Internship contract for a period of 3 months funded by the EGO Consortium. Applicants should be in their last years of study in Engineering (Bachelor/Laurea triennale in mechanics, or equivalent technical – industrial specialty).
Type of contract
Internship contract for a period of 3 months funded by the EGO Consortium.
Description
VIRGO is a 3 km long gravitational-wave detector is located in Cascina, near Pisa in Italy. It has been built in the framework of a French-Italian collaboration. Today this collaboration involves 19 laboratories and more than 250 scientists from various European countries.
The European Gravitational Observatory (EGO – sito web www.ego-gw.it ) is a Consortium established in 2000 by CNRS (France) and INFN (Italy) with the aim to ensure the operation and upgrade of the Virgo experiment.
Several technologies of various engineering fields are employed in the Virgo experiment: in particular, the entire instrumentation (main optics, laser beams, ‘super-attenuator’ assemblies) are installed under vacuum in order to avoid disturbances due to the residual gas molecules interactions.
In order to reach the required vacuum level, at a pressure lower than 10-8 mbar, exceptionally large chambers have been built and put in operation, equipped with different types of pumping systems specialized for the different phases of the evacuation process (mechanical compressors, cryogenic pumps, ion pumps, getter pumps).
The getter type pumps are constituted by porous surfaces of Ti alloys chemically reacting with the prevalent gas species (1-12, 1-120, N2, 02, …) that are thus caught (pumped). These are particularly suitable for the lower pressure range, with the advantage of being free of mechanical vibrations and intrinsically safe.
In collaboration within the Vacuum team, the candidate will install a Getter pump (Titanium sublimation or NEG) in one station of the Virgo vacuum arms. She/He will activate the pump and then will verify its performances, monitoring the gas composition and pressure, and finally estimate the regeneration time interval.
Requirements
Applicants should be in their last years of study in Engineering (Bachelor/Laurea triennale in mechanics, or equivalent technical – industrial specialty).
English required, european citizenship, no criminal convictions.
Place of work
EGO – European Gravitational Observatory – via E. Amaldi n.5 cap 56021 Loc. S.Stefano a Macerata – Cascina (Pisa) ITALY.
This internship will be carried out in the Vacuum & Mechanics Department in the Vacuum System Area.
Considering the lack of public means of transport to reach the site, it is preferable having a car.
How to apply?
Interested candidates are invited to fill in the Internship Application Form and send it, together with the CV, to internships@ego-gw.it
Further information
For the whole duration of the internship, EGO will pay a gross monthly wage of 500,00 euro and offer the lunch service at its canteen during working days to the student.
Closing date for applications
Until position is filled
Contact
Antonio Pasqualetti, Head of Vacuum & Mechanics Department
Email: antonio.pasqualetti@ego-gw.it
Phone: +39 050 752 338