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
(i.baraffe@ex.ac.uk). 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.