http://research.iac.es/proyecto/solaire

General Statement and Description

Duration and starting date

Nature of appointment and salary

Who can apply

Application procedure

Information and queries

General statement and description

This postdoctoral position is for a researcher with experience in computational physics and numerical MHD modelling. We are looking for a candidate with interest in solar and plasma physics, who will continue and extend our present numerical modelling of the physics of coronal mass ejections. In particular, the task is to modify our Centrally Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (CWENO)-based MHD code to spherical polar coordinates and, subsequently, to embed it into the existing adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) framework ``racoon''.  Basic knowledge of parallelization and C++ will be of advantage.  The "Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie" hosts the "Lehrstuhl für Weltraum- und  Astrophysik" and the "Lehrstuhl für Plasma-, Laser- und Atomphysik", whose  members have high expertise in the theory and modelling of space and laboratory plasmas as well as in computational physics. Their participation in various international collaborations involves frequent visits of internationally recognized scientists thereby providing a stimulating research environment.  The postdoc will also directly benefit from the Solaire network research environment, which has the explicit aim of fostering research collaborations among its participating institutions and its five collaborative work packages. The activities of the network include network meetings, postgraduate schools and complementary-skills courses.

Duration and starting date

The position will last for 12 months, with a possible extension by another 6 months.
Expected starting date is as soon as possible after the end of the selection process, and, preferably, until May 1, 2009.

Nature of the Appointment and Salary

The selected candidate will be appointed with a full-time, temporary contract, the salary and extras being paid through the Solaire EU network funds. Salary and social benefits are based on the applicable EU regulations as well as the local regulations of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Following the European Commission rules, the gross salary for this employment contract will be roughly 34150 Euro/year, plus a mobility allowance depending on the marital status of the applicant. From these amounts, local taxes and the employee's contribution to social security must be deducted. In addition, the appointees will receive career exploratory, travel and mobility allowances in accordance with the European Commission's rules for Marie Curie Networks.

Who can apply

At the time of appointment, applicants must be in possession of a PhD and have between 4 and 10 years of research experience after obtaining a degree that gives access to doctoral studies in the country in which the degree was obtained.
The position is open to nationals of any EU or associated country other than Germany (although German nationals may apply if they have spent at least 4 of the last 5 years in a country which is not an EU Member or associated country). Additionally, at the start of their appointment, the candidate may not have resided or carried out their main activity in Germany for more than 12 months in the previous 3 years.
Further conditions and exceptions to these rules can be obtained in the contact addresses given below.
The Solaire network especially encourages applications from women.

Application Procedure

Candidates must submit, before February 15, 2009,

• a Curriculum Vitae including a list of publications, a brief report on the past research/technical activity, and a statement of suitability  for the position. 

• A photocopy of the PhD Degree certificate and of the Passport. 

• An electronic version of the PhD Thesis (pdf-file) if available.

Additionally, they must provide for two letters of recommendation to be sent directly by the persons recommending the candidate.

All documents must be sent to the following address (please, indicate as Subject: Solaire Postdoctoral Position)

PD Dr. Horst Fichtner

Institut für Weltraum und Astrophysik

Ruhr-Universitat Bochum

Universitätsstraße 150 44780

Bochum, Germany

Information and queries

*Concerning details about this position:
please contact PD Dr. Horst Fichtner (hf@tp4.rub.de)

*Concerning details about the Solaire network in general:
please contact Prof. F. Moreno-Insertis (fmi@iac.es)