The Materials Modelling Group at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona is looking for highly motivated candidates for a Predoctoral researcher position to perform a PhD thesis in the area of Modelling for Fusion and Fission Materials.

Framework Summary: The M4F project (European Commission’s HORIZON 2020 Framework Programme for Research, Grant number 755039) has the main goal of bringing together the fusion and fission materials communities working on the prediction of irradiation induced microstructural damage and deformation mechanisms of irradiated ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steels. M4F is a multidisciplinary project, based on beyond the state-of-the-art modelling at different scales, carefully validated by experiments, to foster the understanding of complex phenomena associated with irradiation damage. The ensemble of results should bring the basis for both, reliable predictions of the damage evolution of nuclear reactors and the design of radiation resistant materials.

Position Summary: The task to be developed by the candidate, within the frame of the project, is the study of the atomic-scale mechanisms involved in the mechanical response of nuclear reactor materials under irradiation conditions. In particular, the main objective of the study is the dislocation – ‘grain boundary’ interactions in alloys containing irradiation-induced defects. To this end, he/she will learn atomistic modelling techniques to perform the simulations required. The candidate will acquire a good background in the processes at atomic level responsible for the mechanical properties of metallic materials. The results of the study will be compared with experimental results produced ad hoc by CIEMAT, which is another participant of M4F.

The candidate should have a Master degree in Physics, Materials Science or related areas. The applicant is expected to have good programming skills, especially in Fortran. Good knowledge of spoken and written English is a must.

Applicants should send their CV together with a cover letter explaining his/her interest in the position and two reference letters to:

a.serra@upc.edu and napoleon.anento@upc.edu

The position will be available immediately and it will remain open until a successful candidate is appointed.