Postdoc position in the area of "Mars Atmospheric Sounding and Modeling"

The Group of Atmospheres of the Terrestrial Planets (GAPT), of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC) invites applications for a 1.5 years (18 months) postdoc position in the area of Mars Atmospheric Sounding and Modeling. The project is aligned with the Group's focus areas of upper atmosphere modeling, remote sounding from space, radiative transfer in the infrared and UV, and comparative planetology. It will run in paralel with the UPWARDS project, lead by the Group within the Horizon 2020 programme, and will be performed under the supervision of Dr M. A. Lopez-Valverde and in close collaboration with other European and US research groups.

Project description

The successful candidate will perform analysis and physical interpretation of the new measurements of the upper Martian atmosphere being currently acquired by diverse scientific instruments on board the NASA mission MAVEN. Focus will be paid on UV emissions, thermal structure and density measurements at thermospheric altitudes. Collaboration with the Maven Team members and use of the public data from the mission, which starts to be available by mid-2015, are foreseen. Specifically, the successful candidate will carry out simulations of the atmospheric emissions using radiative transfer tools and atmospheric models, both 1-D radiative-convective-composion time marching models and 3-D General Circulation Models.

Qualifications

Candidates should have a Ph.D. degree in astronomy, planetary or atmospheric research, but may apply prior to obtaining their Ph.D. degree. The successful candidate shall ideally have:
• Scientific publications in related topics
• Good communication skills in English, both written and spoken
• Ability to work independently and take responsibility for progress of project
• Well established skills to work in a team
• Strong computer programming skills

Assessment

The assessment of the applicants will be made by a small tribunal presided by Dr. Miguel A. Lopez-Valverde (IAA/CSIC), via an open public contest where candidates shall apply.

Salary and appointment terms

The appointment will be based on the collective agreement within the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and vary according to personal cases, but the estimated gross income will be about 35000 € per year (distributed in 12 monthly and 2 extra payments).
The employment is expected to start October 1st, 2015 or shortly thereafter.

Application and Procedures

We must receive an expression of interest during June 2015.
Detailed instructions will eventually be given to interested candidates.
Contact:
Miguel A. Lopez-Valverde valverde@iaa.es Voice line: +34 958121311