Heat and Mass Transfer R&D Engineer

As a mechanical research engineer for the R&D of novel detector cooling solutions you will become part of a new R&D team in the EP-DT-DC section, responsible for the development of new detector cooling solutions.

Your field of activity will be especially related to the study of the heat and mass transfer properties of CO2 flows in small channels, in both super-critical and sub-crititcal conditions.

Your responsibilities:

• Collaborate with your supervisor at the definition of short-term and mid-term R&D strategies.
• Personally run experiments on existing dedicated high quality facilities.
• Process and analyse data.
• Assist students occupied on specific measurement campaigns, instructing them to the use of the facilities, supervising their daily work, and supporting them in data processing and analysis.
• Propose upgrades of the test rigs whenever needed, and manage their implementation.
• Report to your supervisor progresses and issues, and discuss results being produced.
•  Actively participate in a weekly meeting gathering the whole team, where issues and progresses from all different activities are discussed.
• Present R&D results in both international conferences and local seminars.
• Serve as main author of scientific publications targeting Q1 specialized international journals.

Your profile:

• Proven experience in operation of test facilities for heat and mass transfer measurements.
• Good understanding of the specificities of CO2 as refrigerant fluid.
• Knowledge of NI Labview.
• Familiarity with languages and software used for data analysis (e.g Python, MatLab, etc.).
• Familiarity with the physics of fluids in supercritical state.

Skills:

• Analytical mind but open to new ideas.
• Hands on, at ease in operating test rigs based on pressurized circuits and modifying them if required.
• Good knowledge of heat and mass transfer physics in single-phase and boiling flows.
• Working in autonomy, accountability and commitment.
• Ability to write scientific reports and papers.
• Adaptability to rapid changes of plans.
• Good team working capabilities.
• Spoken and written English or French, with a commitment to learn the basics of the other language.

Eligibility criteria:

• You are a national of a CERN Member or Associate Member State.
• You have a professional background in Mechanical engineering (or a related field) and have either:
  • a Master's degree with 2 to 6 years of post-graduation professional experience;
  • or a PhD with no more than 3 years of post-graduation professional experience.
• You have never had a CERN fellow or graduate contract before.

Job closing date: at 23:59 CET.

Contract duration: 24 months, with a possible extension up to 36 months maximum.

Working hours: 40 hours per week

Job flexibility: Fully Onsite

Target start date: 01-February-2026

Job reference: EP-DT-DC GRAP

Field of work: Mechanical Engineering

Benchmark job: Mechanical Engineer

What we offer

• A monthly stipend ranging between 6287 and 6911 Swiss Francs per month (net of tax).
• Coverage by CERN's comprehensive health scheme (for yourself, your spouse and children), and membership of the CERN Pension Fund.
• Depending on your individual circumstances: installation grant; family, child and infant allowances; payment of travel expenses at the beginning and end of contract.
• 30 days of paid leave per year.
• On-the-job and formal training at CERN as well as in-house language courses for English and/or French.

About us

At CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, physicists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe. Using the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments, they study the basic constituents of matter - fundamental particles that are made to collide together at close to the speed of light. The process gives physicists clues about how particles interact, and provides insights into the fundamental laws of nature. Find out more on

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