Scientist, Model Validation and Experimental Data Analysis

WHO WE ARE Proxima Fusion is Europe’s fastest-growing fusion company and the continent’s best-funded fusion player, as well as the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP). Backed by over €650M and powered by a growing team across Munich, Zurich, and Oxford, we are developing the hardware and infrastructure needed to deliver the world’s first commercial stellarator fusion power plant.Our concept advances the most mature fusion technology out there, the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, through two next-generation machines: Alpha and Stellaris. Our work combines stellarator optimization, advanced computation, machine learning, and high-temperature superconducting magnets to unlock higher-performance designs that were previously out of reach.Turning these designs into a functioning fusion power plant requires excellence and ownership across every discipline, from physics and engineering to software, manufacturing, law, and business functions.TEAM AND ROLEShape the architecture of the world’s first commercial fusion power plant – Own system-level decisions that determine how a first-of-a-kind energy technology is designed, integrated, and ultimately deployed at scale.Solve some of the most complex engineering challenges in industry – Work across tightly coupled disciplines (plasma physics, magnets, cryogenics, manufacturing, controls, and more) to resolve critical trade-offs and turn cutting-edge science into a functioning product.Build real hardware with a pragmatic, fast-moving team from all over the world – Combine advanced simulation and systems thinking with a strong execution mindset, focusing on practical engineering solutions that accelerate the path to commercial fusion energy.WHY JOIN PROXIMA FUSIONYou will get to work on some of the most complex tech challenges to bring abundant, safe, clean energy to the world.You'll get to join and learn from an exceptional selection of accomplished and driven individuals.Do your life’s best work and enjoy the journey.Get to show that big things are possible in Europe when you assemble the best talent.YOUR IMPACTYou will make Proxima's plasma simulation stack trustworthy by confronting it with reality. Every prediction we make for Alpha – Proxima's Q>1 experimental stellarator – and for Stellaris, our commercial power plant, rests on models whose credibility has to be earned against real measurements from an operating device.W7-X is where we earn it. You will take our integrated modeling framework, FUS3, and our Bayesian plasma state estimation workflow to W7-X data: reconstruct the plasma state from diagnostic measurements, compare our predictive models against what the machine actually did, and turn the discrepancies into a prioritized map of where our physics is right, where it is not, and what we must fix before Alpha's first plasma. Modeling sits on Alpha's operational critical path and cannot be backfilled after first plasma – this role is how we get ahead of it.You will be the person in the group who lives at the intersection of modeling and experiment: fluent enough in the physics to know what a model should predict, and close enough to the diagnostics to know what the data can actually support.WHAT YOU WILL DOValidate Proxima's predictive plasma models against W7-X experimental data – neoclassical and turbulent transport, 3D equilibrium, ECRH deposition, pellet fueling and drift, bootstrap current and iota evolution – and record each comparison as a reproducible validation report with quantitative agreement metrics, stated limitations, and a pinned regression testReconstruct the plasma state from real diagnostic measurements using our time-dependent Bayesian state-estimation workflow (Thomson scattering, interferometry, CXRS, ECE, XICS, bolometry, magnetics), with calibrated uncertainties, and benchmark it against established analyses such as Minerva/IDA reconstructions and ASTRA power-balance resultsWork with raw and pre-processed diagnostic data, not just analyzed profiles – instrument geometry, sightlines, calibrations and the caveats that come with them – and own the forward models, noise models and profile fits that feed transport analysisValidate against databases of discharges rather than single shots, across W7-X magnetic configurations and operating regimes, so the output is a map of model applicability and parameter trends rather than one-off discrepancy reportsAct as a technical interface to W7-X and IPP: scope and prioritize data requests, spend time on site in Greifswald working alongside diagnosticians and operators, and propose and support experiments that directly target our model gapsFeed validation back into design – convert diagnostic placement and observability studies on W7-X into requirements for Alpha's diagnostic set, and into realistic uncertainty models for the synthetic measurements we use to design againstExtend the modeling stack itself: mappers from experimental archives into IMAS, synthetic diagnostics, and analysis workflows, so that interpreting a shot end-to-end – raw data to reconstructed plasma state to physics quantities – runs in minutes and is reproducible by anyone in the groupAs Alpha approaches operation, help stand up the between-shot analysis loop that will run on day oneWHO YOU AREPhD in plasma physics, fusion science, or a closely related disciplineHands-on experience with experimental data from a magnetic confinement device – you have dealt with diagnostics, calibrations, systematic errors, and all the ways real data is messier than simulation outputExperience reconstructing the plasma state from measurements: profile fitting, integrated data analysis, equilibrium reconstruction, or power and particle balance analysisStrong grounding in transport, equilibrium, and heating physics – enough to tell a code bug from a physics discoveryRigorous about uncertainty; you treat a validation claim without error bars on both sides as incompleteComfortable writing and maintaining scientific software – version control, testing, and reproducibility are habits, not overheadCan communicate effectively with physicists, diagnosticians, engineers, and experimentalists, and work productively inside an external collaborationSelf-directed; able to identify what needs to be done and executeWilling to travel regularly to Greifswald, and later to the Alpha siteNICE TO HAVE W7-X experience - operations, diagnostics, or data analysis, and familiarity with the W7-X data archive and MinervaStellarator physics backgroundBayesian inference, uncertainty quantification, or machine learning applied to experimental dataExperience with integrated modeling and transport codes (FUSE, OMFIT, ASTRA, TRANSP, FUSE, JINTRAC, or similar) and with neoclassical (SFINCS, DKES, NEO) or gyrokinetic (GENE, CGYRO, GX, or similar) codesJulia and Python programming – our integrated modeling framework is written in JuliaFamiliarity with the IMAS data modelFamiliarity with AI-assisted development toolsA track record of published validation studies or successful experimental proposalsINTERVIEW PROCESSRecruiter Interview (30-60 min)Technical Screening (30 min)Technical Panel (3x60 min)At Proxima Fusion, our mission is bold: making limitless clean energy a reality. To get there, we need a high-performing, diverse team that brings different perspectives, challenges assumptions, and builds together with purpose. We know that diversity of thought and experience leads to better ideas, stronger execution, and a more resilient team. We don’t look at how you identify, what you look like, who you choose to worship or what ethnicity you are. We care about what you can bring to the table.Find Jobs in Germany on Arbeitnow