ASTRON and JIVE International Summer Students Programme 2020

The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) and the Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE) announce the availability of a limited number of grants for their 2020 Summer Research Programme. The Programme enables astronomy students (graduate or advanced under-graduate) with an astronomy, physics or computer science background to spend the summer (10-12 weeks) at the institute in Dwingeloo in the Netherlands, conducting astronomical research under the supervision of ASTRON and JIVE staff members.

Possible topics of study may include radio galaxies and quasars, aspects of observational cosmology, continuum and line mission/absorption from normal and starburst galaxies, stellar maser astrometry, faint radio sources, pulsar timing, pulsar searching, synchrotron transients, fast radio bursts, molecular clouds, cosmic magnetism, space science as well as algorithm development - or similar topics, depending on what supervisors will have to offer.

The actual project the successful candidate will work on will be defined after arrangement with the local supervisor. The programme is not aimed at engineering or electronics students, though we will consider physics or computer science students with a strong interest in astronomy. ASTRON operates the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), a cutting-edge, low-frequency, multi-field aperture array telescope that is using transformational technologies and novel software approaches to explore the Universe between 10-240 MHz. ASTRON also operates the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) which is equipped with the new APERTIF phased array feeds, greatly increasing the survey speed of the telescope.

JIVE is the main data processor centre of the European VLBI Network (EVN) and is leading the development of real-time e-VLBI in Europe. For more information see the institutes’ websites.

The research grants will provide successful candidates with accommodation in the locality of the Observatory, a modest stipend for up to three months, and full travel reimbursement. We expect the participants to start early June 2020 to ensure overlap of the participants so they can fully benefit from the scheduled lectures and social activities. More information about recent summer student programmes can be found at https://www.astron.nl/student-opportunities/summer-research-programme

Applications for the programme should be sent via the registration form at this website. Please note that two letters of reference are needed; names and contact information of referees should be filled in before you can submit your application. Deadline for applications is 1 February 2020 23:59 CET.