Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position to work on the survey selection function for the Gaia mission as part of the GaiaUnlimited project, funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme under grant agreement No. 101004110. The aim of the project is to research, develop, and implement the Gaia survey selection function, as well as selection functions for Gaia combined with other surveys. The successful candidate will contribute to the development and implementation of selection functions applicable to specific subsets of the Gaia catalogue of particular interest for mapping the non-axisymmetric structure of the Milky Way, and apply the relevant selection functions toward mapping the spiral arms of the Milky Way in both configuration and velocity space. Also of interest is an empirical validation of the top-level selection functions using relevant external surveys.
The successful candidate will work under the supervision of Ronald Drimmel, in collaboration with other partners in GaiaUnlimited, and will become a member of the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium. Applicants must have a PhD in astronomy, physics, computer science, or mathematics and subsequent documented experience of at least 3 years in scientific, technological or management activities, OR a Masters degree or equivalent with six years of documented experience, by the deadline of the application, which is July 1st. The candidate must also have a working knowledge of spoken and written English. The candidate should have a strong background in data analysis and be familiar with the handling of astronomical data. Familiarity with the Gaia mission and other large sky surveys will be an advantage. The appointment is for a period of two years, with an additional one year extension with the arrival of expected funding, and comes with full benefits. The preferred start date of the appointment is September 1, 2021.