Job Advertisement: Expires 1st July 2008

Postdoctoral Fellow - Nordic ALMA Regional Centre Node

Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Job Reference 2008/114

Onsala Space Observatory (OSO), the Swedish National Facility for
Radio Astronomy hosted by Chalmers University of Technology, has
an immediate opening for a postdoctoral fellow in connection with its
newly established European ALMA regional centre (ARC) node.

Background - The ALMA (sub)millimetre array in Northern Chile,
presently under construction, will provide a leap in performance
relative to existing millimetre-wave arrays. OSO and
Chalmers University have a strong involvement in both the science
of ALMA and its technical development. Permanent staff and
PhD students  conduct a wide range of  research in areas  from star
formation  to cosmology. Observational work is concentrated at
radio through submillimetre wavelengths, but observations at optical/
IR and other wavelengths are also pursued. Additionally, theoretical
work is conducted in the areas os astrochemistry, radiative transfer,
and  N-body simulations. Technically, OSO is/has been heavily involved
in ALMA receiver development, water vapour radiometry design, and
the design of the antenna pad distribution. OSO also manages
the 23% Swedish share in the 12m diameter APEX (Atacama Pathfinder
EXperiment) submillimetre wavelength telescope at the ALMA site.

To support the use of ALMA for a wide range of astronomers ALMA
regional centers (ARCs) are being established in Europe,
North America, and East Asia. The European ARC has a distributed
structure with most core user operations (proposal handling,
scheduling, archiving, pipeline data reduction, etc) being
concentrated at ESO headquarters  while face-to-face user support,
most off-line data reduction, development of specialist data
reduction, and local community outreach will be functions provided by
ARC 'nodes' covering  countries or sub-regions within  Europe. A
Nordic ARC node is being established at Onsala  to provide
ALMA support functions to astronomers in the Nordic region (Sweden,
Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Iceland) and in the Baltic
countries.

Job Description - The postdoctoral position is largely funded by the
pan-Nordic funding agency Nordforsk and will run for two years. The
successful candidate is expected to run her/his own astronomical
research programme in an area where ALMA will make a large impact,
and preferably make significant use of APEX observations in preparing
for ALMA operations. Additional support duties will involve helping
the ARC node become ready for ALMA operations. This will involve
testing and becoming familiar with ALMA observing and reduction
tools, providing face-to-face help to initial Nordic ALMA users and
helping in the organisation of outreach for ALMA including workshops.
Establishing research collaborations with potential ALMA users,
especially within the Nordic region will also be encouraged.
The position is available immediately and we hope to fill it
before 1st December 2008 at the very latest.

Requirements - The successful candidate should have a PhD in
astronomy, with a strong research record.  Previous experience in
millimetre or radio astronomy and/or in interferometric imaging would
be strong advantages.

Application procedure -The material included in the application shall
consist of pdf or zipped documents including;

- An application of a maximum of one page containing your specific
qualifications for the position
- Resume/Curriculum Vitae
- Proposed research plan.

The application should be submitted electronically to
[log in to unmask] making reference to the job reference number
(2008/114) inthe subject line. The candidate should also arrange for
two  letters of recommendation from academic institutions and/or
previous employers be sent to the above email address before the deadline.
These should also contain the job reference number in the
subject line and in the main text of the  recommendation.

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