Company description

Enabling fossil-free solutions that drive society forward - that's our purpose. We are looking for talented students to help us on our journey towards decarbonization. Writing a thesis at Vattenfall gives you a unique opportunity to contribute to our purpose.

About the role

About the thesis

The work will be supervised from the Digital Inspection group at Vattenfall Reseach & Development based in Älvkarleby (1 hour north of Uppsala). Here, a group of about 10 people work who have cutting-edge expertise in the field of digital inspections for the Vattenfall organization. The area includes drones, robotics, sensors and communication, etc. The group has a wide network of contacts both within and outside Vattenfall, which will come in handy in this degree project. The thesis work is conducted in close collaboration with the nuclear power plants Forsmark and Ringhals. Site visits are included as part of the task and the work involves travel to Älvkarleby if you start from Solna.

The use of robots and drones is a natural part of many industries, and helps, for example, to reduce risks to personnel and remove dangerous / heavy work steps as well as to increase quality and productivity. The technology has also begun to be used in the nuclear power sector, but since safety is always our first priority, the road to fully implemented use of robots and drones is a little longer than in conventional industries. Both in Sweden and internationally, there are pioneers who have succeeded to varying degrees in implementing the technology, and by building on these experiences, it is possible to increase the use of robots and drones more quickly.

One way to increase the use of robots and drones is to learn from each other's experiences. This is done, for example, in various international cooperation groups within the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). Vattenfall has been commissioned by the IAEA and NEA to conduct a study to collect and draw conclusions from various national and international actors who, to varying degrees, use robots and drones in their operations.

The assignment involves interviewing a number of national and international actors with experience from the use of robots and drones. The information will be summarized and structured based on, for example, the area of use, the type of robot / drone and sensor / sensors used, what preparatory work / planning has been carried out, the results of the work, lessons learned, etc. Based on the information collected, conclusions will be drawn on how the use of robots and drones can be increased in the nuclear power industry. The information collected in the thesis may be included in a future publication within the IAEA. The final design of the thesis in terms of deepening is done in collaboration with the student and the examiner, based on the requirements of the current education program

This assignment is considered to be for one student doing a 30p thesis or two students doing a 15p thesis.

Requirements specification

Your profile

We are looking for you who want to work towards fossil freedom and who will soon graduate from your academic studies. You are also someone who identifies with our principles: Active, Open, Positive and Safety, and looks forward to the challenge of connecting with international stakeholders and building networks. Suitable educational program can be for example STS, Energy Systems, Electrical, Mechanical, Engineering Physics and others. This thesis has largely international elements, which is why good knowledge of English, both spoken and written, is a prerequisite. The thesis must be written in English.

Further information

Further information

• The assignment starts: 2026-01-15 or by agreement
• Location: Älvkarleby/Solna
• Application - a file with your CV and a copy of your grades.
• Last day to apply is 2025-10-12.
• Contact person and supervisor at Vattenfall: Anders Lindström, anders.lindstrom2@vattenfall.com, 070-600 15 18

Diversity and inclusion - in everything we do

We are convinced that heterogeneous teams can outperform homogeneous teams. But we can only unleash and use the power of diversity when everyone feels included. Read more about our important work with diversity and inclusion https://careers.vattenfall.com/se/sv/jobba-med-oss/mangfald-inkludering

About Vattenfall

At Vattenfall, we are committed to enabling fossil freedom. To succeed, as one of Europe's largest energy companies, we must first become completely fossil-free ourselves. But that is not enough. To contribute to a fossil-free society, we need to do more than just focus on sustainable energy production.

Because we are convinced that we need to enable fossil freedom, we need to look at the challenge from a broader perspective than just producing energy in a sustainable way.

Join us on the road to fossil freedom.

As Vattenfall is part of the Swedish critical infrastructure, many of our services are classified. This position is classified, which is why final candidates may be subject to a special security clearance that is in accordance with the Security Protection Act.