Postdoctoral researcher in computational galaxy formation and cosmological simulations

Submission Information
Publish Date: 
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Archive Date: 
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Job Summary
Job Category: 
Post-doctoral Positions and Fellowships
Institution Classification/Type: 
Large Academic
Institution/Company: 
Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (ITA), Heidelberg University
Department Name: 
Heidelberg University
City: 
Heidelberg
State/Province: 
BW
Zip/Postal: 
69120
Country: 
Germany
Announcement
Job Announcement Text: 

We are seeking an ambitious, highly-qualified postdoctoral researcher to work on topics related to computational galaxy formation and evolution. The postdoc will be part of the newly established Emmy Noether Research Group led by Dr. Dylan Nelson at the Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics of the Center for Astronomy (ITA/ZAH) at Heidelberg University, in Germany. The group explores galaxy formation from the computational perspective, with an emphasis on the question of "how gas flows": into, out of, and around galaxies. Topics of interest include: the baryon cycle, circumgalactic medium, cosmic gas accretion, galactic feedback processes, small-scale gas physics, numerical development, and the connection to data through synthetic observations.

Successful candidates will carry out research within the group of Dr. Nelson, with the opportunity to collaborate closely with other researchers in Heidelberg, including Prof. Ralf Klessen at ITA and Dr. Annalisa Pillepich at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. Involvement in large-scale projects, such as IllustrisTNG and its successors, will be encouraged. Depending on interests, the postdoc will be expected to carry out some combination of the following: (i) design and development of new hydrodynamical simulations focusing on the CGM and baryon cycle, (ii) analysis and interpretation of cosmological and galaxy-scale simulations, and (iii) development and use of new tools to compare simulations with observational data.

We seek candidates with a PhD degree in astrophysics or a related field. Candidates should have prior experience or an interest in galaxy evolution and/or the circumgalactic medium, in the broadest sense. Candidates should have a strong foundation in scientific computation, and be able to tackle difficult computational programs through the development of code. Expertise in numerics, computational fluid dynamics, and/or high performance computing and parallel programming would be valuable. The group primarily runs simulations using the moving-mesh AREPO code, and prior experience with AREPO or similar codes used in computational structure formation (e.g. RAMSES, ENZO, GIZMO, GADGET, and so on) and/or in C-based development would be useful, but not required. The candidate should be comfortable analyzing large data sets in Python, or a similar language, and experience in writing highly efficient code (e.g. with threading, multiprocessing, MPI, numba, or C extensions) would also be useful, but not required.

The starting date is expected to be no later than fall 2021, with an earlier start date also possible. The appointment will be for a period of 3 years.

Interested candidates should send a cover letter, brief statement of research interests and achievements (max. 3 pages), curriculum vitae, and publication list in a single pdf file to [email protected]. Applicants should also arrange to have three letters of reference separately sent to the above email address. Applications submitted before December 16, 2020 will receive full consideration.

Included Benefits: 

The salary will be according to the German public service scale TV-L E13, which depends on (and increases with) seniority. Funds will be provided for travel, computing, publications, and similar expenses. Comprehensive social benefits are granted according to the regulations for public service.

Application Deadline: 
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Selection Deadline: 
Monday, February 15, 2021
Current Status of Position: 
Accepting Applicants
Apply to Job
Attention To: 
Nelson Group Postdoctoral Position
Inquiries About Job
Attention To: 
Dr. Dylan Nelson
Subject: 
ITA Postdoc