Career Opportunities

2009 Jansky Fellowship Program

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) announces the 2009 Jansky Fellowship postdoctoral program that provides outstanding opportunities for research in astronomy. Jansky Fellows formulate and carry out investigations either independently or in collaboration with others within the wide framework of interests of the Observatory. Prior radio experience is not required and multi-wavelength projects leading to a synergy with NRAO instruments are encouraged. The NRAO also encourages applications from candidates with interest in radio astronomy instrumentation, computation, and theory.

Up to three appointments will be made for positions at any of the NRAO sites (Socorro, NM; Green Bank, WV; and Charlottesville, VA). In the coming years, as ALMA commissioning activities get underway, we plan on positions being available in Chile. Jansky Fellows are encouraged to spend time at universities working with collaborators during the course of their fellowship. In addition to appointments at NRAO sites, up to three non-resident Jansky Fellowship appointments will be offered for positions that may be located at a U.S. university. Frequent and/or long term visits to NRAO sites are encouraged. Split Fellowships with time spent at NRAO and at a U.S. university are allowed.

The starting salary will be $58,000 per year with an appointment duration of two years and possible renewal for a third year. A research budget of up to $10,000 per year is provided for travel and computing requirements. Fellows are eligible for page charge support, vacation accrual, health insurance coverage, and a moving allowance. In addition, up to $3,000 per year is provided to the host institution to defray local institutional costs for Jansky Fellows resident at non-NRAO sites.

The NRAO web site provides a description of the application process and other relevant details: http://www.nrao.edu/admin/do/jansky-postdocs.shtml. Candidates must receive their PhD prior to beginning a Jansky Fellowship appointment.

The deadline for both applications and letters of recommendation is Monday, November 17, 2008. The NRAO is an equal opportunity employer - women and minorities are encouraged to apply (M/F/H/V).

Award offers will be made by February 15, 2009, with the Fellowships expected to begin in September 2009.

NRAO Tenure Track Astronomer

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) has an opening for a tenure track astronomer position. The highest priority of the Observatory is to recruit new scientific staff that will enhance the scientific use and development of our new flagship facilities ALMA and EVLA. This year's search will focus on the scientific areas of astro-chemistry, proto-planetary disks, exo-planets, large-scale structure and time-domain astronomy, with technical expertise in millimeter and sub-millimeter spectroscopy, interferometric data analysis (including pipelines, data mining, high performance computing and algorithms). Preference will be given to applicants in these areas, although exceptional candidates with expertise in other areas will also be considered.

The NRAO currently operates the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), the 100-m Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), and the Very Large Array. It is also the North American lead in the construction of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), and is building the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA). The completion of the EVLA and ALMA early in the next decade represents a one to two order of magnitude improvement in observational capabilities at centimeter through submillimeter wavelengths. Both facilities will be revolutionary in addressing a broad range of fundamental problems in astrophysics. Looking farther beyond, NRAO is increasingly involved in the planning of the next generation cm/m-wave facilities in the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) program.

The NRAO web site provides a description of the application process and other relevant details: http://www.nrao.edu/admin/do/tenuretrack.shtml

The deadline for applications and letters of recommendation is Monday, December 22, 2008.

The NRAO is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer - women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

NAASC Scientist - CASA Scientific Software Developer: The North American ALMA Science Center (the NAASC) has an opening for a scientist to work on the development of the new ALMA data reduction and analysis package CASA (Common Astronomy Software Applications).

NAASC Scientist - Commissioning Liaison: The North American ALMA Science Center (the NAASC) has an opening for a scientist to work, during commissioning and verification, as a liaison between the NAASC, which is headquartered at the NRAO headquarters in Charlottesville, VA and the ALMA telescope at its high site in northern Chile.

NAASC Postdoctoral Fellow - Splatalogue: The North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) located at NRAO headquarters in Charlottesville, VA (on the campus of the University of Virginia) invites applications for a postdoctoral fellow to work with the NAASC scientific staff as it gears up to support the needs of the community when ALMA early science begins in 2011. This position is aimed primarily at independent research, but with an emphasis on exercising ALMA end-to-end software and databases from a scientific perspective.

NAASC Postdoctoral Fellow - CASA: The North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) located at NRAO headquarters in Charlottesville, VA (on the campus of the University of Virginia) invites applications for a postdoctoral fellow to work with the NAASC scientific staff as it gears up to support the needs of the community when ALMA early science begins in 2011. This position is aimed primarily at independent research, but with an emphasis on exercising ALMA end-user software from a scientific perspective.

ALMA Commissioning Scientists: The Joint ALMA office is seeking commissioning scientists to assist the Project Scientist and Deputy Project Scientist in planning and executing the scientific commissioning of ALMA. The successful applicants will be expected and encouraged to continue an active program of independent research.