Solaire Research Training Network - Postdoctoral postion at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research

Postdoctoral postion at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research

General Statement and Description

Specific job description

Duration and starting date

Nature of appointment and salary

Who can apply

Application procedure

Information and queries

General statement and description

The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) invites applications for a postdoctoral position in a solar physics research group that is part of the SOLAIRE Research Training Network (http://www.solairenetwork.net/ ) financed by the European Commission. The aim of this network is to carry out research through collaboration of its partners, and to provide intensive training of researchers at the initial stages of their careers. The successful candidate will do research within the collaborative packages of the network and be able to profit from the training opportunities offered by SOLAIRE.

Specific job description

We are looking for a candidate with strong interest and background in solar and heliospheric plasma physics, who will continue and extend our present numerical and analytical theoretical studies on, and/or observational investigations of, the origin and acceleration of the steady and transient solar wind and various heating processes of the corona. The group's ongoing research concentrates on collisionless and microturbulent transport, and on reconnection, extrapolation and modelling of the coronal magnetic field. The postdoc at MPS will have to work on one of these topics, but also directly benefit from the Solaire network research environment, including network meetings, postgraduate schools and complementary-skills courses.

Duration and starting date

The position will last for 18 months. The expected starting date is as soon as possible after the end of the selection process, preferably on 1 June 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 Max-Planck Society. 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 appointee will receive career exploratory and travel 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 only open to nationals of any European Union country (including associate states but excluding Germany) with more than 4 years and less than 10 years of postgraduate research experience at the time of the appointment. 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 exception to these rules can be obtained from the contact addresses given below.

The Solaire network especially encourages applications from women.