THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES
SCHOOL OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
Research Associate in Low-frequency HI 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 radio astronomy. One of the most exciting prospects in the near future is the detection of large-scale redshifted 21cm line emission from atomic hydrogen, known as “HI intensity mapping”. If mapped accurately, this will allow the detection of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs) and thus measure the expansion history of the Universe and thus constrain dark energy. This is one of the key science drivers of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project whose headquarters will be located at Jodrell Bank Observatory. However, a major limitation to this will be the calibration and removal of the much larger foreground signal (e.g. from our galaxy) that will swamp the cosmological signal. The JBCA cosmology group is pursuing HI intensity mapping, considering both interferometers and single dish approaches. We are proposing a new experiment: BINGO (“BAOs In Neutral Gas Observations”) that aims to detect BAOs within the next few years.
You work on simulations and analysis with a focus on foreground issues at low frequencies (~few hundred MHz to ~1.4 GHz). Based at the University of Manchester, you will play a leading role in the simulations and analysis of HI/foregrounds data both for BINGO and other HI intensity mapping experiments.
You must hold or be about to obtain a PhD (or have equivalent experience) in a relevant field. You must possess excellent communication and programming skills (e.g. C, Fortan, IDL), and Knowledge and experience of analysing radio data, and of running large scale simulations, is essential.
For further information and to apply online please visit: www.manchester.ac.uk/jobs
Vacancy reference number: EPS-01719 Closing date: 4th January 2013.
The University of Manchester values a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.
