Postdoctoral Researcher - Debris disks evolution

+ The project

Even though thousands of exoplanets have been discovered in the past decades, we have little observational constraints on how and when they formed. By studying the residuals of the star and planet formation processes, the debris disks, we can have a better understanding of the early evolution of potential planetary systems. Thanks to new generations of instruments (ALMA, GPI, SPHERE), our understanding of debris disks has significantly changed over the past few years, as we now often detect for instance strong asymmetries in the dust distribution or non-negligible amount of gas in a handful of debris disks.

Chile is an exciting place for an observational astronomer, with facilitated access to several high-end facilities (high angular resolution observations, in scattered or thermal light). Consequently there is also a strong need for (applied) theoretical works to put these observations in perspective (e.g., planet-disk interactions, collisional activity, and gas line modeling).

+ The Vacancy

The "Instituto de Física y Astronomía" (Valparaíso, Chile) and the "Max Planck Institut für Astronomie" (Heidelberg, Germany) recently initiated a partnership on the topic of debris disk evolution and planetary formation. The "Max Planck Tandem Group" started early 2017, is based in Valparaíso, and is funded for a total of 5 years (with sufficient funds for international conferences, and annual meetings in Heidelberg to foster collaborations between IFA and MPIA).

We seek a highly qualified and motivated post-doc to join the group (comprised at the moment of one PhD student and myself) and work on the topic of debris disks. The applicant must hold a PhD in Astronomy, Astrophysics or related fields and preference will be given to candidates with a strong background on circumstellar disks (protoplanetary or debris). The position will be for a minimum of two years, with possibilities to extend for a longer stay. Candidates will also be encouraged to apply for external grants (e.g., Fondecyt program, when applicable).

The "Instituto de Física y Astronomía" is also the host institute of a new "Núcleo Milenio" on the topic of planetary formation (PI is Dr. Amelia Bayo, Co-Is include Dr. Matthias Schreiber and Dr. Johan Olofsson). The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work in close collaboration with the other research groups at the "Instituto de Física y Astronomía".

Consideration of applications will begin on the 1st of Aug. 2017 and continue until the position is filled. The salary is the standard scale for post-doc researcher in Chile (1.750.000 CLP/month). Applications should include a CV, a list of publications, a brief (3 pages max) summary of the applicants past and current research, and two reference letters. The application is to be sent electronically to [email protected], in a single pdf.

For more information, contact Dr. Johan Olofsson ([email protected])