Computational Scientist (FTA)

The role is aiming for a starting date of Sept/Oct 2025 & the role can be based at any of the following sites: Culham, Oxfordshire.

This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions.

The Role

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As Computational Scientist, you will play a pivotal role in solving kinetic equations with a specific emphasis on particle-based methods for implementation of collision operators. The candidate will need an excellent knowledge of the mathematics of kinetic theory as well as good software development skills and ideally a knowledge of uncertainty quantification approaches. The successful candidate will work on development of novel collision operator schemes, implementation of these schemes in UKAEA software and evaluation of their performance. This role is a 1-year Fixed Term Appointment (FTA) which will involve collaboration with specialists from the Oxford Mathematics Institute.  

Additional Responsibilities:

• Development of mathematical tools for accurate solution of kinetic equations with a particular focus on tools for modelling collisions. 
• Implementation of developed methodologies in code. 
• Performance of detailed code analysis including evaluation of key performance metrics. 
• Definition of test cases for any new code development. 
• Development of uncertainty quantification schemes for robust prediction. 
• Contribute to reporting results and outreach work within and outside the organisation. 
• Collaborate with national and international partners in evolving codes to exploit peta- and exa-scale systems. 
• Work with academic and commercial partners to evaluate and exploit novel computing architectures for use within the community. 

Essential requirements

• At least a doctoral degree in a computational, mathematical or physical science discipline (or equivalent experience in either a commercial or research environment). 
• Advanced knowledge of the mathematical foundations of kinetic theory. 
• Experience with numerical methods for the simulation of kinetic systems, particularly particle methods.  
• Demonstrable experience of at least one compiled level language (e.g. C++, Fortran, C, Rust) or advanced scripting language (Julia, R, Python) 
• Good experience of the UNIX operating system, particularly the command line interface. 
• Knowledge of modern software engineering practices. 
• Ability to work within a diverse team while also taking personal responsibility. 
• Excellent written and spoken English. 
• Knowledge of uncertainty quantification (UQ) approaches for augmenting simulations. 
• Ability to travel around the UK and Europe for short periods (1-5 days) 
• We encourage presenting your work across the Authority and at external events, including publication. 
• Supporting users in adoption of your outputs. 
• Participation in group events. 

A full list of our benefits can be found here https://careers.ukaea.uk/life-at-ukaea/employee-benefits/

We welcome applications from under-represented groups, particularly individuals from black and other ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and women. Our Executive team, supported by our 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) Partner and Inclusion Ambassadors, actively promotes EDI and takes steps to increase diversity within our organization. We reinforce best practices in recruitment and selection and evaluate approaches to remove barriers to success.

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.