The Program
The NRC’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program offers PDFs access to unique world-class facilities and the opportunity to work alongside multi-disciplinary teams of expert researchers and technicians on projects of critical importance to Canada. PDFs will carry out research on innovative research projects, with opportunities for career development (publications and/or industry interaction).
PDFs will be offered appointments to the staff of the National Research Council on a term basis and will be offered salaries and benefits currently available to Research Officers. Salaries commensurate with experience are taxable and subject to other deductions. As a guide, the current annual PhD recruiting rate is $73,133. In addition PDFs will be allocated a travel fund to support their work.
Project Title
Revealing the chemistry of our cosmic neighbourhood and Milky Way satellites with GRACES and GHOST
Your Challenge
NRC is seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow to lead research into the chemical evolution of the Milky Way and its dwarf galaxies using new, high resolution, spectroscopic datasets. The successful candidate will work with Dr. Alan McConnachie, and his research group at NRC, and will collaborate closely with Professor Kim Venn’s research group at the University of Victoria. They co-lead a new large program which will obtain 200 hours of data using the soon-to-be-commissioned Gemini/GHOST high resolution spectrograph, targeting metal-poor stars in Milky Way dwarf galaxies. This program will showcase the unique capabilities of GHOST, including its high throughput, blue (≤400nm) sensitivity, and wide wavelength coverage (360 – 1000nm) in a single exposure at high (R~55000) spectral resolution. Major science goals include discovering and understanding the nature of extreme r-process galaxies, and obtaining a complete chemical census of all moderately bright stars in Milky Way dwarfs visible from the southern hemisphere. The successful candidate will initially lead analyses of related spectroscopic data using Gemini/GRACES, transitioning to GHOST data as it becomes available.
Who is eligible?
Fellowships will be for two years contingent on satisfactory progress achieved during the first year.
Candidates should have obtained a PhD (or equivalent) in astronomy, astrophysics or a closely related field within the past three years (PhD received on or after July 1, 2018) or expect to complete their PhD within 6 months of appointment.
Fellows will work in a lab under the direct supervision of an NRC researcher.
