The JRC in Karlsruhe organises a 6-day winter school for students interested in a career in research. Education and training is a priority for the European Commission and therefore an integral part of the EU policy, covered by different funding schemes.
To support this priority, the Nuclear Skills Winter School aims at showcasing general features in nuclear science and innovative activities undertaken by the JRC and KIT. The school will make available JRC’s unique research infrastructure, where students will learn about present and future opportunities in the intersection between science and policy, to receive a comprehensive overview of their careers prospects.
The school is free of charge and requires prior registration. It will take place in person at the JRC in Karlsruhe.
Skills and competences in nuclear are high on the agenda for the new Commission and are falling under the nine JRC priorities 2025–2027, specifically under “EU Competitiveness and Innovation.” Throughout the last years a renewed interest in nuclear technologies became apparent. In light of the geopolitical situation, EU autonomy in various fields is considered a priority, for example, in energy and health.
Meanwhile, in the nuclear field, a skills gap is expected. Already in 2020, 85% of nuclear experts were foreseen to be over 50 years old. This potential loss of knowledge due to the combined effect of staff aging and the low attractiveness of studying nuclear subjects in the last decades could hinder EU innovation and competitiveness. For member states, it is a challenge to attract students and build the future workforce required to retain the expertise in the nuclear field due to the lack of visibility of the variety of nuclear careers and the specificity of the skills involved.
What if we could gather new audiences for a recurring event and showcase to them our expertise and opportunities in a nuclear career?
To do this, we propose a 6-day winter school at the JRC, organised in collaboration with KIT.
Looking at offers for “nuclear schools” available, we realised that important thematic areas of JRC’s Directorate G are barely represented in these offers, specifically in the fields of nuclear safety research and support to standardisation, nuclear science applications, nuclear research infrastructures, and interfacing science and policy.
With this initiative, we want to attract 40 students (BSc/MSc) per year.
Our final aim is to duplicate this initiative in other JRC sites with the first module adapted to the site-specific research highlights and regional partners.
Please click below to register: https://web.jrc.ec.europa.eu/remjrc/screen/meeting/17136/registration-form. Registration will end on Saturday 15 November 2025.
Read more: https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/events/nuclear-skills-winter-school-2026-03-15_en
