2021 Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in the Areas of Observational, Theoretical, Computational Astrophysics and Instrumentation

The Institute of Astrophysics of Pontificia Universidad Catolica (IA-PUC) and the Center of Astro-Engineering of the Universidad Catolica (AIUC) invites applications for sponsoring postdoctoral research fellowships in the areas of observational, theoretical, computational astrophysics, and instrumentation.  Sponsored fellows are expected to carry out independent research in close collaboration with one or more faculty members at IA-PUC and/or AIUC. IA-PUC/AIUC professors will sponsor selected candidates applying for 3-year FONDECYT postdoctoral grants from the Chilean funding agency, ANID, or other national and international funds. Awarded FONDECYT fellowships are expected to begin on March 15, 2022, with eligibility limited to recent PhDs, received not earlier than Jan 1, 2018 (or Jan 1, 2017, for women who recently had a child) and granted before the application deadline.

The IA-PUC/AIUC provides a vibrant, dynamic, and productive international environment with 20 professors, 30+ postdoctoral researchers (~50% of them FONDECYT fellows), and 50+ graduate students. Members of IA-PUC/AIUC are leading or are active participants in several ongoing international collaborations: VST-ATLAS u-band extension, Frontier Fields Survey, LAGER survey, PESSTO, NuSTAR Legacy Surveys, COSMOS, SDSS-IV (w/ eBOSS, MANGA, and APOGEE data access), SDSS-V, LSST project, LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC), Vista Variables Via Lactea (VVV), the Next Generation Fornax/Virgo Surveys (NGFS/NGVS), Survey of Centaurus A’s Baryonic Structures (SCABS), The HST Coma Cluster Core Project (C3PO), the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), the Simons Observatory, the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS), VLT Multi-Object Optical and Near-infrared Spectrograph (VLT-MOONS), 4-m Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST), Fibre Dual Echelle Optical Spectrograph (FIDEOS), TAO-AIUC high-Resolution Y band Spectrograph (TARdYS), and the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), among others.

While a resident at IA-PUC/AIUC, the candidate will qualify as a member of the Chilean community with 10% privileged access on all telescopes in Chile, including ESO/Paranal's 4x8m VLT and 4m VISTA, La Silla's 3.5m NTT, and 3.6m and 2.2m telescopes, Gemini-South 8m, Carnegie's 2.5m and Magellan 2x6.5m, CTIO's 4m (Blanco), SOAR 4m, as well as ASTE, APEX, and ALMA. Our Institute also has a significant interest in work related to next-generation telescopes to be placed in Chile, such as ELT, LSST, GMT, and CTA. Additionally, the IA-PUC/AIUC hosts two supercomputers and a GPU cluster, available for numerical simulations, large databases, and data analyses.

Applicants should submit by email in pdf format to Prof. Ezequiel Treister the following documents: a brief cover letter; a CV including exact or expected Ph.D. date; publication list; research summary (max. three pages) describing past projects and possible plans while working at IA-PUC/AIUC, and the names of three people willing to write letters of recommendation upon request. Selected candidates are expected to apply for the fellowship through the Chilean governmental system. We will consider applications received until two weeks before the FONDECYT fellowship application deadline.

We strongly encourage applicants to make early contact with IA-PUC/AUIC professors working on their subjects of interest (available here), to seed collaborations on joint projects leading to the submission of successful applications. Thus we strongly suggest that applicants submit all materials well in advance of the application deadline. Also, helpful information regarding salary, benefits, working, and living conditions for new postdocs is available here.

IA-PUC and AIUC are committed to equal opportunity and diversity in the workforce. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.