UKAEA FOSTER SUMMER INTERN 2026 (ID:13208)

The intern will collaborate with a Space Research Fellow at the University of Leicester, with a focus on geopolitical methods.

With the promise of near-limitless energy, fusion offers promise as an energy source in daily life on Earth, as well as in space exploration technologies. With events like researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Centre demonstrating promising space energy technologies such as Lattice Confinement Fusion in 2020, growing research interest in fusion for space sees nuclear fusion technologies increasingly intersect with geopolitics and socioenvironmental considerations. International regulation of nuclear test shapes the use of fusion in spacecraft. A range of confinement schemes have become key to research in the area at space science and fusion energy research; each of which depends on different technologies, materials, and personnel. This convergence of outer space and nuclear geopolitics is clear; what is less well understood empirically or theoretically is how these domains intersect, particularly in the post-Brexit UK context. The life cycle of these materials – from sourcing, through supply chain, into decommissioning and final resting – offer a way into understanding the interrelation of outer space energy technologies with geopolitics.

The successful student will learn about the fields of research that grapple with these questions: critical resource geography and the energy humanities, where understanding critical minerals, supply chains and life cycle analysis, geopolitics, and socioenvironmental concerns are core interests. The project will look at the life cycle and geographies of materials in an technology (selected by the student interest with researcher and expert oversight) of fusion energy practices for space; and seek to understand how fusion energy for space research sits alongside, and in tension with, existing work taking place at SPL and on energy supplies for space missions. This research is within a larger project ‘(Re)grounding Interplanetary Nuclear Fuels’ that takes this approach to the Earthly geographies of a range of different nuclear fuels (in collaboration with scholars at University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Glasgow). This project will be delivered by the University of Leicester, and will be based at Space Park Leicester. The project includes the potential for archival work (a student visit to the National Archives, London) database construction and analysis, and work with experts in organisations based at SPL. This project will build next generation thinking for the intern on processes, life cycles, international geopolitics that underpins fusion research. The skills developed will prepare the intern with essential skills useful for fusion strategy, project management, and policy development. The collaboration with other UK organisations will also connect the student with industry, highlighting potential career and academic opportunities in fusion.

You will also need to register your interest here:

Hours and days: 35 hours over 5 days

Start date: Student should be able to begin on the 8th June, although there can be some flexibility.

Duration: Eight weeks in summer 2026

Salary: £4,500 stipend

Duties and responsibilities
To work as directed by the Space Research Fellow, in collaboration with colleagues, to develop a life cycle pathway for materials used in fusion for space research applications:

• Engage with project teams to define project requirements
• Desk-based and archival research as required
• Write up project as a report and produce a poster for the end of project event

Skills and experience

• Predicted degree grade 2:1 or above
• Study programme in geography, international relations, politics, engineering or commensurate programme with two years completed
• Good English language skills
• Must be a UK-based University undergraduate; graduating after September 2026
• Effective oral and written skills in order to communicate effectively with staff and colleagues

Location
University of Leicester, Space Park, 92 Corporation Road, Leicester, LE4 5SP