Postdoctoral fellowship position in the field of stars and stellar populations

Ref: IA2018-02-BPD

The Centro de Investigação em Astronomia/Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto (CAUP) opens a call for 1 postdoctoral fellowship (Bolsa de Pós-Doutoramento) in the field of stars and stellar populations at the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA). The position is offered in the context of the project ''The GAIA-ESO census of the Milk Way: unlocking the secrets of stellar populations'' with financial support provided by the FCT through national funds (refª PTDC/FIS-AST/7073/2014) and co-funded by FEDER through COMPETE2020 (refª POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016880).

The Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) is the reference institution for this area in Portugal, integrating researchers form the University of Porto and the University of Lisbon, and is responsible for a major fraction of the national productivity in international ISI journals in this area. The research and development effort at the IA includes most of the topics at the forefront of research in Astrophysics and Space Sciences, complemented by work on instrumentation and systems with potential use in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The call is open in the field of stars and galactic stellar populations, and the fellowship is to be started between March and April 2018. The position can be extended until the end of the project (which ends on the 30 June 2019). It is awarded for 6 months, followed by additional renewal, upon successful evaluation.

The fellowship contract will comply with the ''Lei nº 40/2004 de 18 de Agosto (Estatuto do Bolseiro de Investigação) and ''Regulamento de Bolsas e Investigação da Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia'' in force (http://fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/docs/RegulamentoBolsasFCT.pdf).

According to the FCT table values (http:www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores), the monthly allowance will be €1495 (tax free) and will be paid monthly by bank transfer. The fellowships holders will have a personal accident insurance. Funds for traveling (conferences, collaborations, observing missions) are also available. The work plan is to be carried out in IA, in Porto, under the supervision of Dr. Vardan Adibekyan form the ''Origin and Evaluation of Stars and Planets'' Research Group.

Research work plan
The successful candidate is expected to pursue research in the field of stars and stellar populations, and to provide additional support to our participation in the GAIA-ESO survey. The successful candidates is expected to work on chemical characterization of solar-type stars through optical high and medium resolution spectroscopy.

Application
The application, to be submitted through the web form below, should include the following information:
- cover letter with a brief description of the candidate's experience and motivation;
- Curriculum Vitae (up to 4 pages in 10pt size format at minimum) and a scan of the PhD degree diploma;
- a complete list of scientific publications, a brief description (up to 3 lines) of the candidate's contribution to the most relevant papers is welcome;
- name and contact details (position, email, address) of two referees, available to provide information about the candidate (these will be contacted at the jury's discretion).

Applications will be accepted from the 30th of january to 20th of February, 2018.

Selection criteria and evaluation
The applicant must be holder of a PhD degree. Only applications from candidates having an adequate background in Astronomy, Physics, Mathematics, or other relevant domains, will be considered. The curricular evaluation of the candidates will be done based on:
- cover letter with a brief description of the candidate's experience and motivation (10%);
- CV, including the relevance of their publications (50%);
- relevance and adequacy of previous research experience and research plan to the current project/fellowship, and the priorities of the team and of IA (40%).

An ordered list of candidates will be defined by the selection committee based on the submitted documents and the criteria mentioned above. All candidates fulfilling the selection criteria and having a minimum grade of 60% will be considered for a shortlist. The short-listed applicants will be required to attend an interview for the second stage of the evaluation. The outcome of the interview on the evaluation is applied as a factor between 0.8 and 1.2, multiplied by the result of the first stage, to determinate the final evaluation of the shortlisted candidates.

Awarding of the contract
Following the evaluation process the contracts will be offered according to the ordering list proposed by the selection committee. The positions will be granted only if suitable candidates are found. Only candidates with a minimum grade of 60% will be accepted. The selected candidates will be notified by e-mail.

For inquires please contact Dr. Vardan Adibekyan.

Selection Committee
Vardan Adibekyan (chair)
Elisa Delgado Mena
João Lima
José Afonso
Sérgio Sousa

Publication Date
15th January 2018

The period for application submission has ended for this opportunity.