Junior Research Engineer

Role Description

The R&D Codes and Methods department at newcleo is seeking a Thermal-Hydraulics Research Engineer to support the Verification and Validation (V&V) of system-level scientific computing tools, with a strong focus on comparison against experimental results from the company’s extensive R&D experimental programme.

The Junior Research Engineer will work in a research-driven environment, developing and applying state-of-the-art thermal-hydraulics models and methodologies for liquid metal-cooled fast reactors. This position involves close collaboration with other research staff, experimental teams, and engineering units.

The R&D group in Codes and Methods supports the development of computer codes, physical correlations and nuclear data, methodologies, and engineering applications for criticality and shielding, reactor design and safety studies. The successful candidate will work jointly with other research staff to apply knowledge, practices and techniques to the existing methodologies used for reactor studies. The group operates in the areas of reactor physics, transport theory and neutronics, reactor thermal-hydraulics and heat transfer, two-phase flow, and instrumentation physics.

Main activities

• Conduct V&V and uncertainty quantification for system thermal-hydraulic codes
• Support the experimental campaign through pre- and post-test simulations
• If needed, carry out experimental data analysis
• Prepare and review technical reports, scientific communications, and presentations
• Engage in collaborative research projects
• Support engineering teams on technical activities.

Desired qualifications

• Master’s Degree in relevant domains (Nuclear Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, etc).
• Fluent English, with Italian or French as optional languages
• Solid understanding of single-phase and two-phase thermal-hydraulics and heat transfer for nuclear applications
• Strong familiarity with system thermal-hydraulics codes (e.g., RELAP5, CATHARE, ATHLET)
• Working knowledge of additional tools such as CFD (e.g., STAR-CCM+, ANSYS FLUENT, ANSYS CFX, OpenFOAM, code_saturne), neutronics codes, or severe accident analysis codes is beneficial but not strictly required
• Experience on experimental data analysis and code validation/benchmarking
• Familiarity with liquid metal coolant technologies is a plus
• Proficiency in Python (or similar programming languages) for data processing, scripting, and tool development
• Scientific mindset in approaching new tasks