedi: nc1613@ic.ac.uk

Achieving the ambitious objectives of nuclear fusion power requires addressing important material challenges, including the understanding of chemical redox reactions and their impact on power plant integrity/maintenance, and tritium retention and recovery from waste. Previous research has identified risks from the oxidation of plasma-facing materials, with a significant impact on the operation, maintenance, and safety of a commercial fusion reactor. Experimental research is currently being performed in the Materials Degradation and Sustainability Group, delivering new insights into the oxidation kinetics and nature of the oxidation products of plasma-facing alloys. This project aims to complement this experimental work, by developing an electrochemical permeation procedure that can provide new insights into the interaction of hydrogen-isotope with the oxide layer of plasma-facing materials. Additional electrochemical hydrogen charging and thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) will also be used to study the synergistic effects of hydrogen charging/release and oxidation process.

Applications 

To apply, please visit Summer research placement | Research groups | Imperial College London for further details.

Tungsten is one of the main plasma-facing materials because of its excellent high thermal conductivity, low erosion rate, low fuel retention, and low neutron activation. However, the oxidation of tungsten occurs at a very low partial pressure of oxygen, causing significant loss of first wall materials and potential dispersion of tungsten oxide in the form of sublimated gas molecules or dust spalled off from the oxide scale. This can in turn have a detrimental impact on the operation and the sustainability of the reactor.  Recent modelling work has shown that one of the tungsten oxide phases (WO2) could act as a tritium barrier [1], which will impact the tritium retention of tungsten-based components. Therefore, it is important to understand the microstructure of the tungsten oxide scale (oxide phase formed and morphology) and the effect of alloying elements on metal oxide nucleation and growth processes under controlled environments and temperature conditions. The Centre for Infrastructure Materials has acquired state-of-the-art simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) equipment to gain new insights into materials oxidation. In this project, the student will conduct oxidation experiments using the STA with post-oxidation analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy on W and W-based shielding materials (WCx, WBx).

Applications 

To apply, please visit Summer research placement | Research groups | Imperial College London for further details.

High energy neutrons produced by fusion reactions cause severe damage to materials. They can knock atoms from their lattice positions, generating a vacancy in one lattice site and an interstitial defect elsewhere, and can cause transmutation events to occur, where an atom is transformed into a different element type. These defects can then migrate, cluster, and interact affecting the properties of these critical components. SiC/SiC composites are used in Kyoto Fusioneering’s SCYLLA and General Atomic’s GAMBL blanket designs where they are exposed to this challenging environment. SiC is also being studied by UKAEA Materials Science and Engineering. Understanding the behaviour of both of these kinds of irradiation defects in neutron irradiated SiC is an active area of research. In particular, little is known about the behaviour of Al produced from transmutation in neutron irradiated SiC.

In this project, the student will use a Universal Machine Learning Interatomic Potential (UMLIP) on a high-performance computing system to produce a first-of-its-kind study of the evolution of aluminium atoms produced by transmutation in irradiated SiC. UMLIPs are a state-of-the-art potential that enable accuracy approaching first-principles approaches with orders of magnitude lower computational cost with the advantage that they cover much of the periodic table. The student will first benchmark results against previous first principles calculations, and then conduct a larger scale simulation of irradiation damage evolution with Al transmutation products. The results of this study will help predict how this changes the performance of SiC composites in a breeder blanket. These computational results will also help interpret experimental work being undertaken at UKAEA.

Over the course of this placement, the student will develop advanced computer simulation skills, gain experience with machine learning methods for atomic simulations, and develop a detailed understanding of fusion-relevant radiation damage. They will also learn about fusion power station blanket engineering requirements, skills which have been highlighted by the Fusion Industry Association Workforce Report. During the placement, they will be supervised by a PDRA (Colleen Reynolds) at Imperial College London, developing their own line management and training skills whilst incorporated into the Wenman group in Nuclear Materials exposing them to a wide range of projects in related fission and fusion materials at different length scales. They will paired with a second UROP student studying a similar set of irradiation damage problems in ferritic steels funded by the NEURONE  project and also under the supervision of a UKAEA sponsored PDRA (Ryan Stroud).

Applications 

To apply, please visit Summer research placement | Research groups | Imperial College London for further details.

ART4NDR proposes a transformative paradigm in robotic teleoperation to address critical challenges in nuclear decommissioning. By pioneering a Natural Limb-Based Virtual Interface (NLVI), this project will redefine human-robot collaboration through unparalleled intuitiveness, versatility, and operational flexibility. Unlike conventional systems reliant on physical controllers or restrictive interfaces, the NLVI enables operators to control robotic systems latency-free using only visual gestures derived from natural limb movements. This eliminates the need for physical interaction with traditional human-machine interfaces, reducing cognitive load and enhancing precision in high-risk nuclear environments.

The NLVI’s core innovation lies in its ability to seamlessly decode discrete and continuous motor intentions in real time, empowering operators to execute complex tasks with the fluidity of natural human motion. Furthermore, ART4NDR integrates haptic-equivalent visual feedback by translating robot-environment interaction forces into intuitive visual cues. This breakthrough ensures remote operators can “”sense”” and adapt to physical constraints within nuclear facilities, enabling precise manipulation and situational awareness without direct tactile feedback.

Applications 

Please email Dr Ziwei Wang: z.wang82@lancaster.ac.uk

Tungsten has been widely used in nuclear fusion reactors as the most economical plasma-oriented material. However, pure tungsten has poor oxidation resistance at high temperatures. Tungsten-based composites have been shown to enhance oxidation resistance while offering a diverse range of useful properties.  

This project aims to investigate the additive manufacturing of tungsten and tungsten-based composites (e.g., ceramic particle-reinforced composites with WC) through advanced heat-mass transfer simulations and preliminary sample characterisation. Experimental tests using xBeam equipment, a wire-based direct energy deposition additive manufacturing system, have already been conducted in collaboration with TWI as part of a PhD project. 

Through this funded summer internship, we aim to: 

(i) further characterise the samples (e.g., metallurgical tests to analyse reinforced particle distribution, evaluating interfacial bonding with CuCrZr);

(ii) develop numerical simulations using our licensed software (e.g., Simcenter STAR-CCM+); and

(iii) elucidate the grain refinement mechanisms in additive manufacturing.

Applications 

The University will post the ads online (e.g., the Undergraduate Research Internships website and the Careers and Employability Service), where students can apply directly via the websites:

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/widening-participation/research-internships

https://careersconnect.lancaster-university.uk/unauth

https://hr-jobs.lancs.ac.uk/vacancies.aspx

This project will support development of high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets, by utilising atomistic simulation to quantify the mobility of ions in rare-earth barium cuperate (REBCO) materials that will help understand their response to damage by fusion neutrons.

The advent of high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets has the potential to be transformative for the realisation of fusion energy. The increase in magnetic field from HTS enables the power density of the plasma to be dramatically increased, thereby allowing construction of more economical, compact devices, such as STEP. However, the neutrons ejected from the plasma can damage the HTS materials and compromise the integrity of the confinement. A delicate balance is thus required between ensuring adequate shielding for the magnets and maintaining the maximum field strength for the plasma.

To enable this optimisation it is essential to understand both damage and recovery mechanisms in the HTS materials. Given the complexities around creating the conditions the magnets will endure in an operational tokamak, there has been a greater emphasis on modelling. The PI, Dr. Samuel Murphy, has been at the forefront of these efforts and has developed the only empirical pair potential suitable for classical Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of radiation damage in YBa2Cu3O7. Using this potential he has identified interesting behaviour that suggests that damage creation in YBa2Cu3O7 during existing experiments conducted in fission reactors may be more substantial than under fusion relevant conditions, as well as providing insight into the nature of the defects created by neutrons. In this new project, we will examine the mobility of the point defects created by a neutron impacting the tape as this will control their ability to recombine and the material to effectively heal itself. This is particularly important, as recent experiments suggest that the superconducting properties of tapes damaged at cryogenic temperatures can be at least partially recovered.

Applications 

Lancaster Engineering’s website https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/engineering/

Internships page https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/physics/business/student-engagement/internships/

This summer internship project will develop a micro-tremor compensation system for teleoperated plasma cutting specifically targeting fusion maintenance applications. The system will: 

1. Capture operator hand tremors (0.1-0.5mm amplitude) via EMG signals during remote manipulation tasks critical for fusion component maintenance. 

2. Implement real-time compensation algorithms that generate reverse motion trajectories, significantly reducing cutting errors in plasma-facing component maintenance. 

3. Integrate eye-tracking to lock critical cutting path nodes, prioritising precision at fusion-critical junctions where material interfaces must be precisely separated. 

4. Validate performance through quantitative testing on carbon steel pipe cutting (representative of fusion facility components), measuring surface roughness (Ra value) improvements. 

5. Deliver a software solution compatible with existing UKAEA remote handling systems, requiring no hardware modifications to current fusion maintenance robots. 

This directly addresses UKAEA’s need for enhanced precision in remote handling operations for fusion reactor maintenance, where even sub-millimeter cutting errors can affect component lifetime, contamination control, and overall facility safety. The project leverages human operator expertise while eliminating the precision limitations inherently present in manual teleoperation of fusion-relevant cutting tasks. 

Applications 

Interested students should email applications directly to h.fei1@lancaster.ac.uk with the subject line “HAMMA – Summer Internship Application”. 

1. CV/Resume (2 pages maximum) 

2. Cover letter (1 page) explaining your interest in fusion technology and teleoperation 

3. Brief statement (500 words) on how you would approach the technical challenges of tremor compensation in teleoperation 

Eligibility: 

* Currently enrolled in undergraduate or Master’s programs in Robotics, ME, CS, EEE, or related fields 

* Experience with at least one of: robotics programming, control systems, human-computer interaction, or signal processing 

* UK/EU students with valid UK study visas 

Selection Process: 

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for a 30-minute technical interview with the project supervisor and a Lancaster Intelligent, Robotic and Autonomous Systems Centre (LIRA) representative to discuss their understanding of the project challenges and approach to solutions. 

Fusion reactors use many superconducting materials and tapes, however joining these together is often done using copper in complex shapes. Additive manufacturing has the ability to create geometrically complex bus bars and other connectors from copper, that can reduce losses by controlling the geometry.  

This project will process copper using additive manufacturing, and test the electrical and mechanical properties at cryogenic temperatures, to give the fundamental understanding needed to use these materials in a fusion generator.

Applications 

Email Alexander Goodall: a.goodall@sheffield.ac.uk

The aim of this project is to design, manufacturing and characterization of Cu alloys to optimize their microstructural, mechanical, and thermal properties for use in high heat flux application such as fusion energy reactors. This includes understanding the effects of processing conditions on alloy performance and evaluating their suitability for high-temperature and high-stress environments relevant to fusion reactor components. By experimenting with vacuum casting and additive manufacturing techniques, the study will explore how different cooling rates and solidification conditions impact the microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloys. Through extensive characterization using methods like scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and mechanical testing, including tensile, hardness, and impact tests, the project will determine the optimal manufacturing conditions that enhance the alloy’s performance under extreme thermal and mechanical stress.

Applications 

External students please email Biao Cai: b.cai@bham.ac.uk

The High Flux Accelerator Driven Neutron Facility at the University of Birmingham is a neutron source capable of producing up to 0.9 MeV neutrons at up to 3e13 neutrons/s. Since installation a suite of Monte-Carlo codes have been developed to model the resulting neutron spectra, and the spectra have been characterised. The source is planned for use in a ceramic tritium breeder experiment as part of the UKAEA LIBRTI programme, and has potential for larger-scale tritium generation in support of future fusion power plants with low tritium breeding ratios. Optimisation of the neutron source with different materials and geometries in OpenMC, aiming to maximise the Tritium Breeding Ratio (TBR), would help evaluate the potential of HF-ADNeF as a future tritium breeding facility. Further modelling of a tritium breeding and extraction endstation would also be beneficial. Birmingham researchers have extensive experience on the production of radionuclides and the optimisation of neutron fluxes for medical research, which are ideal for supporting this project.

Applications 

Email project co-ordinator: LJB841@student.bham.ac.uk

SiC/SiC composites have been proposed for a range of applications within both fission and fusion communities. This is due to their excellence strength at high temperatures; chemical stability; low neutron capture cross-section; and, resistance to irradiation damage. 

Modelling work on SiC/SiC claddings, the primary heat transfer surface for accident-tolerant light water reactor fuel has shown the potential for microcracking on the cooler inner surface due to the temperature-dependence of irradiation-induced swelling. This has the potential to impair the components hermeticity. 

SiC/SiC has been proposed as a structural material for fusion breeding blankets as being better able than metals to accommodate operating temperatures of up to 1000 °C and the intense neutron field associated with fusion. The SiC/SiC structure would be armoured by a tungsten plasma-facing surface. There is therefore a need to join the dissimilar materials and to assess the joint under a range of conditions throughout life of the component.  

This project, inspired by manufacturing methods developed in collaboration with Cranfield University, aims to use knowledge and techniques developed by the fission industry to model the critical first wall and blanket of future fusion power plants. The proposed project will held develop the following skills for the fusion supply chain, as detailed in the 2024 Fusion Industry Association ‘Fusion Workplace Report’: 

– “Skills to develop advanced and specialized components for heat management, plasma-facing first wall, and vacuum pumps/chambers”. 

– “Machine learning and digital approaches to engineering design.” 

Applications 

Please contact Dr Thomas Haynes: t.haynes@uea.ac.uk

The latest global developments on nuclear fusion, embodied by results from the National Ignition Facility (NIF – https://lasers.llnl.gov/science/achieving-fusion-ignition) promise near limitless energy. However, they also require high energy tolerant free-form optics that can survive the intense environment in which they will operate. This project will be delivered as a collaboration between the University of Leicester and Zeeko Ltd. (a UK SME specialising in the production of optical polishing solutions for industry) and facilitated by staff who have joint appointments at both organisations. This project will investigate the manufacture of optics with greater precision, durability and laser damage thresholds than are currently possible, contributing to the objectives of an innovate UK funded research programme known as ‘Super-polished Freeforms Optical Systems (SFOS) for industry and nuclear fusion’. This ongoing project includes national and international partners, Thin Metal Films Ltd. (UK), WZW and OST (Switzerland).  

The internship will be undertaken at Space Park Leicester, a world-leading innovation hub at which both project partners are based and the student will work with the industrial and academic team to investigate ways to deliver optics that meet the needs of future fusion reactors. The successful student will learn about high quality optical polishing and metrology systems needed to manufacture and test such optics at unprecedented nanometre tolerances, under the guidance of world leaders in the field. The supervisory team will work with the student to deliver an internship that helps them develop skills needed to accelerate their career. Depending on the student, this could involve challenging laboratory work, data analysis, software development or computer modelling. 

Applications 

Applications can be emailed to am136@le.ac.uk and Guoyu.Yu@zeeko.co.uk initially 

With the promise of near-limitless energy, fusion offers promise as an energy source in daily life on Earth, as well as in space exploration technologies. With events like researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center demonstrating promising space energy technologies such as Lattice Confinement Fusion in 2020, growing research interest in fusion for space sees nuclear fusion technologies increasingly intersect with geopolitics and socioenvironmental considerations. International regulation of nuclear test shapes the use of fusion in spacecraft. A range of confinement schemes have become key to research in the area at space science and fusion energy research; each of which depends on different technologies, materials, and personnel. This convergence of outer space and nuclear geopolitics is clear; what is less well understood empirically or theoretically is how these domains intersect, particularly in the post-Brexit UK context. The life cycle of these materials – from sourcing, through supply chain, into decommissioning and final resting – offer a way into understanding the interrelation of outer space energy technologies with geopolitics.  

The successful student will learn about the fields of research that grapple with these questions: critical resource geography and the energy humanities, where understanding critical minerals, supply chains and life cycle analysis, geopolitics, and socioenvironmental concerns are core interests. The project will look at the life cycle and geographies of materials in an technology (selected by the student interest with researcher and expert oversight) of fusion energy practices for space; and seek to understand how fusion energy for space research sits alongside, and in tension with, existing work taking place at SPL and on energy supplies for space missions. This research is within a larger project ‘(Re)grounding Interplanetary Nuclear Fuels’ that takes this approach to the Earthly geographies of a range of different nuclear fuels (in collaboration with scholars at University of Delaware, USA). This project will be delivered by the University of Leicester, and will be based at Space Park Leicester. The project includes archival work (a student visit to the National Archives, London) database construction and analysis, and work with experts in organisations based at SPL. This project will build next generation thinking for the intern on processes, life cycles, international geopolitics that underpins fusion research. The skills developed will prepare the intern with essential skills useful for fusion strategy, project management, and policy development. The collaboration with other UK organisations will also connect the student with industry, highlighting potential career and academic opportunities in fusion.

Applications 

Please email Eleanor Armstrong: ea377@leicester.ac.uk in the first instance for applications; further particulars and contractual organisation will happen through the University of Leicester recruitment platform. 

Lithium plays a critical role in fusion reactors as a breeding material for tritium production and as a potential plasma-facing component in liquid metal divertors. However, securing a stable and sufficient supply of lithium for large-scale fusion power plants poses significant challenges. This project aims to assess lithium resource availability, extraction methods and supply chain strategies to meet future fusion reactor demands.

Applications 

Please email Dr Suneela Sardar: ssardar@lincoln.ac.uk

The purpose of the project is the provide a design based assessment for a sample chamber that that allows to perform corrosion experiments in molten salt environments (eg. FLiNaK, FLiBe, Li) while the samples are simultaneously exposed to ion beam irradiation.  High temperature fusion reactor blankets will improve the efficiency of fusion power stations and generate heat up to 1000°C which can be used in heavy industry or hydrogen production by electrolysis. Coolants such as molten fluoride salts and molten lead-lithium alloys become more corrosive at higher temperatures, and when combined with high irradiation doses found in fusion reactors, makes for an extremely challenging environment for materials to withstand. Hence, a chamber/sample holder to replicate the conditions inside a fusion reactor breeder blanket using a unique irradiation-corrosion experiment would be a unique capability to evaluate performance of fusion materials.  Such design based assessment requires evaluating several parameters to then provide ideal design parameters for constructing such a chamber. The student will learn about fusion-relevant skills like corrosion in tritium breeding materials, radiation damage effects, test rig design, transmutation modelling. This background is extremely is relevant to industry as well (e.g. Kyoto Fusioneering, Commonwealth Fusion Systems) and has near-term benefits for industries like Copenhagen Atomics that aim to build molten salt fission reactors. It will provide the students an opportunity to interact with researchers in UKAEA and irradiation facilities at the universities of Birmingham, Manchester and Surrey.

Applications 

Email Maulik Patel: maulik@liverpool.ac.uk

The candidate will work on developing the sintering process for conventional, highly lithium dense and mixed-phase ceramics to better understand and control porosity of the sintered body. They will characterise the powders using SEM and particle sizing prior to investigating the sintered ceramics using SEM, XRD, EDS and Archimedes to better understand the effect of processing on the final ceramic.

Applications 

Send an email to Professor David Armstrong (david.armstrong@materials.ox.ac.uk) with Pedr Charlesworth (pedr.charlesworth@materials.ox.ac.uk) cc’d with the subject being: Lithium Ceramic Summer Internship 2025 

Raman spectroscopy is an industrially used non-destructive optical method and can be used for monitoring various chemical processes in-situ. Raman spectrometers can be remotely operated, linked by optical fibres, and can come in compact portable devices, making it potentially suitable for robotic inspections or in-situ monitoring of certain components in a fusion device.

This project will utilize advanced Raman spectroscopy capability in the University of Oxford to investigate a range of SiC samples which have been damaged by ion irradiation. The samples are to be provided by Dr. Alex Leide at UKAEA. The purpose of the project is twofold. The first goal is to quantify types of crystal defects caused by ion irradiation which simulates radiation damage expected in a fusion reactor. Secondly, using Raman spectroscopy’s sensitivity to stress, the student will aim to gain a deeper understanding of the evolution of internal mechanical stresses in SiC with different radiation damage caused by ion irradiation. Quantifying crystal damage and mechanical damage during this project will set a basis for a non-destructive technique for remote lifetime monitoring of SiC-based ceramic components in a fusion reactor. This will benefit companies such as Kyoto Fusioneering and General Atomics who intend to use SiC composites in fusion devices, as well as adjacent industries such as fission and aerospace where similar materials are used in demanding environments. The principle of remote lifetime monitoring using Raman spectroscopy could also be applied to other components, especially in the tritium fuel cycle of a fusion power plant. The student will benefit from the technical expertise of scientists at University of Oxford and collaborators at UKAEA, as well as be exposed to many aspects of fusion engineering around the blanket and tritium fuel cycle, gathering skills in demand by the fusion industry.

Applications 

Please email Prof. Dong (Lilly) Liu at dong.liu@eng.ox.ac.uk

High-temperature corrosion in fusion applications is a significant challenge due to the extreme operating conditions, including elevated temperatures, radiation, and aggressive environments. This phenomenon compromises the integrity and lifespan of materials used in critical components such as reactor cores, fuel cladding, and heat exchangers. Significant research efforts are being directed toward developing new structural alloys with improved corrosion resistance to mitigate these risks and prolong the service life of structural components. Progress has been slow as it relies primarily on trial-and-error experiments in extremely high-temperature environments. Predictive models are a viable alternative to assessing the corrosion resistance of structural materials. Developing a virtual tool that can efficiently test multiple potential solutions, materials, and design strategies would significantly accelerate the discovery of next-generation structural materials with better resistance to high-temperature corrosion. Our group has recently developed computational frameworks for predicting corrosion. This project builds upon these frameworks, expanding their capabilities to incorporate synergistic effects of high temperature and corrosion. The enhanced framework will facilitate rapid screening of candidate materials and assist in tailoring more corrosion-resistant materials for fusion applications. An undergraduate student involved in this project will have hands-on experience with state-of-the-art computational models and finite element software packages and perform multi-physics simulations of high-temperature corrosion.

Applications 

Please email: Prof. Emilio Martinez-Paneda (emilio.martinez-paneda@eng.ox.ac.uk) or Dr Sasa Kovacevic (sasa.kovacevic@eng.ox.ac.uk)

This project focuses on leveraging machine learning (ML) to advance the evaluation of fusion materials, accelerating predictions, enhancing accuracy, and optimising the design of critical joint components for fusion applications. The reliability of materials in extreme fusion environments is paramount, yet traditional experimental methods for evaluating mechanical properties are time-consuming and resource-intensive.

By integrating ML-driven approaches with existing experimental datasets, this project aims to develop predictive models capable of rapidly assessing materials and joints behaviour under operational conditions. These models will enable faster iteration cycles in material selection and joint design, ultimately supporting the structural integrity of next-generation fusion power plants.

This internship will provide hands-on experience in ML application for fusion materials research, allowing students to work with cutting-edge datasets, computational tools, and real-world fusion challenges. The project aligns with UKAEA’s mission to accelerate fusion technology and offers a valuable learning opportunity for future researchers in the field.

Applications 

Please contact Dr Tan Sui: t.sui@surrey.ac.uk 

Pursuing fusion as a ‘clean’ energy resource is an important and global endeavour. There are several approaches to this and one approach is inertial fusion energy which typically uses lasers to compress and heat deuterium-tritium fuel in an implosion. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California USA on 5th December 2022 demonstrated this works, achieving the first laboratory measurement of energy gain exceeding unity. There remain many basic physics questions and challenges that are not understood. The need to understand these challenges is fundamentally important and this requires the application of many measurement techniques across a broad range of experiments on many laser facilities across the world. In inertial fusion it is important to understand the role of energetic electrons. Energetic electrons generated by instabilities as a laser interacts with a plasma can preheat the fuel and significantly decrease the efficiency of experiment.

A sub-MeV hard x-ray spectrometer – called the sMBC – is used to record the electron spectrum and the conversion of laser energy into these electrons in a laser fusion scheme known as shock-ignition. You will use Monte Carlo and machine learning software to simulate the Bremsstrahlung radiation spectrum produced by energetic electrons of different energy and temperatures as they interact with different types of target. By comparing the simulated signals with the results from an experiment, and using a machine learning optimisation routine we can learn more of the properties of the electrons generated as the laser and target configuration of an experiment is changed. We are therefore searching for a summer intern interested in fusion, laser-plasma physics and willing to learn about energetic electrons generated in inertial fusion.

Applications 

Please email Xu Zhao: xu.zhao@york.ac.uk

Pursuing fusion as a ‘clean’ energy resource is an important and global endeavour. There are several approaches to this, one approach is inertial fusion energy which at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) uses laser-heated hohlraums to drive an implosion of a deuterium-tritium fueled spherical capsule. NIF achieved the first laboratory measurement of energy gain exceeding unity in December 2022. There remain many basic physics questions and challenges that require the application of many measurement techniques across a broad range of experiments on many laser facilities across the world. In plasma physics it is important (as well as challenging) to understand the role of electric and magnetic fields. Proton radiography is a diagnostic approach that uses a beam of protons to capture a path-integrated image of the electric and magnetic fields of a plasma. We plan to use proton beams to study the fields associated with hohlraum plasmas. A hohlraum is a small metal (usually gold) cylinder that creates a uniform, intense x-ray radiation field when heated by lasers.

Suitable protons beams are created with ultra-intense lasers and, after passing through a plasma, are recorded on stacks of radiochromic film (RCF) to form an image by darkening in response to the energy deposited by the protons. The RCF stack consists of multiple layers with filters placed between the layers forming a spectrometer; the lower energy protons are recorded at the front of the stack. Analysis software, written in Python, extracts the dose spectrum from images of the individual RCF layers, from this we aim to infer the electric and magnetic fields. We are searching for a summer intern interested in fusion, laser-plasma physics and Python to take on this exciting opportunity to learn about proton imaging and apply the technique to understanding the electric and magnetic fields created as high energy lasers propagate through laser entrance holes to, and strike the walls of, a hohlraum.

Applications 

Via https://wripa.ac.uk and Amplifi Partnership website.