PhD and Postdoctoral Position Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC)

The Relativistic Jets and Blazars group at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC) offers, trough a grant funded by the regional government of Andalusia, a four-year PhD position and a two-year postdoctoral contract.

Our research group is focussed on the study of relativistic jets commonly present in active galactic nuclei, produced by the mass accretion onto supermassive black holes. In particular we are interested in obtaining a better understanding of the role played by the magnetic field in the jet dynamics, formation, and high energy emission. This research is carried out through observations at multiple wave bands, from radio to optical, X and gamma rays. The interpretation of the observational results is performed through comparison with numerical models of the non-thermal emission from these objects.

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with experience in either observations (preferably in radio) or simulations of relativistic jets.

Interested candidates for the PhD position should have a B.S. in Physics prior to the starting of the position.

Reviewing of both applications will start in March/April 2010 and will continue until the positions are filled.

For further information please contact Jose L. Gómez at jlgomez@iaa.es (http://www.iaa.csic.es/~jlgomez).

Chemistry, dynamics and structure of the Milky Way" Summer School and Workshop on Galactic Studies with the LAMOST Surveys

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            "Chemistry, dynamics and structure of the Milky Way"         Summer School and Workshop on Galactic Studies with the LAMOST Surveys

                     KIAA-PKU, Beijing --- July 5-23, 2010                       URL: http://kiaa.pku.edu.cn/Activities/sw2010/index.html

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Scientific Rationale

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China has recently completed the construction of an important new instrument which will revolutionise the field of large spectroscopic surveys. The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) is an innovative quasi-meridian reflecting Schmidt Telescope capable of simultaneously securing spectra of 4,000 objects in a field of view of 5 degrees in diameter. The telescope, which is located at Xinglong Station operated by the National Astronomical Observatories (CAS), is currently undergoing commissioning with surveys due to commence in 2011.

The LAMOST Experiment for Galactic Understanding and Evolution (LEGUE) will secure optical spectra of millions of Galactic stars and measure their radial velocities and basic parameters (effective temperatures, surface gravities and metallicities). In excellent synergy with the forthcoming GAIA mission, LEGUE will generate a unique data set to 1) study the composition, kinematics and structure of the thin/thick disks and halo; 2) identify tidal streams/debris of disrupted dwarfs and clusters; 3) probe the gravitational potential and dark matter distribution; 4) map interstellar dust extinction in three dimensions; 5) search for rare objects (e.g. extremely-low-metallicity/hyper-velocity stars and brown dwarfs); and 6) ultimately advance our understanding of the assembly of the Milky Way and the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies in general.

As a consequence of this important development, KIAA-PKU will be hosting a Summer School and Workshop on the chemistry, dynamics and structure of the Milky Way. The School will consist of a two-week long series of lectures, given by some of the most distinguished academics in the field. Following the School we will hold a one-week Workshop, where many of the leading researchers will come together to present their latest results. We will allow a significant amount of time for discussions, in order to encourage interaction between the Workshop participants and also the younger researcher who are attending the School. This Summer School and Workshop will train young scientists in this diverse field and promote collaboration for future partnerships.

Participation

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The summer school will be limited 60 students. The following workshop will be limited to, at most, 120 participants. Among them, 60 are expected to be PhD students who have attended the Summer School.

There is no registration fee for the summer school. For the followup workshop, the registration fee will be 120 USD if registering before the 15th of March and 180 USD otherwise. The fee includes the opening reception, morning and afternoon refreshments, and daily lunch. Limited financial support may be available for students attending the summer school. In order to be considered for support, the students will have to register before the Early Registration Deadline (15th March).

For maximum flexibility, accommodation is the responsibility of the participants, but we will provide a list of good hotels conveniently located adjacent to the conference venue.

To register for the Workshop or School, please fill in the online registration form here:

http://kiaa.pku.edu.cn/Activities/sw2010/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=registers

Note that students attending the school are required to arrange for a brief letter of recommendation to be sent to Ms. Ning Zhang by email >, fax (+86 10 6276 7900) or post (Ms. Ning Zhang, The Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Yi He Yuan Lu 5, Hai Dian Qu, Beijing 100871, P. R. China). To receive full consideration, this letter should arrive before March 15th.

Location

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The conference will take place at Peking University. The campus, known as "Yan Yuan" (the garden of Yan), is situated at Haidian District in the northwestern suburb of Beijing, with a total area of 274 hectares. It stands near to the Yuanmingyuan Garden and the Summer Palace.

Key dates

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15 December 2009      : 1st announcement            31 January 2010       : 2nd announcement           15 March 2010         : Early registration and abstracts submission

31 May 2010           : Deadline of registration                    30 June 2010          : Third announcement            5 July 2010           : School begins             9 July 2010           : Workshop begins

Publication

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We do not plan to produce hard-copy proceedings. Instead we will post the electronic presentations on the website soon after the conference.

Summer School lecturers

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Timothy Beers (MSU)

James Binney (University of Oxford)

Kenneth Freeman (RSAA)

Steven Majewski (University of Virginia)

Simon White (MPA)

Invited Workshop Speakers

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G Battaglia, V Belokurov, E Wylie de Boer, A Brooks, D Carollo, L Chen, A Cooper, X Cui, V Debattista, LC Deng, L Eyer,  R Guhathakurta, A Helmi, JL Hou, R Ibata, M Juric, D Kawata, S Keller, S Koposov, C Liu, XW Liu, YS Lee, A Maccio, D Mackey, N Martin, Lucio Mayer (TBC), J Penarrubia, C Rockosi, R Roskar, R Schoenrich, A Siebert, K Venn, M Walker, HC Wang, Y Zhao, X Zhou, D Zucker

Scientific Organizing Committee

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Timothy Beers (MSU)

Yaoquan Chu (USTC)

Licai Deng (NAOC; co-chair)

Zhanwen Han (YAO)

Jinliang Hou (ShAO)

Biwei Jiang (BNU)

Xiaowei Liu (KIAA-PKU; co-chair)

Heidi Newberg (RPI)

Eric Peng (KIAA-PKU)

Martin Smith (KIAA-PKU)

Nic Walton (IoA)

Ji Yang (PMO)

Gang Zhao (NAOC)

Yongheng Zhao (NAOC)

Local Organizing Committee

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Ruben Garcia-Benito

Zhiying Huo

Chengze Liu

Huawei Zhang

Ning Zhang (Chair)

Jie Yao

Haibo Yuan

European Single Dish Astronomy in the Era of Arrays

A single dish summer school to be held between September 27 - October 1 

in Bonn and Effelsberg.

More information will follow in short time on this page.

http://www.mpifr.de/div/effelsberg/SummerSchool/Main.html

TWELFTH SYNTHESIS IMAGING WORKSHOP FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT

The Twelfth Synthesis Imaging Workshop will be held at the NRAO and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, NM, on June 8-15, 2010. In addition to introductory lectures on radio interferometry, advanced topics will cover a selection of new synthesis instruments, including the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), the Expanded VLA (EVLA) and the Long Wavelength Array. The workshop will also feature two days of hands-on data reduction tutorials, and tours of the EVLA and the Science Operations Center. Attendance at the Synthesis Imaging Workshop will be limited to 150 people. See http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/events/synthesis/2010/ for more information on scheduled lectures and events. If you are interested in receiving more information about the workshop, please pre-register at the same web page. Full registration will open February 1st, and will be on a first-come-first-served basis. There will be a registration fee of $200, which includes a copy of ASP Conf. Ser. Vol. 180, "Synthesis Imaging in Radio Astronomy II."

Information for participants outside the US: it is our understanding of current US policy that attending a scientific workshop in the US should only require a visitor visa. Should you find you need a letter of invitation, please contact Amy Mioduszewski. Due to processing delays we strongly encourage you to start paperwork early.

The Synthesis Imaging Workshop is sponsored by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and the University of New Mexico.

Amy Mioduszewski on behalf of the Scientific Organizing Committee 

Note:

Full registration will open February 1st,

and will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships in Cosmology, Gravitation or String Theory

Job Advertisement: Closing Date 28th February 2010

University of Cape Town

Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships in Cosmology, Gravitation or String  

Theory

1+1 year position(s)

Deadline: 28 February (but will remain open until filled)

http://cosmology.uct.ac.za/GroupGrantAdvert-2010.pdf

Up to three Post-doctoral research fellowships are available in the  

Cosmology and Gravity Group at the University of Cape Town. The fields  

of research are open, but preference will be given to candidates whose  

research interests are aligned with those of members of the group.

Positions are available for a period of up to two years, subject to  

satisfactory performance and renewed funding. The stipend will afford  

a good standard of living and access to travel and equipment grants.

The fellowship is awarded as part of the South African National  

Research Foundation Blue Skies Initiative. To be eligible for a  

Fellowship, the candidate must have received his or her PhD within 5  

calendar years preceding that in which the Fellowship would begin.

If you require further details please email any member of the group.

To apply, please email your CV, publication list, a statement of  

research interests and three letters of recommendation to

Ms Rushana du Toit ( CO Ms Nicky Walker) nassp@saao.ac.za

Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics

University of Cape Town

Rondebosch 7701

South Africa

Phone: +27 21 460 9346

Fax: +27 21 447 3639

UCT is committed to equity in its employment practices.

Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in Astrophysics, Cosmology or Gravitation

Job Advertisement: Closing Date 28th February 2010

University of Cape Town

Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in  Astrophysics, Cosmology or  

Gravitation

1+1 year position

Deadline: 28 February (but will remain open until filled)

http://cosmology.uct.ac.za/ACGCpostdocAdvert-2010.pdf

The newly launched Centre for Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravity  

(ACGC) at the University of Cape Town is offering its inaugural Post- 

doctoral research fellowship. The Centre includes members from the  

Astronomy Department as well as the Cosmology & Gravity Group in the  

Mathematics and Applied Mathematics department. The fields of research  

are open, but preference will be given to candidates whose research  

interests are aligned with members of the Centre.

Positions are available for a period of up to two years, subject to  

satisfactory performance and renewed funding. The stipend will afford  

a good standard of living, and access to travel and equipment grants.

The fellowship is awarded as part of the South African National  

Research Foundation Blue Skies Initiative. To be eligible for a  

Fellowship, the candidate must have received his or her PhD within 5  

calendar years preceding that in which the Fellowship would begin.

If you require further details please email any member of the Centre.

To apply, please email your CV, publication list, a statement of  

research interests and three letters of recommendation to

Ms Carol Marsh

Department of Astronomy

University of Cape Town

Rondebosch 7700

South Africa

admin@ast.uct.ac.za

Phone: +27 21 650 5830

Fax: +27 21 650 4547

UCT is committed to equity in its employment practices.