Several positions in the field of extra-solar planets

The Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto (CAUP) opens a call for:

• 2 Advanced Post-doctoral Researchers (for an initial period of 2 years, possibly renewed up to 5 years);
• 1 Junior Post-doctoral Researcher (for a period of 1 year);
• 1 PhD student (4 years).

The positions are open in the field of extra-solar planets, and are to be started from the 1st of January 2010.

The two Advanced Post-doctoral Researchers as well as the PhD student positions are given in the context of the Starting Grant "EXtra-solar planets and stellar astrophysics: towards the detection of Other Earths" funded by the European Community/European Research Council under the FP7 Ideas programme.

The Junior Pos-Doctoral researcher position is given in the context of grant PTDC/CTE-AST/098528/2008 funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal).

Job Description
The Pos-Doc contracts are aimed at researchers with relevant scientific curriculum and publication record and with significant experience in their field of research. They will be expected to supervise research students and to propose and conduct new research projects and funding applications (national and international) in the context of the present project.

The yearly income of the Advanced Pos-Doctoral positions is above 24 500 EUR. The income of the Junior Pos-Doc position is near 19 000 EUR. The PhD fellowship has an yearly income of nearly 12 000 EUR. All the above values are tax free. The project further includes funds for traveling (conferences, collaborations, observing missions).

The successful candidates are expected to pursue research in the following fields:

• Astrophysical limitations to the detection of Earth like planets (including stellar activity, oscillations, and granulation);
• Spectroscopic analysis of stars with planetary systems (foccusing on M-dwarfs and fast rotating FGK dwarfs);
• Extra-solar planet searches (in particular using radial-velocity and transit techniques).

The researchers will be included in the team on "Origin and Evolution of Stars and Planets" at CAUP.

The above mentioned research is to be seen in the context of the participation in the project of the ESPRESSO@VLT instrument (see ESPRESSO website for details), a new high resolution ultra stable spectrograph for the VLT.

CAUP is the largest Astronomy research institute in Portugal, evaluated as "Excellent" by an international panel under the auspices of FCT. The Strategic Development Plan of CAUP is built around: scientific excellence; public outreach; national networking; internationalization; financial stability. The objective of CAUP is to be an institute with internationally recognized front-line research and actively involved with the leading institutes in Europe on the areas identified as the focus of our research activity.

Application
The application, to be submitted by email, should include the following:

• Cover letter/e-mail including a description of the research experience (up to 3 pages). The letter should also refer the kind of position(s) you are applying for;
• Curriculum Vitae (up to 4 pages - with the indication of the average number of citations per paper and the h-index as provided by ADS);
• Complete list of publications;
• Names and contact details (position, email, address) of three referees that are available to provide information about the candidate (these will only be contacted if judged necessary).

A short-list of candidates will be defined in the first stage of the evaluation based on the application submitted by email. The short-listed applicants will likely be required to present a brief seminar and attend an interview at CAUP for the second stage of the evaluation. If necessary the interview will be done by teleconference. Following the second stage the contracts will be offered according to the ordering proposed by the selection committee.

For inquires and submission of applications please contact Dr. Nuno C. Santos.

The deadline for application is the 15th of November.
The positions will be granted only if suitable candidates are found.


Selection Committee
Nuno C. Santos
Mário J. P. F. G. Monteiro
Michel Mayor

Publish Date
17th of September, 2009

The period for application submission has ended for this opportunity.