Support Scientists or Postdoctoral Fellow Positions in the Greenland Telescope (GLT) Project

The Greenland Telescope (GLT) Project team at the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) is seeking two highly motivated Support Scientists or Postdoctoral Fellows to participate in the commissioning activities of the GLT. These include very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), single-dish, and/or software development aspects, as well as driving the single-dish and/or VLBI science either observationally or theoretically, or both.

The primary goal of the GLT is to image the shadows of supermassive black holes and study their accretion/jet physics using submillimeter VLBI techniques, along with other submillimeter telescopes all over the world. The GLT is also building its science capacity as a single-dish telescope. The GLT project is a joint collaboration with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and the telescope is currently located at Thule Air Base in Greenland. The GLT achieved the astronomical first light in December 2017, obtained the first fringes with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile in January 2018, and joined the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) 230 GHz VLBI observations and the Global Millimeter VLBI Array (GMVA) 86 GHz VLBI observations both in April 2018. We also participated in the first EHT 345 GHz VLBI test observations in October 2018. We are already pushing forward to relocate the telescope to the Summit of Greenland to enable higher frequency VLBI, plus single-dish observations at terahertz (THz) frequencies.

Due to the high project demand of the GLT commissioning and operation, we put higher priority on hiring Support Scientists.

Terms of Appointment

• Support Scientists:
  • To work primarily (expected 100% time allocation, but negotiable) on the GLT project.
  • Expected to occasionally work at the GLT site (Thule, Greenland; Greenland Summit in the future), depending on project needs.
  • Contract renewal every two years, based on satisfactory performance.
  • Encouraged to participate in the wider activities of the EHT collaboration.
• Postdoctoral Fellows:
  • 50% time allocation for work on the GLT project, and another 50% for their own science.
  • Expected to occasionally work at the GLT site (Thule, Greenland), depending on project needs.
  • Two-year contract, with the possibility of a two-year extension based on satisfactory performance.
  • Encouraged to participate in the wider activities of the EHT collaboration.

Required Education

Applicants should hold a Ph.D. degree in astronomy/astrophysics, physics, computation, engineering, or equivalent fields. Those who are expecting to receive a PhD degree soon can also apply.

Desirable Skills

• Experience in single-dish telescope, interferometric array, and/or VLBI commissioning.
• Experience in radio interferometry.
• Experience in software development (we use Python for high-level software, and C/C++ in low-level software).

Application Procedure

Applicants should submit the following documents to the email address below

• a curriculum vitae,
• a publication list,
• a summary of past and current research and/or instrumentation/commissioning experience,
• a plan for future research
• three letters or more of recommendation