Research Associate School of Materials

Closing date : 07/01/2014
Reference : E&PS-03718
School / Directorate : School of Chemical Engineering & Analytical Sciences
Division : Chemical Engineering
Employment type : Fixed Term
Duration : 23 months
Location : Sackville Street, Manchester
Salary : £29,541 to £34,223 per annum
Hours per week : Full time

Project title: Characterisation of irradiation induced defects in materials by means of advanced scattering and diffraction techniques

An opportunity has arisen for a well-qualified and highly-motivated individual to join the UK’s preeminent Zirconium research group, led by Prof. Michael Preuss, within the University of Manchester’s Materials Performance Centre as well as becoming part of a US-UK collaboration on studying irradiation damage in GEN-4 material.

You will contribute to two research activities. Firstly, the individual will become a member of the Zirconium research group and focus on mechanistic studies of deformation mechanisms as well as irradiation induced creep and growth in Zr alloys used for encapsulating nuclear fuel. Secondly, they will become a member of a large-scale UK-US team engaged in an ambitious research project in the area benchmarking heavy ion irradiated material against high dose neutron irradiated material for GEN-4 application. The overall aim of this project is to identify to what extent heavy ion irradiation can be employed as a surrogate for long term and very expensive neutron irradiation. This is of particular importance when developing materials for GEN-4 applications where testing material to expected irradiation levels could take 10 years for an individual sample when using fast neutrons.

The key experimental tasks for the candidate will be to employ diffraction techniques, such as synchrotron x-ray diffraction, to analyse dislocation densities by peak shape analysis, scattering techniques for void formation and the combination of diffraction, digital imaging correlation based strain analysis and mechanical loading for characterising material strength in thin irradiated layers. For more information about the world-class facilities in Manchester please visit:

http://www.materials.manchester.ac.uk/our-research/facilities/

You will undertake key experimental and characterisation work on the project, and be expected to analyse and disseminate these results both within the Zr group, UK-US consortium, and through conference papers and journal publications. The post-holder is also expected to become a key member of the MPC, making significant contributions to its continued success, and playing an active role in areas such as student supervision and wider development of experimental methods and techniques within the group.

You will require a first degree (BSc/Eng or MSc) or equivalent, and a Ph.D. (or equivalent experience) in materials science, mechanical engineering or a related subject; sound knowledge of metallic materials; use of diffraction techniques and understanding of electron microscopy imaging; the ability to handle large data sets and scripting languages like MATLAB and/or Python; excellent communication skills across a range of media; well-developed interpersonal skills to work effectively with a wide range of people, including staff and students at all levels, and as part of a team.

Informal enquiries

Informal enquiries can be made to Professor Michael Preuss,

Email: Michael.preuss@manchester.ac.uk

Telephone: 0161 306 3601

The University of Manchester values a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

Further particulars including job description and person specification are available on the University of Manchester website - click on the 'Apply' button below to find out more.

Subscribe to Current Government Vacancy by Email