ITER to open new postdoctoral opportunities

The new recruitment program is open to all post-doctorates from across the ITER Members. The ideal profile is a scientist, experimental physicist, or engineer who has completed a Ph.D. prior to the deadline for beginning the assignment, but not more than three years before the time of application. Specific opportunities will be advertised in the following project unit categories:

• Engineering Design Department
• Central Integration Office (mainly the Integrated Engineering Analysis Section)
• Science, Controls & Operation Department
• Plant Construction Department (Electrical Implementation Division)
• Machine Construction Department (Vacuum Delivery and Installation Section)

The new postdoctoral opportunities are two-year positions.

The program comes in addition to the Monaco-ITER postdoctoral fellowships that are offered at ITER every two years. "One of the frustrations we've had in the past was having to select five candidates for the Monaco-ITER program every two years from among a large pool of superbly qualified candidates to work on a large range of interesting projects," says Tim Luce, head of the Science and Operations Domain. "This meant that, frequently, the ITER Organization could not recruit all the candidates required to address the highest priority projects from the Monaco postdoc program alone."

The new scheme aims at addressing this mismatch. "We know there are highly trained professionals in the Members that can contribute real value by focusing on challenging short-term assignments in high priority research areas for ITER needs. We are also convinced that the time is right to attract the best and the brightest to fusion science and engineering and help increase the pools of trained specialists available to push R&D in the fusion devices of the future," says Alberto Loarte, who leads the Science Division.

A number of postdoctoral opportunities will also be offered in engineering design and diagnostics—a unique opportunity to offer young and talented engineers and researchers the opportunity to acquire the qualifications needed for a professional career in the field of fusion, according to Mario Merola, head of the ITER Engineering Design Department. "There is often a gap between the knowledge obtained by students during their studies, and the experience and expertise that is needed to work effectively in leading-edge fusion technologies. The new ITER postdoctoral opportunity can be instrumental in covering that gap."

"We see it as a win-win situation," says Michael Walsh, head of the Port Plug & Diagnostics Division. "We get to bring in early career professionals to work on our specific research needs, and in return we are helping to train the future leaders in our field. We are very excited to be able to offer these opportunities."  

About 10 positions will be posted this year, beginning in April 2022; candidates can consult the openings on the ITER jobs webpage. New openings will also be advertised across all ITER social media channels.

To promote the opportunity in your institute, download the poster here.