The team leading the development of a SKA Regional Centre (SRC) Prototype at the IAA-CSIC in Spain is seeking a motivated radio astronomer to fill a 2-yr post-doctoral position (with the possibility of additional extensions) at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC, Granada).

This is a position for a radio astronomer with experience in science archives and services for their exploitation, user support and analysis of radiointerferometric data. The successful candidate will contribute to the development of the SRC prototype at the IAA-CSIC, collaborating, among others, on the design and implementation of a science archive and providing scientific user support, with 30-40% of time for their own research. The start date is negotiable, although sooner is preferable.

The IAA-CSIC has coordinated the scientific and technological participation of the Spanish community in SKA since 2011, and in June 2018 Spain became a member of the Square Kilometre Array Organisation [1,2]. It is also leading the development of a Prototype SKA Regional Centre fully engaged with Open Science principles [3]. The successful candidate will work as part of a multidisciplinary team of astronomers and engineers with a wide expertise in radio astronomy, distributed computing infrastructures, Open Science and Data Science.  The IAA-CSIC is a leading research institution in Astronomy and Astrophysics awarded with the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence Accreditation, in recognition of its cutting-edge research, high competitiveness, ambitious strategic plans, high-quality production, and a great ability to attract talent. The IAA-CSIC is situated in Granada, a historic, vibrant city at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and only a short drive from the Mediterranean coast.

Applications: Interested candidates should send their CV, a cover letter (max. 2 pages) stating the motivation for this specific job and suitable background to lourdes -at- iaa.es and jgarrido -at -iaa.es, as well as to arrange for 3 letters of reference to be sent to the same addresses.

Deadline: 28th February 2021. Full consideration will be given to all applications submitted before the deadline, but the position will remain open to applicants until it is filled.

Equal Opportunities: CSIC is a public research organisation in which the right to equality and gender non-discrimination is preserved, while promoting the conditions to real and effective equality of the individuals. Everyone is encouraged to apply.

Duties and Responsibilities

The successful applicant will join the team developing a Prototype SRC at the IAA-CSIC (Granada, Spain) led by Lourdes Verdes-Montenegro. In addition to pursue his/her own research activities,  the  responsibilities of the position will include:

- Collaboration on the design and implementation of a VO-compliant radio archive.

- Contributing to the development of access and analysis services to maximize the scientific exploitation of the archive and providing scientific support to its users.

- Participation in international collaborations related to the implementation of the archive.

In addition, the candidate, as expert in radio data processing, is expected to provide feedback on the Prototype SRC implementation, participate in benchmarking activities or in developments related to advanced analysis techniques especially for SKA pathfinders and precursors.

The successful candidate is welcome to join other activities of the team. Lourdes leads a scientifically active group of astronomers and software engineers, collaborating with different international groups, that the successful post-doctoral candidate is invited to join. She is the PI of the AMIGA project (Analysis of the interstellar Medium of Isolated Galaxies) focused on the study of galaxy evolution in extreme environments from a multiwavelength perspective, with a special emphasis on the atomic gas (HI) component with SKA precursors and pathfinders. She also leads the coordination of the Spanish participation in the SKA [2].

Qualifications

Candidates must hold a PhD in Astronomy or a closely related field, with some postdoctoral experience and are expected to be active in science.
We are looking for proactive candidates with excellent communication skills in English and with expertise in several of these aspects:

- Development of science archives and services for accessing and analysing archival data.

- Scientific exploitation of science archives, including large radio surveys and/or  multiwavelength campaign archives.

- Virtual Observatory services and IVOA standards for radio data.

- Radio data calibration processing and analysis techniques.

- Astrophysics domain software and data formats in Astronomy (e.g. FITS).

- Software development in Python.

- Ability to work independently and in a team environment.

The following aspects are not mandatory but considered an asset:

- Experience in research and future plans related to SKA science.

- Virtualisation tools (virtual machines and containers).

- Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning.

- Reproducible research and Open Science.

- Participation in the scientific community of SKA pathfinders and precursors or SKA Science Working Groups, ideally contributing to some of the large programs and surveys from SKA precursors.

Duration of the contract: 2 years, with additional extensions possible. The position comes with a competitive salary, Spanish national health care as well as funding for hardware equipment and funding for attendance to conferences and meetings with collaborators.