Researcher or engineering position on the CUTE CubeSat mission preparation

The institute invites applications for a researcher or engineering position at the Space Research Institute (IWF, Graz) in Austria to join the observational exoplanet group led by Dr Luca Fossati. The group concentrates on the multi-wavelength observational characterisation of exoplanet atmospheres, and in particular of planetary upper atmospheres, in the context of future space missions, such as CHEOPS and PLATO. The work, funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), will be conducted in the context of the preparation of the CUTE CubeSat mission, in which the IWF exoplanet group is heavily involved at a scientific and engineering level.

The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE) is a NASA CubeSat mission (PI: K. France; University of Colorado, Boulder) carrying on board a low-resolution (R≈2500) near-ultraviolet (2500–3500 Å) spectrograph, which will carry out transmission spectroscopy of the nearest short-period exoplanetary systems. CUTE, to be launched in 2020, will carry out a 1-year science mission with the main aim to study the physics of atmospheric escape.

The successful applicant is expected to carry out the study of CUTE's full optical system aiming at the characterisation of the satellite's science products outside of the nominal case. Further, the successful applicant is expected to adapt already available tools for the generation of simulated data to CUTE's characteristics. The synthetic data will be used to train the science team and prepare the data reduction pipeline.

The applicant must have proven experience with Zemax tools and good (C and/or C++) programming skills. Further experience with Astronomic data analyses is desired, but not necessary.

The appointment begins as early as October 2017, but not later than December 2017, and will be for two years, plus one possible year depending on performance and funding availability. Salary will be Grade IV/1 (about 38,000 Euro per year, gross) or Grade IV/2 (about 41,000 Euro per year, gross) for applicants with a PhD, according to the scale of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Applications include 1) curriculum vitae, 2) list of publications, 3) statement of applicant's past and current  experience (max 2 pages), 4) academic certificates, and 5) names of two persons, who are willing to send letters of recommendation.

Applications should be sent electronically via email to [email protected] in a single PDF file. The closing date of applications is 1st of June 2017.

The Austrian Academy of Sciences is an equal opportunity employer and in particular invites women to apply.

For more information, contact Dr Luca Fossati ( [email protected] ).