The University of Turku is an inspiring and international academic community of 25,000 students and staff in Southwest Finland. We build a sustainable future with multidisciplinary research, education, and collaboration. With us, your work will have a significant impact and relevance in the changing world.

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Researcher position funded by the Academy of Finland to work with Dr. Rubina Kotak in the area of supernovae (SNe) and related transients at the University of Turku (UTU). The position is fixed-term for 14 months and the assignment begins on October 2023.

The UTU transients team is a vibrant and productive research group within the Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, and currently comprises 17 members with diverse expertise. UTU members lead key science projects in several large international consortia with access to guaranteed observing time e.g., the Son of X-Shooter instrument (ESO) and the NOT Transient Explorer. Access to other facilities is guaranteed via national or institutional support e.g., European Southern Observatory, the Nordic Optical Telescope (co-owned by UTU), and the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO)

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

The successful applicant will be expected to support and participate in ongoing projects and lead new ones. Depending on the skills and interests of the applicant, this may include discovery and survey operations, acquisition and analysis of large multi-wavelength datasets, and/or modelling and interpretation of observations.

Qualifications

Applicants should ideally have previous experience in applying and optimising machine learning techniques to large data sets resulting from ground-based optical transient surveys. Furthermore, the applicant must already hold a PhD degree in astronomy, or have successfully defended their thesis by the agreed starting date.

We welcome applicants from under-represented minorities and diverse backgrounds.

Salary

The salary is determined in accordance with the university salary system for teaching and research personnel and will depend on the degree and qualifications of the applicant. The salary for a Post-doctoral Researcher 3300 - 3500 euro/month on average depending on competence and experience.

Salaried positions in Finland automatically include payments to a pension fund, unemployment funds, an extensive occupational healthcare, affordable sports services and even a holiday allowance. All these positions belong to the personnel group of teaching and research personnel and have flexible working possibilities as we support a work-life balance.

A six (6) month trial period applies to the positions. The qualification requirements of the positions are written in the University of Turku Rules of Procedure.

Ready to apply?

Please submit your application through the online application system no later than 24.5.2023. Kindly use a link to the online application system https://www.utu.fi/en/university/come-work-with-us.

In addition, applications must have the following enclosures (in English and in PDF format):

1) CV (max 2 pages)

2) a list of publications

3) copies of degree certificates

4) 1 letter of reference (to be sent directly to rubina.kotak(at)utu.fi by the closing date)

For more information on the position, contact Dr. Rubina Kotak, rubina.kotak(at)utu.fi.

For more information on the application process, contact HR-specialist Saija Marjasto, saija.marjasto(at)utu.fi.

Working in Finland

Please learn more about the culture and people in Finland:

• Career in Southwestern Finland (with information on Turku)
• Working culture
• This is Finland
• University of Turku