PRR Project

Summary

Prospective candidates must, by the date of the upcoming opening, have earned a doctoral degree in Engineering, Physics, Materials Science or related areas. Candidates must have an excellent record of publications in the area of characterization of materials by X-ray and ion beam analysis techniques, capacity to raise project funding and a clear potential to promote and lead research activities in the area of Nuclear Sciences and Technologies. Strong communication skills and proficiency of the English language are required.The candidates will be expected to:1) Develop a strong and independent research career with national and international recognition;2) Develop a research program, which is capable of attracting competitive funding at the national and international level;3) Supervise undergraduate, MSc and PhD students;4) Contribute to undergraduate and graduate (MSc and PhD) teaching programs;5) Carry out other service activities as a faculty member, by interacting collegially and maintaining the highest standard of integrity and ethics.Research on functional materials will enable new production methods and new industrial applications and it plays a pivotal role in the quest for sustainable energy solutions. New materials or new techniques to process them allow the development of materials needed for electricity production and more energy efficient devices and applications while being compatible with a circular economy. The characterization of radiation induced defects is of utmost importance for the maturing of nuclear materials such as those used in fusion reactors.Research will be carried out in the field of Materials Science, developing novel functional materials with the help of experimental techniques based on ion beams and X-rays. The processing of materials with ion beams and the study of ion irradiation damage will also be a focus. This field is a key research line of DECN in the scientific area of Nuclear Technologies and Radiological Protection. DECN needs urgent rejuvenation in this scientific area due to several imminent retirements in the coming years. The hiring of new talented researchers in this field will be essential to maintain the scientific leadership of IST in the field of Nuclear Sciences and Technologies and enhance the competencies in the area of materials modification and characterization. The researcher will be integrated in the Laboratory of Accelerators and Radiation Technologies which is one of the Technological Development Laboratories of IST operated by DECN researchers. The researcher will also be part of the Materials Processing and Characterization Group of IPFN with many years of experience in studying materials ranging from nuclear materials to electrical and optical materials with high importance for devices and structures working in radiation environments. The activities of the Materials Processing and Characterization Group of IPFN focus on the development of materials for extreme environment and range from the synthesis of new materials for fusion and the study of irradiation effects in various crystalline compounds to the development of new functional materials for devices and sensors:http://www.ctn.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/ipfn/mpc.htmlThe researcher is expected to develop both experimental and computational work in these areas and build up an independent research line. The development of advanced computer codes for the analysis of experimental data is another expected research focus. This allows to push the limits of current experimental techniques to meet the requirements imposed by modern device structures which often include complex heterostructures and nanomaterials such as quantum wells.The researcher contracted here, will be integrated into the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Engineering of IST. This will allow a very close alignment between research and teaching activities leading to an education that is based on real world challenges. The researcher is expected to participate in the teaching and supervision of students in particular at MSc and PhD level.