The next stage of your career starts here.

Here, your expertise help produce the neutrons that are driving global science.

Every day, technicians, engineers, scientists and support teams work together to advance research using the world's most intense continuous neutron source.

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Our process

Neutrons for Society

The ILL is unique among European research infrastructures. Our role is to produce exceptionally intense beams of neutrons, which we then make available to the international scientific community. Every year, researchers from all around the world come to the ILL to use our instruments to carry out their experiments.

What they discover thanks to the ILL's neutrons has a far-reaching impact: new medical treatments, more powerful batteries, materials for renewable energy, and a better understanding of our environment.

And behind every neutron, there is an entire Institute at work: women and men who design and maintain the scientific research instruments, support the experiments, operate the reactor, welcome visitors, handle logistics and safety, and so much more. This is the great adventure that we call "Neutrons for Society".

Four job categories, one mission

TO SUCCESSFULLY operate THE ILL, A WIDE RANGE OF EXPERTS NEED TO WORK TOGETHER. NEUTRONS CANNOT BE PRODUCED BY ONE PERSON ALONe. meet the women and men who, together, make science possible.

Scientists

Permanent research scientists, PhD students, post-doctoral researchers: they support our scientific users, conduct their own research programmes, publish their findings and train the next generation of researchers. The ILL is also a place of learning: some scientists start their PhD here and return later on in their career.

Technical teams working on our instruments

Instrumentation engineers, electronics engineers, computer scientists, designers, precision engineers: they help to develop and improve the instruments that make the invisible visible. Each instrument is unique, designed to push the boundaries of what science can observe.

Reactor operators

Operations technicians, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, automation engineers... Together, they keep the heart of the Institute beating. The reactor operates in cycles – each one is a demanding technical challenge. These jobs call for precision, responsibility and a sense of collective pride: without them, not a single neutron would leave the beamtubes.

Support services

Human resources, purchasing, finance, communications, safety, general services... They keep the wheels of the Institute turning. Working in support services at the ILL means helping to create an exceptional scientific environment, both in French and in English.

An international European science campus like no other

The ILL was born from a desire to foster European scientific cooperation, which it continues to epitomise to this day. Our teams comprise dozens of different nationalities, which is why English and French are both spoken on a daily basis at the ILL.

The ILL shares its site, the European Photon & Neutron Science Campus (EPN), with other leading research institutes: ESRF, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility; EMBL, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory; and IBS, the Institute of Structural Biology. Located on land next to the river Isère, the EPN Campus is home to some of the world's leading experts in their fields.

Our values, beyond science

Excellence

The ILL provides the global scientific community with some of the most advanced instruments of their kind. Working at the ILL means using your expertise to serve an internationally recognised facility

and participating, with a justifiable sense of pride, in a collective endeavour.

Collective creativity

At the ILL, no major discoveries are made single-handedly. Ideas are shared, developed and discussed.

Our way of working is based on open dialogue between different departments.

Sense of service

Our job is to facilitate the research conducted by our scientific users. Scientists from all around the world choose the ILL because they can count on our teams, our facilities and our high standards. When you work at the ILL, you can be sure that you are directly contributing to driving major scientific projects.

Health and Safety

Operating a research reactor calls for a safety culture that permeates all activities. At the ILL, staff safety and environmental protection are key requisites for a secure and sustainable workplace.

Knowledge creation

The research conducted at the ILL is at the heart of some of today's major challenges: health, energy, climate, materials. When you work at the ILL, you are part of an effort that goes beyond the Institute itself: that of expanding human knowledge and finding solutions to some of the most pressing issues of our times.

Diversity and mutual respect

Our teams bring together staff from many different countries, speaking several languages and working in a wide variety of roles. This diversity is founded on shared principles: mutual respect, an open mind and consideration for others.

Our commitments

These values are only meaningful if they are embedded in our practices. This is particularly true when it comes to gender equality, diversity and inclusion, three commitments that have long shaped day-to-day life at the ILL and continue to evolve today:

· Gender equality. The ILL has in place a formal gender equality policy, which is overseen by an internal Gender Equality Commission, and it actively works to make its technical and scientific roles more accessible to all.

· Cultural diversity. Our teams include people of many different nationalities, from the Institute's member countries and far beyond.

· Disability and accessibility. The ILL takes active steps to include people with disabilities, with a policy covering recruitment, adaptation of workstations, and individual support mechanisms. The ILL Welfare Officer supports each staff member concerned and ensures that their working environment is adapted to meet their needs.

→ Find out more about our policy on gender equality, diversity and inclusion