Plaskett Postdoctoral Fellowship (Research Associate)

Further information on NRC Herzberg can be found at https://nrc.canada.ca/en/research-development/research-collaboration/research-centres/herzberg-astronomy-astrophysics-research-centre

Information on the staff and their research interests is available at http://astroherzberg.org.
More information on the Fellowship is available at https://nrc.canada.ca/en/corporate/careers/plaskett-fellowship

Desired starting date: September 2023

The Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre of the National Research Council (NRC) is pleased to announce the 2022 competition for a Plaskett Postdoctoral Fellowship (Research Associate) position tenable at Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO) in Victoria, BC, Canada. The successful candidate will be an outstanding recent doctoral graduate in astronomy/astrophysics who is highly motivated to exploit astronomical facilities administered by NRC and contribute to forefront research projects conducted using those facilities.

This hiring is at the postdoctoral level, but at NRC Canada, PDFs are effectively term limited staff scientists with all the associated benefits, including paid maternity and parental leave, vacation, accruable pension contributions and others.

We encourage researchers in any area of astrophysics to apply. For reference, the following are active fields of research at NRC Herzberg:

• Exoplanets and debris disks (direct detection, planetary atmospheres, dynamical evolution, collisional evolution, composition), utilizing Gemini, ALMA, HST, JWST and/or exploitation of existing large survey data from Kepler, Spitzer, Herschel, WISE and other missions.
• Outer solar system bodies (accretion processes, size-frequency distributions, surface properties, orbital dynamics, binaries, space-craft exploration), utilizing CFHT, Gemini, ALMA, HST, Subaru, and the New Horizons spacecraft, as well as leadership of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS).
• Star or planet formation processes (protostellar evolution, cluster formation, circumstellar disks, super-star clusters in external galaxies), utilizing ALMA, the Jansky VLA, GBT, or other facilities, and leveraging results from Herschel, Spitzer, or JCMT legacy programs (e.g., the JCMT Gould Belt Survey and the JCMT Transient Survey).
• Photometric and spectroscopic studies of the structure and stellar content of the Milky Way, Local Group, and other nearby galaxies, including all areas of research associated with the broad field of near-field cosmology.
• Multi-wavelength investigations of galaxies and clusters, including studies of galaxy distances, dynamics, and structural properties; super-massive black holes and galactic nuclei; and star clusters and star formation at UV, optical, IR and sub-mm wavelengths.
• Cosmological evolution of galaxies including physical processes such as accretion, outflow, feedback, metal enrichment, star formation, super-massive black hole growth, mergers, and strong lensing.

Candidates should have an observational background or an interest in constraining theories with observations.

The successful candidate will:

• Conduct original research independently and in collaboration with NRC Herzberg staff members.
• Contribute to the scientific exploitation of NRC Herzberg’s resources, particularly, but not limited to, the expertise of scientific and technical staff, and the astronomical facilities and infrastructure administered by NRC Herzberg, such as ALMA, CFHT, the Gemini Observatory, the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC), and the instrumentation labs.
• Engage with the astronomical community to advance NRC Herzberg’s mandate to provide astronomical facilities and services to Canadian researchers. NRC Herzberg is a leading developer of instrumentation for current and future ground- and space-based telescopes (e.g., ALMA, CFHT, Gemini, JWST, MSE, SKA, and TMT). NRC Herzberg also hosts CADC, which provides scientific data preservation, distribution, and analysis services to the community. The CADC is also home to the Canadian Virtual Observatory, the CANFAR cloud computing network, and extensive data archives (including those for CFHT, CGPS, HST, and JCMT).
• Share with other postdoctoral research associates the organization of the NRC Herzberg weekly seminars, which run from September to April.

The initial appointment is of three years duration, which may be extended (subject to performance and availability of funds). In addition to highly competitive benefits and salary, the Plaskett Fellow will receive support for observing and conference travel, page charges, and access to professionally managed computation infrastructure and resources.

Applicants must have acquired their Ph.D. within the last five years or will complete all requirements for their Ph.D. within 6 months of assuming the Fellowship.

NRC is an equal opportunity employer.

Applications should be made by 30 November 2022 via the process described at the URL provided.