THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES
SCHOOL OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
Research Associate in CMB foregrounds
A Research Associate position is available in the extragalactic and cosmology group, in The Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (JBCA) at The University of Manchester. Working on CMB foregrounds as part of the ERC project “Enabling cosmology for future radio astronomy surveys”.
The University of Manchester is a world-leader in the characterization, understanding and removal of foregrounds in cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. We are involved in leading CMB and foreground experiments including ESA’s Planck satellite mission as well as various other ground/balloon-based experiments (e.g. C-BASS, QUIJOTE, LSPE). JBCA is also a leading group within the Cosmic Origins Explorer (CORE) CMB polarization satellite proposed to ESA.
This project focuses on understanding foreground contamination that will limit sensitive radio surveys for cosmology (e.g. cosmic microwave background and HI intensity mapping) and involves analysing and simulating multi-frequency radio data to characterise foreground emission and to test component separation techniques. The data from Planck and C-BASS will be jointly analysed to improve component separation and potentially measure cosmological parameters to higher precision. You will also participate in developing and optimizing designs for future CMB polarization missions (e.g. CMBpol, CORE, LiteBird).
Knowledge and experience of analyzing CMB and/or foregrounds data is essential. You must also hold or be about to obtain a PhD or equivalent in a relevant field. Experience of polarization data and calibration would be an advantage. You must possess excellent communication skills, and programming skills (e.g. C, Fortan, IDL) are essential.
For further information and to apply online please visit: www.manchester.ac.uk/jobs
Vacancy reference number: EPS-01718 Closing date: 4th January 2013.
The University of Manchester values a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.
