PhD Positions at the Kapteyn Institute Groningen

The Kapteyn Astronomical Institute of the University of Groningen invites applications for three PhD positions:

• a position in the group of Prof. dr. Amina Helmi to unravel the assembly history of the Milky Way using data from the recently launched European satellite Gaia and from upcoming spectroscopic surveys such as from WEAVE and 4MOST;

• a postition in the group of Prof. dr. Inga Kamp on studying circumplanetary disks to pave the way for E-ELT METIS science and provide key boundary conditions for the formation of gas giants and their satellite systems;

• a position shared with ASTRON in the group of Prof. dr. Raffaella Morganti on gas and the life-cycle of radio galaxies to build a coherent picture of the time scales associated with nuclear activity of radio galaxies and the conditions which determine their duty-cycles.

The Kapteyn Astronomical Institute is part of the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) and is recognised world-wide for the quality of its research in multiple areas of astronomy. With 15 faculty and 50 PhD students, it is the second-largest astronomical institute in the Netherlands. Groningen, a historic town in the northern Netherlands, occupies a strategic place in Dutch astronomy, hosting both the Kapteyn Institute and the low-energy astrophysics division of the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON). The Kapteyn Institute has a strong connection with the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) in Dwingeloo, a European centre of radio astronomy research. Staff and PhD students at the Kapteyn Institute frequently collaborate with SRON and ASTRON scientists and engineers. There are also strong interdisciplinary connections with other institutes in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. English is the common language of the Institute.

We seek excellent students with strong backgrounds in the physical sciences who desire obtaining a PhD degree from a top European university. A successful candidate must hold a Masters degree or equivalent by the starting date of the position. Previous research experience and skills will be important criteria for the selection.

These PhD student positionss are paid as civil servants, which means that they earn competitive salaries (the current annual gross salary, including allowances, increases from about €28,000 in year 1 to about €36,000 in year 4) and are eligible for both social security and retirement benefits. All PhD positions are funded for four years.

Detailed information on how to apply is given at http://www.rug.nl/research/kapteyn/vacatures/ Informal enquiries are welcome and should be sent to [email protected].

Complete applications received by December 21, 2018 will receive full consideration.