PFS Project Research Fellow at the Subaru Telescope

PFS Project Research Fellow at the Subaru Telescope

The Subaru Telescope is developing a next-generation fiber spectrograph with very high multiplexity in collaboration with other facilities.  This new instrument is called Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) and is expected to start its science operation in 2021. The instrument will observe a wide variety of objects to address a wide range of scientific questions.  Due to the complexity of the instrument and also for efficient scientific exploration of the data, the processing of the raw data from PFS has to be fully automated regardless of the nature of the targets.  The processing pipeline is still in the early phase of the development and the observatory is seeking an experienced researcher to play a key role in the pipeline development at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) with an emphasis on the sky subtraction and flux calibration.

The successful candidate will join the PFS collaboration, a vibrant environment for both scientific and technical researchers.  The candidate will also join the HSC collaboration and can fully exploit the excellent data set from the on-going 300-night survey. The candidate is expected to spend up to 50% of his/her time for the pipeline work and the remaining time for his/her own research.  The research proposal should include plans for both.  For details of this job, refer to https://www.nao.ac.jp/en/contents/job-vacancy/job-20180727-subaru2-en.pdf

Main duties:

- Development of data processing software for PFS on the Subaru Telescope

- Development of software tools and libraries for scientific exploration of processed PFS data

- Coordination of international software development work

For details of PFS, refer to http://pfs.ipmu.jp/instrumentation.html

Terms of Employment:

- 3 years (subject to annual review) with possible extension

Qualifications:

- PhD in astronomy or in a related field

- Experience in software development in C++ and Python

- Good communication skills in English

- Knowledge and experience in numerical calculations

Application Documents:

(1) Curriculum vitae with a photograph

(2) Brief summary of the past and on-going research

(3) Publication list (include the full information)

(4) Research proposal during the fellowship

(5) Names and contact addresses of two references

Application Deadline:

- 5pm on September 28, 2018(JST)

- Send documents to [email protected]

Inquiries:

- Contact Dr. Masayuki Tanaka at [email protected]

Notes:

- Application documents are used for the purpose of this recruitment only.

- NAOJ will not cover travel expenses for the interview.

- NAOJ is an equal opportunity institute dedicated to build a broad and inclusive staff.