Postdoctoral Positions in Astrophysics UNAM

The Instituto de Astronomía, 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 IA-UNAM either in México City or Ensenada, Baja California, should apply directly to the Instituto de Astronomía. Applications should not be submitted to more than one Institute or Campus at UNAM.

Fellows are expected to carry out original research in any area of Astrophysics, collaborating with researchers 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, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the Southern Wide-Field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), and the Transneptunian Automated Occultation Survey-II (TAOS-II). IA-UNAM scientists participate in the Mexico´s in-kind contribution to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). 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 must contact a researcher of the IA-UNAM to define a research project to work jointly during the fellowship. 

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 published article in a refereed journal.
3. Present a research project in collaboration with a researcher at the IA-UNAM.
4. Any other requirement stated in the DGAPA publication of the postdoctoral fellowship in https://dgapa.unam.mx/index.php/formacion-academica/posdoc#.

Also, applicants should contact Dr. Vladimir Avila-Reese ([email protected]) in advance of the official deadlines mentioned above to be considered and to receive the application form and compromise letter template.

Applicants should send by e-mail:

1. Cover letter,
2. Abstract of their Ph.D. thesis,
3. Curriculum Vitae including a full list of refereed publications,
4. Two letters of recommendation addressed to Dr. Jesús González, director of the Instituto de Astronomía, UNAM.
5. Application form (requested by email),
6. Copy of INE for Mexican applicants or copy of passport for foreign applicants,
7. Curriculum synthesis of the researcher at the IA-UNAM with whom the candidate will work,
8. Compromise letters from applicant and the researcher at the IA-UNAM (form requested by email),
9. Copy of proof of Ph. D. degree or exam of applicant,
10. Letter from the researcher at the IA-UNAM with whom the candidate will work stating an opinion of the applicant´s work, and
11. A research project, which should be defined with a researcher at the IA-UNAM with whom the candidate will work. 

All documents should be e-mailed to Dr. Vladimir Avila-Reese before the deadline:  [email protected]. 

A full list of faculty members and their research interests can be found via the IA-UNAM 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). For the application, all documents can be sent scanned in pdf format. It is not necessary to send originals.

STIPENDS

The fellowship stipend is 14 minimum salaries, currently about 38,000 pesos per month in IA-CU and 43,000 pesos in IA-Ensenada (the exchange rate is approximately 20.5 pesos/US Dollar).

SELECTION

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

Contact for more information and details:

Dr. Vladimir Avila-Reese, [email protected]