Postdoctoral Positions in Astrophysics

The Instituto de Astronomia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IA-UNAM) offers postdoctoral fellowships for one year, renewable for a second year depending on performance. Candidates interested in taking up a fellowship at the Instituto de Astronomía (IA) either in México City or Ensenada, Baja California, should apply directly to the IA. Applications should not be made to more than one Institute or Campus at UNAM.

Fellows are expected to carry out original research in any area of Astrophysics, collaborating with faculty and students. The main selection criteria will be outstanding research accomplishments and promise of future achievement. Fellows will have access to the San Pedro Mártir National Astronomical Observatory, Baja California facilities. Astronomers at Mexican institutions can compete for the Mexican share of observing time on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC); they also have competitive access to the EVLA, the VLBA, and to ALMA, via collaboration with the USA National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The IA-UNAM is a member of the SLOAN-IV/V collaboration, the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory and the Transneptunian Automated Occultation Survey-II (TAOS-II). The IA-UNAM has extensive computing facilities on site including a purpose-built high-performance computing center, and access to other UNAM supercomputers.

The IA-UNAM provides funds for publishing and some support for observing and traveling.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Interested applicants should contact Dr. Magdalena González ( [email protected]) well in advance of the official deadlines mentioned above.

Before applying, candidates should ensure that they meet the minimum requirements - any application not meeting these requirements is automatically rejected. Applicants should:

1. Have received their Ph.D. no more than 5 years before the start date of the fellowship.

2. Have a minimum of one accepted or published article in a refereed journal.

3. Present a research project in collaboration with a researcher at the IA-UNAM.

Applicants should send by e-mail:

a) Cover letter

b) Abstract of their Ph.D. thesis

c) Curriculum Vitae including a full list of publications

d) Two letters of recommendation, and

e) A research project, which should be defined with a researcher at the IA with whom the candidate will work.

All paperwork should be e-mailed to Dr. Magdalena González: [email protected].

A full list of faculty and their research interests can be found via the IA web page (www.astroscu.unam.mx) by following the links to SEDES, then IA-CU, then Directorio, and finally to Investigadores, for Mexico City, or SEDES, then IA-Ensenada, then IAUNAM-E, and finally to Investigadores/ Personal_Académico for Ensenada, Baja California.

If the application is selected by the IA-UNAM's internal counsel, the applicant will be required to fill in an application form and submit a copy of their birth certificate and Ph.D. certificate (if available). All documents can be sent scanned in pdf format. It is not necessary to send originals.

INCLUDED BENEFITS

The fellowship is tax free and includes health insurance (for the postdoc, spouse and children).

STIPENDS

The fellowship stipend is 14 minimum salaries, currently about 32,000 pesos per month in IA-CU and 35,000 in IA-Ensenada (the exchange rate is approximately 23.9 pesos/US Dollar).

SELECTION

The fellowships are assigned by a specialist University committee in the natural and physical sciences, and the IA will be assigned one or two postdocs each semester.

Contact for more information and details:

Dr. Magdalena González, [email protected]