Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, 2023-2024

Job description
*************
The unit of Materials Engineering is looking for 1-3 trainees/research assistants to assist in various research projects carried out in the Solar Energy Materials and Systems research group. Broadly, the available topics are:

• Developing durable and recyclable encapsulants for emerging solar cell technologies
• Developing flexible and transparent conductive layers for solar cells
• Stability testing of solar cells and solar cell materials
• Computational modelling of perovskite solar cell degradation due to reverse-bias conditions
• Optimising outdoor data collection for solar panels

As a trainee/research assistant, you would be working on one of such projects under the guidance of the group members. The exact work duties will be tailored according to the background and interests of the applicant, as well as the needs of the different research projects. The report of your work can be used for instance as a bachelor’s or master’s thesis. Internship positions are intended for those who have no earlier work experience at the department and are in the middle of their studies. The research assistant positions are for candidates that have basic working skills related to these research fields, and tasks and responsibilities can be tailored accordingly.

Required basic skills for a trainee
****************************
The applicant should have completed basic 1^st year bachelor’s studies in materials engineering or related field such as chemistry or physics. You should have good written and spoken English skills since you will be working in an international research environment. Understanding Finnish is an advantage, but not required. A successful applicant has a good study record, genuine interest in the topic area, willingness to learn new things, and good teamwork skills.

Required basic skills for research assistant 
***********************************
In addition to requirements at trainee level, you need to have prior working experience (more than 2 months) in relevant research tasks or you are at final stages of your MSc level studies.

Applying
********

Applications should be sent by Monday 2nd October 2023 using the electronic form at https://www.utu.fi/en/university/come-work-with-us/open-vacancies 

Please attach your Curriculum Vitae, study transcript, and motivation letter. Please submit your application in English, because it is reviewed by an international recruitment team.

The tasks are aimed at basic degree students of materials engineering (or a suitable field, e.g. chemistry or physics) who are enrolled in a Finnish higher education institution.

Duration: 2-6 months. The duration of the contract can be correspondingly longer if the work is done part-time (e.g., 50% during 1.1.2024-30.04.2024 to prepare a bachelor thesis).
Note: Starting date can be adjusted (between 1.10.2023 -1.1.2024)..

Salary:

Salary for a trainee: 1331 euros/month 

Salary for a research assistant: 2100 euros/month 

For more information, please contact Aapo Poskela (aapo.poskela@utu.fi) and HR specialist Sarian Kotka (sjkkot@utu.fi). 

More information about the Faculty of Technology: https://www.utu.fi/en/university/faculty-of-technology and the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: https://www.utu.fi/en/university/faculty-of-technology/mechanical-and-materials-engineering 

Follow materials engineering unit in social media: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/materials-engineering-utu/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mateng_utu/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/mateng_utu).