UK Solar Physics Newsletter
Valery Nakariakov & Ineke De Moortel, Editors
February 1st 2013
Dear Colleagues,
Here are a few items which have come to our attention since the last
Newsletter.
You can find this newsletter also at the UKSP website:
http://www.uksolphys.org/news/last-15-days/
Ineke ([log in to unmask])
Valery ([log in to unmask])
General News/UKSP Business:
o Call for RAS specialist discussion meetings
o ASTRONOMY GRANTS PANEL 2012
Nuggets
o New EIS Science Nugget for January 2013
o New UKSP Nugget 31. EM maps of a CME seen by SDO/AIA
o RHESSI Science Nugget No. 192: “Kappa Distribution”
Meetings/Workshops/Summer Schools:
o RAS Discussion Meeting: Comets’ Interactions with other Solar System Bodies
o Call for abstract submission to AOGS 2013- ST11: Turbulence, Reconnection, and
Energetic Particles in Solar, Heliospheric Physics and Laboratory Studies
o Call for abstracts for AOGS2013: 10th Annual Meeting
o AOGS 2013 – Session ST02 – Solar and Heliosphere General Session
o AOGS 2013 ST-H Sessions – Sun and Heliosphere
o STFC Introductory Summer School in Solar and Solar-Terrestrial Physics
Jobs/Studentships:
o Solar Orbiter Support Scientist
o Postdoctoral Position in Computational Stellar Astrophysics In Exeter
o Postdoctoral Positions Leeds
o 2 PDRA vacancies in Coronal Seismology at Warwick, UK
Solar News Items of Interest -
http://spd.aas.org/SolarNews/archive/news.html
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* General News/UKSP Business *
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Call for RAS specialist discussion meetings
from Lyndsay Fletcher [January 31, 2013]
The RAS invites suggestions from Fellows of the RAS who wish to propose (and therefore organise) Specialist Discussion meetings for the academic year beginning October 2013.
For information, detailed guidance for meeting organisers may be found at:
http://www.ras.org.uk/events-and-meetings/1747-general-information-about-meetings
Proposals for Astronomy SD meetings should be sent to Professor Martin Barstow ([log in to unmask]), and proposals for Geophysics (including Planetary Science and Solar-Terrestrial Physics) should be sent to Dr Lyndsay Fletcher ([log in to unmask]).
The deadline for the receipt of proposals is 1 April 2013.
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ASTRONOMY GRANTS PANEL 2012
from uksp_sec [January 30, 2013]
Report by the Chairman to Community
Following the pattern of the last two years, here is a short informal
report on behalf of AGP panel members – as ever, official news and
policy statements will come from STFC itself. My apologies that this
report is a little later than last year’s.
KEY POINTS
* The 2012 round was not as badly oversubscribed as 2011 (which
required mitigation through transfer of funds into the round), but
still fiercely competitive, and we were not able to fund all of the
excellent science proposed
* Levels of Investigator time awarded (FEC) are worryingly low, but we
cannot change this without losing considerable RA support
* STFC will be reviewing the Consolidated Grants scheme in 2013
* The next deadline is Feb 13th 2013
BACKGROUND
This was the second year of the new scheme. The community is getting
used to the new process, so we deliberately made no big changes in
policy or procedure. Further down this report, there are a few words
on how the panel feels the new scheme has been going.
GRANTS RECEIVED
This round was not as large as 2011, but still intensely competitive.
We received 27 applications (cf 35 last year). These 27 applications
contained 196 distinct projects, including 170 RA and Technician
posts, and requesting a total of £63M, a factor of roughly 2.5 more
than STFC could afford. As last year, the overbidding factor compared
to existing baseline had a large range, roughly from 1 to 4. So no
sign yet of overbidding calming down!
HOW IT WORKS
We allocated projects to one or more of the sub-panels – Astronomy
Observation (AO), Astronomy Theory (AT), Solar Science (SS), and
Planetary Science (PL). As in previous years, every application had
multiple reviewer reports, and an “Introducer”, who writes an initial
report before the panel meetings, and co-ordinates additional
“Assessor’s Questions”. The sub-panels then met in two sessions -
AO/AT together, then SS/PL together – lasting a total of 5 days. The
AGP chair and deputy chair attended all the meetings. Before the
meetings, all sub-panel members provided initial scores, but only the
chairs saw these. At the meetings, each project was discussed in turn,
and then given a final score and ranking around the table. As you
might expect, when it became obvious that a project was near the
bottom or near the top, discussion was accelerated, so that we could
spend most of the time near the middle – but every project was
considered fully.
A subset of the AGP then met as the “merging panel” for a further two
days. Selected projects were cross-read by members from the other pair
of panels in order to agree matching points in the two initial lists.
This process resulted in a small but definite re-scaling of the
rankings.
The final output from the AGP was a recommended ranked ordering of
projects, which STFC could work down through once they knew their
budget situation. To help us arrive at that ranked list we used, as in
previous years, a scoring system based on the categories mandated
STFC-wide, and explained in the official guidelines. Each category was
scored 0-5, with each possible grade defined by a standard wording
such as “competitive with the best science funded worldwide”. This
temporary scoring system is only used for internal discussion; the
actual result is an agreed ranking order for projects, and
recommendations on overall award components for a group. (Some things
people request cut across projects).
It is important to realise that AGP judged investigator-time-only
cases on exactly the same basis as RA cases – is the science
excellent? Is it clear what the investigator will actually do?
BUDGET and FINANCE ISSUES
The budget situation was similar to the year before. The AGP does not
actually hold a budget; we produce a recommendation based on a ranked
list, and STFC work down this until they run out of money. However, we
are traditionally advised on roughly what STFC expects to have
available, which at the moment is approximately £9M per year of new
commitment, so usually we know very roughly but not precisely where
the funding cut-off will be.
STFC staff have to rely on a frankly inadequate RCUK-wide grants
system, and so do additional manual calculations to actually deduce
the financial consequences of each grant. Calculating the effect of
changes is therefore non-trivial. Nonetheless we achieved our aim this
year of notifying applicants of the outcome in November.
RESULTS
In total we recommended 84 posts, including RAs and Technicians.
Compared to existing holdings, groups obtained roughly level funding
on average. This is better than the 2011 round, where most groups
suffered a 30% cut. The difference is partly because this round had
less demand volume, and partly because groups proposing in 2011 did so
previously at a historical maximum in grant generosity, whereas the
2012 applicants last got funding in a round that was already tougher
than the year before. Based on our absolute quality scores, the
fraction of “world class” proposals we are able to fund has stayed
about the same.
We also recommended 20.9 FTEs of Investigator time. We followed our
published guidelines of recommending 20% FTE on average for a major
involvement in a project, and smaller amounts for secondary
involvements. There were also some successful “FEC only” requests. The
net result was that the recommended Investigator time was on average
24.8% of the recommended RA+Tech time.
At the request of Science Board, we made a careful analysis of results
by science area, geographical area, and facility use. There were no
obvious trends, but we did note that some unsupported or soon to be
unsupported facilities are still popular with researchers! We also
looked at the effect of group size. There is no consistent statistical
effect, but of course at the small group end, simple statistics means
that there is a greater chance of receiving no funding.
This year there were five New Applicant proposals, of which three went
forward to full review and two were funded. Two others were considered
under urgency and one was funded. There were two consortium proposals
and they were both partly successful.
HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING
There was considerable confusion this round over HPC requests,
basically because the DiRAC initiative, which should for the medium
term future satisfy the majority of community HPC requirements, was
only announced after people submitted their grants. AGP reviewed
requests on a case-by-case basis, but tended to be more supportive of
year-1 requests. In the future, the guidance STFC has given AGP is
that use of DiRAC-II should be the expected route for HPC activities,
but AGP has still not received a clear description of the funding
model, so DiRAC time may or may not require explicit funding.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Office for the
latest guidance.
NEXT ROUND
The deadline for the 2013 round is Feb 13th, and of course many of you
are already beavering away towards this. Our schedule is similar to
last year – during April applicants will be replying to reviewer’s
questions; in July and August there will be a chance to respond to
Panel questions; the panel meetings will be in August and September;
somewhere around October the provisional outcome will be discussed by
Science Board; and the results should be announced by November. The
general pattern of sub-panels and meetings will be the same as the
last two years. The categories against which proposals are judged will
be the same as in previous years.
THE FEC ISSUE
Even more than last year, we are keenly aware that the levels of
Investigator time we are able to award is not fulfilling the original
aims of the FEC scheme. On average we award 0.25FTE of investigator
time per FTE of RA time, and for most astronomers this is their only
source of “FEC”. If we had awarded the 0.5FTE level needed to replace
QR, the fall in RA numbers would have been even more catastrophic -
Investigators cost twice as much as RAs. Worse, many research active
staff have not received any support. We must all make very clear to
our University administrations that in the current climate, FEC
support is NOT an indicator of whether a staff member is research
active.
REVIEW OF CONSOLIDATED GRANT SCHEME
We understand that during the coming months Science Board will review
the entire Consolidated Grants scheme. Do be on standby to make
constructive comments. For your information, the points that we have
already made to Science Board were as follows:
(i) Management of expectation. Previously, rolling grants were
oversubscribed by a factor 1.3-1.5, and standard grants by a factor of
6-7. Of course, a large fraction of standard grant applications would
be repeated every year with modifications, so their real
oversubscription was perhaps more like a factor 2-3. The first year of
the new scheme was oversubscribed by a factor 2.5, and this year by a
factor 2.1. So the net management of expectation has shown little
change, but in fact the ex-rolling grant groups have been caused to
overbid by more.
(ii) Research concentration. Large groups have declined by about the
same rate as small, groups on average. Some small groups have failed
to win anything. However, some have won resource, and some new groups
have appeared. There is no obvious net drift either towards or away
from major groups. Of course, it may be simply too early to tell.
(ii) Use of flexibility powers. This will only become clear by the
second cycle, but there is some anecdotal evidence. Large groups are
able juggle money at the margins, but even in these groups this has
limited effect. The behaviour is likely to be very different from PP
groups, because grants are facility exploitation focused and
individual PI-centred, rather than group-project focused. Applicants
take their proposed science plans very seriously; they are not seen as
a kind of convenient fiction to win money.
(iii) Simplification. From the AGP point of view, we have saved
administrative costs – by reducing panel size, by removing applicant
presentations, and by reducing the number of meeting days. However the
burden on panel members has increased. We have maintained the
principle of rigorous peer review of specific proposed science, rather
than, for example having a “light-touch” review of past group
performance. It seems clear that any further simplication/cost saving
can only be obtained by sacrificing that rigorous peer review of
specific science cases.
(iv) Co-ordinated research versus individual projects. The result of
the new scheme has been not so much an expanded rolling-grant like
system, but more like a giant standards grants round, but with the
opportunity to try again next year lost.
Andy Lawrence
Edinburgh January 2013
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* Nuggets *
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New EIS Science Nugget for January 2013
from Deb Baker [January 29, 2013]
Dear all,
We are pleased to announce a new EIS science nugget, “EIS Observations of Solar Mass Eruptions” by Hui Tian (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics).
The nugget can be viewed here:
http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/nuggets/nugget_2013jan.jsp
Best wishes,
Deb Baker
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New UKSP Nugget 31. EM maps of a CME seen by SDO/AIA
from Iain Hannah [January 29, 2013]
31. Emission measure maps of a CME seen by SDO/AIA
by Iain Hannah and Eduard Kontar, University of Glasgow
Mapping dynamical heating in a CME.
http://www.uksolphys.org/?p=5790
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UKSP Nuggets are published on a monthly basis highlighting solar physics research in the UK.
http://www.uksolphys.org/uksp-nuggets
Iain Hannah and Lyndsay Fletcher
http://www.uksolphys.org/?p=5790
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RHESSI Science Nugget No. 192: “Kappa Distribution”
from Hugh Hudson [January 21, 2013]
A simpler function can fit RHESSI spectra and include both “thermal” and “nonthermal” components simultaneously.
http://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/~tohban/wiki/index.php/Kappa_Distribution
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* Meetings/Workshops/Summer Schools *
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RAS Discussion Meeting: Comets’ Interactions with other Solar System Bodies
from Geraint Jones [January 23, 2013]
Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, London W1J 0BQ
8 March 2013, 10:30 – 15:30.
Comets have played an important role in the formation and evolution of the planets, through bombardment of their surfaces and consequent delivery of volatile species to those bodies. Such impacts occur remarkably frequently even today as evidenced by the Shoemaker-Levy 9 event at Jupiter in 1994, and recent discoveries of impact plumes in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Even without impacts, close approaches of fragile cometary nuclei to massive bodies often causes their tidal disruption. The recently-revealed existence of main belt comets partly results from their collisions with other minor bodies. 2011-12 yielded an unexpected wealth of data and theory on the destructive interaction between comets and the inner solar atmosphere (eg. Brown et al. 2011, A&A 535, A71). SDO yielded detailed EUV observations of the demise of small comet C/2011 N3 (SOHO) in the low solar corona (Schrijver et al. 2012, Science 335, 324), while the spectacular near-destruction there of the much larger sun-grazer Comet Lovejoy was observed over a wide wavelength range. At this meeting, we shall review recent progress in understanding comets’ interactions with other bodies and their atmospheres, and what we have learnt about the solar atmosphere, planets, and comets themselves through these interactions.
We welcome abstracts for presentations at the meeting within all the areas covered above; please send your abstracts to all three conveners below at your earliest convenience.
Organised by:
Dr Geraint Jones (MSSL-UCL/Centre for Planetary Sciences at
UCL/Birkbeck) [log in to unmask]
Professor John Brown (University of Glasgow) [log in to unmask]
Dr Stephen C. Lowry (University of Kent) [log in to unmask]
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Call for abstract submission to AOGS 2013- ST11: Turbulence, Reconnection, and Energetic Particles in Solar, Heliospheric Physics and Laboratory Studies
from Bo Li [January 30, 2013]
Annual Meeting of Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS 2013)
http://www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2013/public.asp?page=home.htm
24 – 28 Jun 2013, Brisbane, Australia
Please note that abstract submission closes on 8 Feb 2013.
Session Description：
Magnetized plasmas are frequently turbulent in both space and laboratory. In the context of solar and heliospheric physics, turbulence plays a critical role in generating the Sun’s magnetic field, heating its atmosphere to millions of Kelvin, driving the solar wind, picking up the newly ionized ions, and in interpreting the Voyager data at and beyond the edge of the Heliosphere. On a more fundamental level, turbulence changes many properties of fluids, in particular their properties for transporting energetic particles. Recent advances in understanding turbulence induce substantial changes in the understanding of cosmic ray transport parallel and perpendicular to mean magnetic field. In addition, turbulence changes the properties of magnetic reconnection and magnetic reconnection has shown the ability to accelerate energetic particles.
We aim at creating a forum for experts to summarize recent significant advances in the corresponding fields and to discuss new directions.
Confirmed invited speaks:
Andrey Beresnyak, Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA
Steven Cranmer, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, USA
Dietmar Krauss-Varban, University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, USA
Xing Li, Institute of Mathematics and Physics, Aberystwyth University, UK
Martin Pohl, Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam, Germany
Gary Zank, CSPAR, University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA
Session Conveners:
Bo Li (Shandong University, China), [log in to unmask]
Huirong Yan (Peking University, China), [log in to unmask]
Alex Lazarian (University of Wisconsin-Madison, US), [log in to unmask]
Giovanni Lapenta (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium), [log in to unmask]
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Call for abstracts for AOGS2013: 10th Annual Meeting
from uksp_sec [January 28, 2013]
Call for abstracts for AOGS2013: 10th Annual Meeting
http://www.asiaoceania.org/
24-28 June 21013 Brisbane, Australia
ST20 Sources of solar magnetism: From the deep interior to the upper atmosphere
The dynamic coupling throughout the solar atmosphere from the deep interior to the upper atmosphere is a
fundamental and challenging problem in solar physics. High-resolution observations of the solar atmosphere by instruments especially on SOHO, TRACE, Hinode, STEREO and SDO missions have provided considerable information about the nature and properties of solar magnetic fields and their influence on activity. The avalanche of observational discoveries provided by these facilities have stimulated complex theoretical and numerical studies of energy, momentum transport and stability analysis from the deep interior into chromospheric and coronal plasma structures. Recent major leaps have enabled the identification of key processes associated with magnetic fields that encompass small-scale flux tubes, MHD and kinetic wave modes, signatures of localised reconnection and plasma flows. Discovery of a range of dynamic phenomena in localised magnetic structures are not just typical of the Sun, as flare-induced bursts are now a popular subject of late-type star studies expanding the field of high-resolution solar physics to other astrophysical objects.
The goal of this session is to gather together a focussed group of specialists who, observationally and
theoretically study a wide range of phenomena that have their pronounced signatures across the solar
atmosphere. These signatures are manifest in multi-wavelengths. The proposed session attempts to bring
theorists and observers to critically evaluate the processes related to magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere. We aim to:
(i) carefully examine current trends and challenges related to sources of solar magnetism and identify their effects on processes in the solar atmosphere;
(ii) make progress in attacking key problems in the above area through a synthesis of theoretical modelling and data analysis.
You are cordially invited to the next AOGS annual meeting. The abstract submission deadline is: 29 January 2013.
Siraj Hasan & Robertus Erdelyi (Conveners)
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AOGS 2013 – Session ST02 – Solar and Heliosphere General Session
from Mario Bisi [January 31, 2013]
Dear Colleagues.
I would like to draw your attention to the Sun and Heliosphere General Session at the upcoming AOGS 2013 (http://www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2013/) at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) (http://www.bcec.com.au/), Brisbane, Australia, 24-28 June 2013. This will mark a decade of the AOGS with increasing scientific excellence year on year and marks the first time leaving Asia into neighbouring Oceania for this 10th Anniversary meeting. The abstract-submission deadline has been extended to Friday 08 February 2013 and the Mars submission system for abstract submissions (and links to registration) is here: http://www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2013/public.asp?page=abstract.htm – please submit your abstract to this diverse and exciting general session ASAP!
Thanks in advance!
Best wishes,
Dr. Mario M. Bisi (AOGS ST-H Secretary).
ST02 – Solar and Heliosphere General Session
This session aims to cover any aspects of solar or heliosphere research under the broad ST-H Physics spectrum which is not directly covered by other sessions available.
Convenor: Dr. Mario Bisi (Aberystwyth University, United Kingdom) Mario.Bisi [at] aber.ac.uk
http://www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2013/
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AOGS 2013 ST-H Sessions – Sun and Heliosphere
from Mario Bisi [January 30, 2013]
Dear Colleagues.
I would like to draw your attention to the Sun and Heliosphere sessions at the upcoming AOGS 2013, the 10th Annual Meeting celebrating a decade of the AOGS and hosted in Oceania for the first time! The abstract-submission deadline has been extended to Friday 08 February 2013 and the Mars submission system for abstract submissions (and links to registration) is here: http://www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2013/public.asp?page=abstract.htm – as well as links to the full meeting details and other session lists/descriptions. The meeting will take place at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) (http://www.bcec.com.au/), Brisbane, Australia, 24-28 June 2013.
Session headings and the lead convener in each case are all listed below as a summary, but the full details of these sessions and their respective conveners can be found here: http://www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2013/public.asp?page=mars2/confSessionList.asp.
Best wishes,
Dr. Mario M. Bisi (AOGS ST-H Secretary).
ST01 – Sun-Earth system response to extreme solar and seismic events, and space weather effects
Dr. Nanan Balan (National Central University, Taiwan) B.Nanan [at] Sheffield.ac.uk
ST02 – Solar and Heliosphere General Session
Dr. Mario Bisi (Aberystwyth University, United Kingdom) Mario.Bisi [at] aber.ac.uk
ST06 – The Outer Heliosphere
Dr. John Richardson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States) jdr [at] space.mit.edu
ST07 – Future Space Missions and Instrumentation for Space and Planetary Science
Prof. Andrew Yau (University of Calgary, Canada) yau [at] phys.ucalgary.ca
ST08 – Space Weather and Space Climate: Coupling Processes from the Sun to the Earth
Prof. Katya Georgieva (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria) katyageorgieva [at] msn.com
ST11 – Turbulence, Reconnection, and Energetic Particles in Solar, Heliospheric Physics and Laboratory Studies: A synergetic approach
Dr. Bo Li (Shandong University, China) bbl [at] sdu.edu.cn
ST14 – Global Study of Solar Wind-magnetosphere Interactions: a Comparative View of Recent Observations, Modeling and Numerical Simulations
Dr. Dongsheng Cai (University of Tsukuba, Japan) cai [at] cs.tsukuba.ac.jp
ST15 – Space Environment interaction with the solar ejected masses
Prof. Ahmed Hady (Cairo University, Egypt) aahady [at] yahoo.com
ST20 – Sources of solar magnetism: From the deep interior to the upper atmosphere
Prof. S. Sirajul Hasan (Indian Institute of Astrophysics, India) hasan [at] iiap.res.in
ST21 – From solar environment to stellar environment
Dr. Jean Rozelot (OCA – Nice University, France, Metropolitan) rozelot [at] obs-azur.fr
ST28 – Radio emission from the Sun and planets, and from and through the heliosphere
Dr. Bo Li (University of Sydney, Australia) boli [at] physics.usyd.edu.au
ST29 – Understanding climate and weather of the Earth-Sun System
Prof. Toshitaka Tsuda (Kyoto University, Japan) tsuda [at] rish.kyoto-u.ac.jp
PS01 – Solar wind interaction with planetary environments
Dr. Dominique Delcourt (LPP – CNRS, France) dominique.delcourt [at] lpp.polytechnique.fr
PS10 – Future Space Missions and Instrumentation for Space and Planetary Science
Dr. Yoshifumi Saito (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Japan) saito [at] stp.isas.jaxa.jp
http://www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2013/
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STFC Introductory Summer School in Solar and Solar-Terrestrial Physics
from uksp_sec [January 22, 2013]
Dear Colleague,
The next STFC Introductory Summer School in Solar and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, organised
by SP2RC of University of Sheffield will be 26-30 August 2013 at the Dept of Astronomy,
Eotvos University, Budapest. The School is free for STFC-supported PhD students. Please
pencil in the dates and advertise it to your PhD students. More logistic details will be announced
in due course.
Robertus (Dir of ISSSTP 2013)
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* Jobs/Studentships: *
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Solar Orbiter Support Scientist
from Andrzej Fludra [January 30, 2013]
The Solar Orbiter is an ESA mission due to be launched in 2017. The payload includes a spectrometer, SPICE, observing the Sun in Extreme Ultraviolet wavelengths. A full time position is available in the Solar Physics group at the STFC RAL Space department to provide scientific support for the development of the SPICE spectrometer, including instrument radiometric calibration, post-launch commissioning and preparation for science operations in collaboration with other Solar Orbiter instruments. The appointment will be to the STFC band D salary scale: £26,610 to £29,566 depending on experience.
The successful applicant should hold a PhD in solar physics or a closely related subject, have a good knowledge of physics of the solar corona, EUV spectroscopy and related atomic physics, spectroscopic and image data processing techniques, EUV spectrometers, and be experienced in the IDL programming language. Experience in using data from multi-spacecraft solar measurements and SolarSoft software package would be an advantage. Knowledge of space instruments operations and data formats is also desirable. Candidates should have excellent communication skills in both spoken and written English, and must be able to work effectively both on their own and as part of a large team. Ability to carry out independent scientific research is essential. The post involves some travel in the UK and overseas. The closing date for applications is 15 March 2013. The interview date is 17 April 2013 and will be held at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Full requirements of the post and instructions how to apply are available at http://www.topcareer.jobs/Vacancy/irc81129_2739.aspx
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Postdoctoral Position in Computational Stellar Astrophysics In Exeter
from uksp_sec [January 28, 2013]
Salary from £24,520 to £31,948 per annum
The astrophysics group at the University of Exeter invites applications for two 5-year postdoc positions to work primarily with Professor Isabelle Baraffe on theoretical and numerical aspects of stellar/planetary physics and evolution. The two posts are funded by a European Research Council (ERC) advanced grant.
The broad goal of the positions is to work on 3D hydrodynamical modelling of stellar/planetary interiors, using a time implicit and fully compressible multi-D hydrodynamical code currently developed in Exeter with a group of international collaborators. The main purpose is to describe and understand various processes characteristic of star/planet interiors and evolution, such as turbulence, convection, rotation, instabilities and oscillations. The post holders will participate in the further development of our 3D numerical tool. Our team involved in the code development includes postdoctoral researchers in Exeter and close collaborators in Lyon (Prof Rolf Walder, Ecole Normale Supérieure, France) and Munich (Maxime Viallet, Max-Planck Institute, Germany). The post holders will have the opportunity to travel to those institutions during their project.
The projects will focus on three typical astrophysical key problems at the heart of investigations in stellar evolution, which do require multi-D simulations to be correctly addressed. These problems concern (1) the early embedded phases of evolution of accreting low mass stars and brown dwarfs, (2) the study of rotation, transport of angular momentum and chemical mixing in stellar interiors and (3) the study of turbulent convection and its effect on stellar pulsations. These projects are linked, among others, to the fields of star formation, a thriving field of research with involves cutting-edge, large ground- and space-based observational projects (HST, VLT, HERSCHEL, ALMA, SPITZER, JWST) and of asteroseismology, with space missions CoRoT and Kepler which deliver a wealth of asteroseismological data allowing the exploration of stellar properties of unprecedented variety and accuracy.
We are particularly interested in theoretical/numerical candidates with a strong background in
computational astrophysics/fluid dynamics; prior work on stellar and/or planetary interiors and evolution is not necessarily required. Applicants must possess a PhD in astrophysics, physics, or related discipline (e.g applied mathematics/fluid dynamics/computational methods).
The starting salary will range from £24,520 on Grade E to £31,948 per annum on Grade F, depending on
qualifications and experience.
The positions are available for a period of five years commencing 1st May 2013. A delayed start date can be negotiated. Extensive supercomputing resources and substantial funding for computing equipment and travel will be available to the post holders. For further information, please contact Prof. Baraffe
([log in to unmask]). To apply, send to Prof. Baraffe a CV, publication lists, a detailed summary of research and a cover letter with the contact details of three referees and mentioning the post reference P44453/P44454.
The closing date for completed applications is 1st March 2013.
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Postdoctoral Positions Leeds
from uksp_sec [January 25, 2013]
Two postdoctoral positions in Astrophysical Fluids are available in the
Applied Mathematics Department at the University of Leeds.
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Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Leeds
School of Mathematics
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Research Fellow 1
Project Title: Dynamos in Giant Planets and Rapidly Rotating Stars
Fixed term until 31 March 2016
Applications are invited for a research fellowship funded by the
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The project will
investigate the convectively driven dynamos of the Giant Planets and
of Rapidly Rotating Stars. In particular we shall investigate the
dynamics of convection and its interaction with rotation; and how the
dynamo properties change as the level of turbulence is increased. You
will work in close contact with the investigators Professors Steven
Tobias, Chris Jones and David Hughes in the Department of Applied
Mathematics.
A PhD (or PhD submitted) in the relevant discipline, e.g.
Computational Fluid Dynamics, Applied Mathematics, Planetary Science,
Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics or Astrophysical Fluids with
computational experience is essential. You will also have experience
in Dynamo theory and good organisational skills. Applications from
women, who are currently under-represented in this area, will be
particularly welcome; however, the final recruitment decision will be
based solely on merit.
Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Steven Tobias, tel +44
(0)113 343 5172, email [log in to unmask] or Professor Chris Jones,
tel +44 (0)113 343 5107, email [log in to unmask]
Closing Date: 1 February 2013
Interviews are expected to be held 26 February 2013
For more information go to
http://jobs.leeds.ac.uk
and search for reference MAPMA0042
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Research Fellow 2
Project Title: Hall Magnetohydrodynamics in Neutron Stars
Fixed term until 31 March 2016
Applications are invited for a research fellowship funded by the
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The project will
investigate Hall MHD in neutron stars. In particular we shall develop
three-dimensional numerical models of the evolution of crustal
magnetic fields under the influence of the Hall effect, including
realistic density and conductivity profiles. Coupling between the
magnetic field and the temperature will also be included. You will
work in close contact with the principal investigator (PI) Professor
Rainer Hollerbach in the Department of Applied Mathematics.
A PhD (or PhD submitted) in the relevant discipline,
e.g. Computational Fluid Dynamics, Applied Mathematics, Planetary
Science or Astrophysical Fluids with computational experience or
Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics is essential. You will also have
experience in Dynamo theory and good organisational skills.
Applications from women, who are currently under-represented in this
area, will be particularly welcome; however, the final recruitment
decision will be based solely on merit.
Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Rainer Hollerbach, email
[log in to unmask]
Closing Date: 1 February 2013
Interviews are expected to be held 26 February 2013
For more information go to
http://jobs.leeds.ac.uk
and search for reference MAPMA0043
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2 PDRA vacancies in Coronal Seismology at Warwick, UK
from Valery Nakariakov [January 25, 2013]
£23,811 – £26,779 pa or £27,578 – £35,938 pa
Fixed Term Contract from 1 April 2013 until 31 March 2015 (with the possibility for further extension).
*** The closing date for applications is Monday 11 February 2013 ***
The Centre for Fusion, Space & Astrophysics at the University of Warwick is seeking two ambitious post-doctoral researchers to work within the project “Magnetohydrodynamic wave diagnostics of the solar atmosphere in the era of transformative high-resolution observations”. The positions are funded by an ERC Advanced Grant held by Valery Nakariakov. The project comprises of the analysis of data obtained with space-borne telescopes including SDO, Hinode, STEREO and RHESSI, and future missions, and ground-based observational facilities, and analytical and numerical modelling of these phenomena, including high-performance MHD and plasma simulations, and plasma diagnostics.
You must hold, or be about to obtain, a PhD in a relevant discipline. Experiences in solar data analysis, MHD wave theory and plasma physics will be a strong advantage.
The positions are available from April 2013, initially for two years.
Informal enquiries: Professor Valery Nakariakov ([log in to unmask]).
Further details may be found on https://secure.admin.warwick.ac.uk/webjobs/jobs/research/job17615.html
Please quote job vacancy reference number 72522-122.
https://secure.admin.warwick.ac.uk/webjobs/jobs/research/job17615.html
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