What if you could work with remarkable people on extraordinary things? What if the end result was something a little bit special? What if your role was mission critical?
For nearly 70 years, AWE has been at the forefront of nuclear weapons research and development. We have a critical mission: to provide the warheads for the UK’s ultimate deterrent – Trident. We also use our unique skills to provide wider UK government with counter-terrorism and nuclear threat reduction solutions.
It takes a special sort of person to work at AWE. What if that person was you?
What to expect on the programme
Materials and Analytical Science at AWE supports the life cycle of warhead components and technologies to ensure the reliability of the UK’s strategic deterrent and national security mission. A nuclear warhead contains a vast range of materials including metals, ceramics, inorganic salts, rubbers, foams, adhesives, high explosives and radioactive substances. Materials and Analytical Science is critical to understanding and predicting the behaviour of these types of materials under various conditions.
As an undergraduate student within the Modelling Team in Materials and Analytical Science, you will get the opportunity to work in an exciting part of AWE through projects which may include working on a range of models and codes, utilising several coding languages, helping deliver our mission.
We are interested in applications from candidates working towards a degree in Mathematics, Physics or Computer Science as well as Materials Science or Chemistry students who can demonstrate strong maths or programming skills. Most importantly we are looking for enthusiastic individuals keen to get involved and work on interesting research and tasks. The Modelling Team work on the full model development lifecycle. Some of the projects you may get to work on include:
- Working with other Materials and Analytical Scientists to characterise material ageing processes, proposing approaches to model the observed trends
- Using a variety of statistical techniques to analyse experimental data
- Writing, developing and running codes written in a range of languages (g. MATLAB, Mathematica, OpenFOAM and R)
- Utilising computational techniques for parameter optimization
- Verifying and validating codes by identifying suitable test cases, determining analytical solutions where appropriate
What behaviors you’ll have
You will possess the following traits and qualities:
- Growth Mindset; You’re full of grit and determination. Clear where you are going and how you will get there.
- Curious; you’re a person who loves to think outside the box. (You’re a person who loves to take the box apart!).
- Innovative; you’re open to learning about new technologies and ground-breaking ideas.
- Resilience; you’re an advocate of ‘speaking up’ for yourself and others openly and constructively.
- Team Worker; you’re dependable and reliable. You’re interested in collaborating with and supporting others.
Location
You will be based at Aldermaston, nr. Reading, Berkshire
What you’ll get
- We offer all undergraduate students a salary of £20,500
- A market leading contributory pension scheme
- Generous holiday entitlement
- Excellent work/life balance
- 9-day working fortnight. This means you get every other Friday off work.
Alongside these benefits you will get the opportunity to learn from some of the top leaders in their field.
Starting dates and process
Undergraduate Placement Induction will be on 5th August 2024, please avoid taking leave during this period if you are successful. This role is offered on a 12 month contract.
We recruit on a rolling basis which means as soon as our positions have been filled, the scheme will close to new applications. So, please apply as soon as possible to avoid missing out!
Candidates must be willing and able to obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance for the role. Please note that you must be a British National to apply for a role with us.
Our ambition is to create workplaces where we recognise and celebrate differences, encourage diverse contributions and our employees feel able to be themselves at work. We strive to create a genuine culture of openness and inclusion and encourage diverse applicants.
Any inclusion information you provide us will be used to encourage and support you through the application process and will be held only for this purpose in accordance with GDPR.
