Master 2 Internship: Understanding the Structural Transformations of Inorganic Salt Hydrates for Thermochemical Energy Storage - 5 to 6 months

Joining Mines Saint-Étienne means committing to an institution where science and innovation build a more sustainable future. An institution of excellence where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential and contribute to meeting the challenges of tomorrow.

Ranked among the best engineering schools in France and recognized worldwide, our school, a member of the Institut Mines-Télécom, trains the talents of tomorrow while actively contributing to meeting major industrial, digital, and environmental challenges. With us, you join a community of 500 employees, 2500 students, and participate in an ambitious project: combining academic excellence, cutting-edge research, and positive societal impact.

The Institut Mines-Télécom federates French engineering schools around major industrial, digital, energy, and ecological challenges. With its 8 public Grandes Écoles and 2 affiliated schools, it is the leading public institute dedicated to engineers and managers. Together, we imagine and build a sustainable future, training the actors who will shape the transitions of tomorrow.

At Mines Saint-Étienne, our research centers are the beating heart of our School.

Designed as true innovation hubs, our five Training and Research Centers articulate their expertise around major industrial, environmental, societal, and technological challenges.

Their mission? To imagine the world of tomorrow by combining academic excellence and concrete impact.

Do you dream of a clean, efficient, and sustainable industry? The SPIN center makes it its priority.

Energy, environment, industrial processes… we design systems there to produce better, with less.

The objective? Limit the environmental impact, reduce energy consumption, and boost efficiency.

🔧 In a rapidly changing world, our teams deploy their scientific creativity to support the industry of the future.

And you, are you ready to innovate with us?

🎯 What we expect from you

As a Master 2 intern, you will be at the heart of our training, research, and innovation missions, within the Georges Friedel Laboratory (LGF, UMR CNRS 5307), SPIN Center. In this laboratory, you will combine scientific passion with societal impact. The LGF is a joint research unit of CNRS and Mines Saint-Étienne. It studies the structure, properties, and reactivity of materials, from powders to energy processes. Its strength: linking what happens at the crystal level to process performance.

Thermochemical energy storage stores heat as chemical energy, through reversible solid-gas reactions. Inorganic salt hydrates absorb heat during their dehydration and release it during their rehydration, making them candidate materials for heat storage. Their cycling performance depends on the crystalline structures encountered between hydration states, whose unit cell volume and symmetry can differ significantly.

Ex situ characterizations, before and after reaction, only provide access to the extreme states, not the transformation pathway. This internship will follow the transformation in situ to identify which phases appear, in what order and with what kinetics, and to understand why rehydration may remain incomplete. Strontium bromide (SrBr₂) hydrates serve as a model system; the approach extends to other salt hydrates and other gas-solid reactions.

• You will conduct a literature review on salt hydrates for thermochemical storage.

• You will carry out dehydration/rehydration cycles monitored by in situ X-ray diffraction, under controlled temperature and humidity.

• You will quantify phase fractions by Rietveld refinement (TOPAS, GSAS-II).

• You will link structure and performance (recovered fraction, reaction rate, cycling stability).

• You will report your results in a thesis and an oral presentation, with a possible publication.

Your ability to work in project mode and to dialogue between experimentation, structure, and performance will be essential for success.

🔍 What we are looking for

You are pursuing a Bac + 5 degree (Master 2 or final year of engineering school) in materials science, physics, solid-state chemistry, or process engineering.

And ideally:

· Basic knowledge of crystallography and X-ray diffraction

· Initial experience in materials characterization

· Junior accepted: yes

Your additional assets:

· Aptitude for experimental work and data analysis

· Rigor, autonomy, and scientific curiosity

· Good level of scientific English (B2 minimum)

🌍 Why join Mines Saint-Étienne?

We support each of our employees on the path to excellence, with the conviction that together, we can have a lasting and significant impact on our world.

Joining Mines Saint-Étienne means the opportunity to find:

· A stimulating environment: state-of-the-art experimental facilities, a strong international network (T.I.M.E., EULIST), and human-sized campuses with an urban environment

· Real impact: contract research projects worth €11 million/year, primarily with industrial partners, a scientific culture center, La Rotonde, which has been involved in science mediation for 25 years with over 50,000 visitors/year

· An incomparable quality of life: possibility of teleworking, 75% coverage of public transport costs, financial support for carpooling and cycling, and a social barometer where 83% of employees endorse the quality of work life.

Let's build a more sustainable future, through science, engineering, and meaningful projects.

📩 Apply now!

Application deadline: 01/31/2027

🔗 Application files (CV, cover letter, letter of recommendation if applicable, ID) must be submitted on the RECRUITEE platform:

https://institutminestelecom.recruitee.com/o/stage-de-master-2-comprendre-les-transformations-structurales-des-hydrates-de-sels-inorganiques-pour-le-stockage-denergie-thermochimique-5-a-6-mois

As part of its Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policy, Mines Saint-Étienne is an employer committed to equitable treatment of all applications.

 Additional information

· Desired start date: 02/01/2027

· Internship remuneration according to current regulations, approximately €600/month

· Positions offered for recruitment are open to all, with, upon request, accommodations for candidates with disabilities.

· All applications may be subject to an administrative investigation

· For internal use by Institut Mines Télécom

Selected candidates will be contacted for an interview, in Saint-Étienne or via video conference.

📞 Contacts

· Regarding the job content:
Asma Hasil – Teaching and Research Fellow
Email: Tel.: +33 (0)4 77 42 66 81

· Regarding administrative/HR aspects:

Milica PETKOVIC – HR Manager

Email:   
Tel.: + 33 (0)4 77 42 02 08 

Useful links:

School:

https://www.mines-stetienne.fr/

IMT:

Data protection:

https://www.mines-stetienne.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Informations-des-candidats-sur-les-traitements-de-donn%C3%A9es-personnelles.pdf

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