1 Postdoc and 2 PhD positions at KU Leuven, Belgium - Observational and theoretical stellar astrophysics: The winds of hot and cool massive stars
Job Summary
Job Description
The MAESTRO Project
Throughout the Universe, the dynamics and chemical evolution of spiral galaxies like our Milky Way are largely controlled by the lives and deaths of stars with masses many times that of the Sun. But the evolution of these massive stars, in turn, is highly regulated by the huge amounts of mass expelled from their surfaces, by means of powerful starlight-driven wind outflows. These stellar winds critically determine how such massive stars evolve through their lives, how they finally die in giant supernova explosions, and how they after their violent deaths leave behind exotic remnants such as neutron stars and black holes. However, large uncertainties concerning such mass loss remain, affecting present-day predictions for massive-star evolution, including even massive-star progenitor models of gravitational wave sources.
In this context, the MAESTRO project aims to fundamentally improve our understanding of the driving mechanism of massive-star winds. We will use novel theoretical and observational methods to probe the winds of hot and cool massive stars, throughout their entire evolution and across a large range of metallicity environments. Financed by the KU Leuven University in Belgium, the MAESTRO project will bridge the theoretical, computational, and observational expertise of 4 academic members of the Institute of Astronomy at KU Leuven, to build an interdisciplinary team tackling the above critical stellar physics questions, and to enhance the predictive power of contemporary stellar evolution models of massive stars.
The Vacancies
The Institute of Astronomy of the KU Leuven (Belgium) seeks highly motivated and excellent applicants to take on important roles in the MAESTRO project. Applications are invited for 1 postdoc and at least one2 PhD positions financed through a prestigious research grant (C1) from the KU Leuven university. The selected candidates will join the MAESTRO team, closely under the supervision of with Profs. Leen Decin, Hugues Sana, Jon Sunqvist and Alex de Koter, and as part of an international network of collaborators, to obtain crucial observational constraints and to develop new theoretical methods needed to advance our understanding of hot and cool massive-star winds.
The MAESTRO project will open 6 positions in the next 3 years. Here, we sSpecifically advertise de following 1 postdoc and 2 PhD positions (with preferred starting date around 1 October 2017):
- PhD position: Theory of Wolf-Rayet winds – The PhD student will aim to develop a theoretical framework for the radiative acceleration driving the winds of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars; using this framework then, full dynamical wind models will be constructed to obtain theoretical predictions for global wind properties (e.g. mass-loss rate) and their scaling with fundamental stellar parameters.
- PhD position: Observations and Diagnostics of Red Supergiant winds – The PhD student will aim to derive the geometrical and dynamical wind structure of Red Supergiants (RSGs) using existing retrieval methods and will study the current morphology and mass-loss evolution during the RSG life time, as well as the mass-loss signatures at low metallicities.
- Postdoc position: Observations of hot and cool massive stars – The postdoc will be responsible for the observational aspects of the MAESTRO project. Tasks involve, e.g.: collect, reduce and/or organize a multi-wavelength data-set covering hot (OB, WR) and cool (RSGs) massive stars across a wide metallicity range, develop and/or adapt the necessary techniques to analyse crowded regions and unresolved small clusters. Lead the analysis of these data, including part of the daily supervision of students in the MAESTRO project.
The Host Institute
The Institute of Astronomy (IoA) of Leuven University in Belgium consists of a young and vibrant research group of some 50 scientists, engineers, and administrative staff (fys.kuleuven.be/ster), including 6 full-time and 3 part-time professors. The institute is an expertise centre in stellar physics and is active in several international consortia and collaborations, involving telescopes at observatories worldwide and in space. Members of IoA have access to parallel computing facilities at Leuven University. The IoA is responsible for the organisation of the 2-year Master in Astronomy & Astrophysics of the Faculty of Science and owns the 1.2m Mercator telescope at Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma Observatory, Canary Islands. The institute has a long tradition in instrumental, observational, and theoretical studies of stellar evolution.
The PhD Contract
The selected PhD students will be offered a 4-year contract, including a mid-term evaluation after 2 years. The salary will be commensurate to the standard scale for PhD students in Belgium; it includes social and medical insurance as well as pension rights. The preferred starting date is 1 August October 1st 2017 but can be negotiated.
The successful PhD applicants( will) have to register at and comply with the regulations of the Arenberg Doctoral School of the Leuven University. Good command of the English language is a requirement to be approved by the doctoral school. The successful PhD applicants will follow a doctoral programme including personal training in management, science communication, and teaching. As part of the doctoral program, the students will have to take up a teaching task of at maximumally 4 hours per week in one of the Bachelor (in Dutch) or Master (in English) programmes. PhD students at IoA are also required to perform at least one Mercator observing run of 10 nights per year for the pooled IoA long-term monitoring programmes.
The Postdoc Contract
The selected post-doc will be offered a 2-year contract with a possible extension of maximum 1 year. The salary will be commensurate to the standard scale for post-doc researcher in Belgium and will depend on the number of years of experience after PhD. It includes social and medical insurance as well as pension rights. The preferred starting date shall be between 1 August October 1st 2017 and January 1st 2018 but can be negotiated
The postdoc will also be encouraged to take up training in science and people management, science communication and grant application writing with the aim to develop a personal independent career track.
Requirements and Instructions to Apply
PhD applicants must hold a M.Sc. degree in physics, astrophysics or mathematics or else own an equivalent diploma. The degree must be dated at the latest one month before the position can be taken up. Expertise in astrophysics is an asset but not a requirement.
Post-doc applicants must hold a PhD in astrophysics or an equivalent diploma. The ideal candidates will have a strong observational and data analysis background, including expertise relevant for the atmosphere analysis of hot and/or cool massive stars. Prior-experience with UV, optical, IR and/or sub-mm observations and facilities such as the HST, ESO/VLT (XShooter, UVES, SPHERE, MUSE, KMOS), ALMA and JWST, or similar facilities, will be viewed positively by the selection committee. Similarly, preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate expertise with low-metallicity environments, crowded regions, IFU spectroscopy and/or future JWST observations.
PhD and postdoc applicants: Proficiency in English is assumedrequired. The application package should be sent as one single PDF containing (i) a curriculum vitae with a full publication list, (ii) a statement of interest (max. one page for PhD applicants and 2 pages for postdocs) and (iii) a summary of the research experience (e.g. master thesis; also max. one page for PhD applicants and 3 pages for postdocs). Exclusively for PhD applicants, (iv) a list of all master courses with their number of study points and the scores obtained.
Applicants must also provide the names and contact details of two reference persons who would be prepared to send confidential recommendation letters should they be requested to do so. The selection committee will send out requests for such letters for those applicants on the short-list after an initial ranking. The short-listed applicants will be invited for an interview (live or via skypeSkype).
The application material should be sent by e-mail to
[email protected] with subject “MAESTRO-<applicant_name>” at the latest
by 1 July 15, 2017.
Interviews will be held during the summer and selected candidates will be contacted at the latest by August 31, 2017.
Only Ccomplete applications received by July 15th 2017 will be considered. Information on the positions and on the MAESTRO project may be obtained by contacting the co-promotors of the project:
Prof. Leen Decin: email ([email protected]) or phone (+32-16-32.70.41)
Prof. Hugues Sana: email ([email protected]) or phone (+32-16-37.43.61)
Prof. Jon Sundqvist: email ([email protected]) or phone (+32-487-36.31.20)
Prof. Alex de Koter: email ([email protected]) or phone (+31-20-525.74.91)
or at the website https://fys.kuleuven.be/ster/Projects/maestro