The University of Turku (UTU) is a world-class multidisciplinary research university which offers interesting challenges and a unique vantage point to national and international research and education.

Postdoctoral Researcher/Senior Researcher for a fixed-term position at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Turku

The UTU Stellar Explosions group (https://sites.utu.fi/sne/) is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to conduct research on supernovae (SNe) and their environments, in particular in ongoing projects that include nebular spectroscopy, IFU studies of SN hosts, and follow-up of exceptional transients. The Postdoctoral Researcher will be working at the Department of Physics and Astronomy as part of a research project funded by the Academy of Finland: "Environments of supernovae and astrophysical transients".

Our Stellar Explosions research group is actively pursuing various SN/transients projects using mainly the ESO facilities and the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT). UTU is also a consortium member in several instrumentation projects, most notably the wide-band spectrographs the Son of X-Shooter (SOXS) at the ESO NTT and the NOT Transient Explorer (NTE) at the NOT, with guaranteed future observing time. UTU is also a member of the Gravitational-Wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) being built on La Palma. Applicants interested in astronomical instrumentation are welcome to contribute in these and other projects.

A successful applicant needs to have the ability to conduct independent research work, possess good collaboration skills and be fluent in English language. The applicant is expected to have strong experience in SN/transients observations (photometry, spectroscopy) and/or host galaxy environment studies. Experience with handling IFU data is an advantage.

Postdoctoral Researcher candidates must hold a doctoral degree in astronomy or related fields by end of application period. Candidates close to the completion of their doctoral studies will be considered, provided having an excellent publication record and demonstrating sufficient independence in their research. If the candidate does not have a doctoral degree the title is Senior Researcher.

The fixed-term position starts as soon as possible, preferably by 1 September 2020, and will last until 31 August 2022 irrespective of the starting date. There is a possibility for a one year extension. Candidates are encouraged to apply for positions of the Academy of Finland to extend this period.

The salary is determined in accordance with the university salary system for teaching and research personnel. For a postdoctoral researcher, the salary is at levels 4-6 on the job demands chart, where the task specific salary component is 2535,20-3423,25 EUR/month. In addition, a personal work performance component at a maximum 50 % of the task specific salary will be paid. There is a trial period of six months.

We welcome applicants from under-represented minorities and diverse backgrounds.
Turku is an affordable, pleasant city to live in, located in southwest of Finland where the weather is temperate and flight connections are good via Helsinki and Stockholm.

Applications must be submitted by 24 February 2020 (23:59 EST) at the latest via the electronic application form of the University of Turku. The link to the electronic application system can be found at the beginning of this announcement (Apply for the job). This job announcement can be found from the University of Turku recruitment page:
https://www.utu.fi/en/university/come-work-with-us/open-vacancies

A CV, a list of publications, a research statement (4 pages max.), and at least two academic recommendation letters (to be sent directly to ajfjal@utu.fi by the application deadline), and other documents that may affect to the selection need to be attached to the application.