Research Officer (Astronomer) - Canadian Gemini Office

The National Research Council of Canada’s Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre (NRC-HAA), is seeking a Research Officer (Astronomer) at the Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre (HAA). HAA has a rare combination of staff involved in astronomy research, instrumentation design and development, engineering, data science and observatory support. The chosen candidate will be someone who shares our core values of Integrity, Excellence, Respect and Creativity.

The position will be within the Canadian Gemini Office (CGO), located at HAA’s Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO) campus just outside of Victoria, BC, Canada. The CGO provides support to the Canadian community in their use of the 8-m twin Gemini North and South telescopes, located in Hawai’i and Chile, respectively. Salary will be commensurate with the successful applicant’s qualifications and experience. The position is expected to start no later than 01 December 2022.

HAA is one of the 14 research centres of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the Government of Canada's largest research organization supporting industrial innovation, the advancement of knowledge and technology development.  HAA in particular executes NRC’s mandate to operate and administer astronomical observatories established or maintained by the Government of Canada.  At our DAO campus, in addition to astronomical research, we provide observer support to users of the Gemini and ALMA observatories in our Canadian Gemini Office and Millimetre Astronomy Group, respectively.  We also design and construct new instruments for various observatories via our Astronomy Technology Directorate and manage the resulting data at the Canadian Astronomical Data Centre.  The DAO is also the site of the 1.8-m Plaskett Telescope and the 1.2-m Telescope with the McKellar Spectrograph.  Our sister campus, the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory outside of Penticton, BC, is the site of the 26-m Galt Telescope, the 7-element Synthesis Telescope, and the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), and other Astronomy Technology Directorate and research activities. 

As part of the CGO, the successful applicant will conduct original research, preferably but not exclusively with the Gemini Observatory. HAA has recently identified three key areas in which it would like to expand its expertise, The Dark Universe (Dark Matter and Energy); Extreme Objects, Time-Domain, and Multi-Messenger Astronomy; and Exoplanets. Preference will be given to applicants whose astrophysics research overlaps with these particular areas. 

Support duties within the CGO may include: keeping the community informed of the capabilities and opportunities with Gemini, technical advice to proposers and technical evaluation of proposals, support for the creation of Phase 2 detailed observing programs; providing support to Gemini users for data reduction of optical imaging and spectroscopy data; responding to Helpdesk requests; providing scientific and technical expertise to our stakeholders (the Canadian astronomical community and the Gemini partnership) through participation in the CGO duties and representing the CGO at the international level;  regular visits for observing at either Gemini Telescope and learning about new instrumentation and techniques; and preparation of material for outreach and public talks.  The successful applicant will be a member of HAA’s scientific staff and hence will be encouraged to provide scientific guidance to the capabilities of all of Canada’s current or future observatories.

NRC is an equal opportunity employer.

Applications should be made by 30 June 2022 via the process described at the URL provided.

Vous pouvez obtenir ces renseignements en français au lien suivant: https://recruitment-recrutement.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/job/Victoria-Agent-ou-agente-de-recherches-%28astronome%29-Bureau-canadien-de-Gemini-BC/559440317/

Desired starting date: 01 December 2022 or sooner