COST Action PROBONO (CA21128) organizes supported internships for MSc students, PhD candidates or early PostDoc, to obtain hands-on experience in laser systems, various diagnostics and experiments at different types of laser facilities collaborating with the Action.
For July 2024 there is oportunity to suppport interships of two-weeks duration at CLPU/Spain or IPPL/Greece.
The applicants for the internship should affiliated to a legal entity in Full/Cooperating Member, Near Neighbour Countries (NNC) or European RTD organisation, different from the country of hosting institution. See at https://www.cost.eu/Country_Organisations_Table
Select the tab with the intership you are interested in for more details
Internship at CLPU, Salamanca, Spain, for July 2024
Contact person for the internship: Carlos Salgado López (
Please contact responsible persons at your earliest convenience.
Description:
The Spanish Centre for Pulsed Lasers (CLPU) is a public research facility within the roadmap of Singular Scientific Facilities of Spain. Its petawatt-class laser VEGA 3 is open for competitive access users since 2019.
CLPU is offering an on-site training for young scientist and students on the field of ultra-high intense laser interaction with plasmas, actively participating in a real experiment at the facility. In the proposed training activity, the PW system will be used to accelerate protons and then to select their energy by preserving its time duration, which is a critical parameter for proton-probing experiments, especially in the study of nuclear fusion plasmas. To achieve this, the output beam will be characterized in terms of energy and time duration using various diagnostics. The candidates will be experimentally trained and specialized in the numerous detectors set required, including laser metrology (laser focal spot characterization and pulse duration measurement) and particle diagnostics (time-of-flight detectors, magnetic spectrometers, radiochromic films and plastic scintillators).
The offered training activities, can be organised in two weeks within the experimental campaign duration.
The grant offered to the intern will be a maximum of 1500€. The applicants for the internship should affiliated to a legal entity in Full/Cooperating Member, Near Neighbour Countries (NNC) or European RTD organisation, different from the country of hosting institution.
Campaign dates: 1-26 July 2024
- Setup preparation 1-5 July 2024
- Experiment 15-26 July 2024
Internship at IPPL/HMU, Rethymno, Greece, for July 2024
Contact person for the internship: Ioannis Fitilis (
Please contact responsible persons at your earliest convenience.
Description of internship
This internship focuses on the first phases development of a novel experimental setup for laser-driven ion acceleration in the near-critical density regime (NCR).
Optical tailoring of the high-pressure gas jet targets could be performed by ns multiple laser pulses produced blast waves (BWs). This short living dense target could be further irradiated by the super-intense laser pulses of the 45 TW Zeus laser system of the IPPL to accelerate ions/protons by the Magnetic Vortex Acceleration mechanisms. State-of-the-art simulations show the capability of proton acceleration well above 10 MeV. This will provide high repetition rate (HRR), debris-free proton sources in contrast to target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) or other laser-driven acceleration mechanism on solid targets. This proton source will give a great advance in several applications such as hadron therapy and fusion studies based on proton fast ignition. The current internship concerns the first stages of development of the experimental setup.
Key Responsibilities:
- Assist in the alignment and synchronization of multiple laser beams.
- Assist in the development and implementation of optical probing imaging diagnostics.
- Assist in the conducting preliminary tests to verify the alignment, synchronization, and functionality of the setup
- Documentation: Maintain detailed records of alignment procedures, synchronization settings, diagnostic setups, and test results.
- Collaboration: Work closely with senior researchers and team members to achieve project milestones.
Required Skills:
- Physics Knowledge: Basic understanding of laser physics, plasma physics, and optical diagnostics.
- Technical Skills: Experience or willingness to learn experimental setup techniques, especially related to laser alignment and synchronization.
- Analytical Skills: Ability to assist in data collection and analysis using relevant software tools.
- Attention to Detail: Precision in documentation and experimental procedures.
- Communication Skills: Effective written and verbal communication in English for collaborative work.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Prior coursework or experience in experimental physics or engineering.
- Familiarity with laser systems and optical diagnostics.
- Interest in pursuing further studies or a career in plasma physics or related fields.
Learning Outcomes:
- Gain hands-on experience in aligning and synchronizing complex laser systems.
- Develop skills in advanced optical diagnostics and imaging techniques.
- Understand the challenges and solutions in setting up high-precision experiments.
- Enhance collaborative and communication skills within a research environment.
Dates, duration, financial support
The internship could be run from July 1st to the end of July and can host one or two interns. Interns are required to commit to a minimum stay of two full weeks. The specific objectives, responsibilities, and outcomes of the internship will be tailored based on the timing and duration of intern's participation.
The COST Action CA21128 PROBONO provides a grant of 1500€ to the intern which should cover travel, accommodation, meals and any other expenses of the intern. The applicants for the internship should affiliated to a legal entity in Full/Cooperating Member, Near Neighbour Countries (NNC) or European RTD organisation, different from the country of hosting institution.
Interns are responsible for ensuring their health insurance, as well as liability and accident insurance coverage, for the entire duration of their stay. They must provide the host with the relevant documentation before the start of the internship.
How to apply
Interested candidates should send an e-mail to
