PhD Candidate in Control Systems Nuclear Reactors on Ships

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Video: About the position We invite applications for a PhD research position in nuclear reactor control.

The work will be embedded in the SFI - SAINT project Sustainable, Applied and Industrialized Nuclear Technology, which supports the launch of 2-3 nuclear powered demonstration ships in the early 2030s. Within the SAINT project, you will work in Work package 5.

Controlling a nuclear reactor on a ship presents a fundamentally different challenge from controlling a land-based plant. A shipboard reactor must respond to a continuously varying electrical and propulsion load, driven by weather, sea state, maneuvering demands, and onboard consumers, while maintaining safe and stable operation within tight physical and regulatory constraints. This requires integration between the reactor control system and the ship's power management system, coordinating responses across timescales that range from slow thermal transients to rapid load swings during berthing or heavy seas.

In this position, you will develop and implement modern control strategies for a shipboard nuclear reactor, with a primary focus on the interface between reactor output and the ship's overall power demand. This work will be carried out on a nuclear reactor simulator, with the possibility of validating results on a physical non-nuclear test system. You will design control algorithms that handle the full range of operational states, from steady cruising to rapid load changes and emergency scenarios, and ensure that the reactor and ship-side power systems behave as a coherent, stable whole rather than two independently optimised systems.

The position is part of a broader interdisciplinary effort within SAINT, and you will collaborate with researchers working across nuclear engineering, naval architecture, electrical power systems, and maritime operations. The findings are expected to have direct relevance for reactor vendors, shipbuilders, and the regulatory frameworks being developed for maritime nuclear propulsion

Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open up exciting career opportunities? As a PhD Candidate with us, you will work to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a further career in higher education and research, in and outside academia.

Your immediate leader will be the Head of Department.

About the project Naval vessels and polar icebreakers have operated on nuclear power for decades. Nuclear propulsion is emerging as a serious candidate for the decarbonization of deep-sea and high-utilisation vessels in Norway and internationally, offering greater energy independence, higher sustained speeds, and extended range compared to conventional fuel-based propulsion. International bodies are actively establishing the frameworks that will govern the civil use of nuclear propulsion and the foundational engineering knowledge is being established right now.

SAINT (Sustainable, Applied and Industrialized Nuclear Technology) is a research project investigating the use of nuclear propulsion for commercial and specialist maritime vessels and aims at launching 2-3 demonstration ships in the early 2030s. SAINT addresses the technical, safety, and operational challenges that must be resolved before such systems can be responsibly deployed. PhD candidates will be among the people shaping this emergent field. In the intersection of nuclear and maritime engineering qualified engineers and researchers are scarce globally. Candidates who complete a PhD within the SAINT project will be well positioned for careers in nuclear safety, maritime regulation, advanced vessel design, and the emerging commercial nuclear sector.

The project is hosted at the Department of Ocean Operations and Civil Engineering (IHB) at NTNU in Ålesund, a campus with deep roots in maritime engineering and ship design. Around 70 PhD students are at NTNU in Ålesund, roughly 40 of which are in IHB working on ship design, naval control systems and in shipping management. Within the project we are aiming to recruit up to ten PhD students and one or two Post Docs to work in parallel across the core engineering challenges of maritime nuclear propulsion, creating an unusually dense and collaborative internal research environment in which you will collaborate with researchers working across nuclear engineering, naval architecture, electrical power systems, and maritime operations.

The project is carried out in close collaboration with thirty industry partners spanning shipbuilders, reactor vendors, turbine manufacturers, control system developers, classification societies, and maritime operators. A dedicated test center for non-nuclear testing of reactor and turbine systems is under construction, giving SAINT researchers hands-on access to hardware validation at a scale rarely available in academic maritime research.

Duties of the position • Complete the doctoral education until obtaining a doctorate

• Carry out research of good quality within the framework described above
• Academic publications and popular science dissemination
• Participate in the research group
• Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions
• Cooperate with our industrial partners

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

Required selection criteria • You must have a relevant Master's degree in physics, control engineering, electrical engineering, nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering or a closely related field. Your course of study must co