Job Vacancies

There are 4 openings for PhD students or post-doctoral researchers in the Belgian Prodex 6 project 'The solar drivers of Space Weather'. The goal of the project is to study the basic physical processes of solar origin that determine Space Weather, and to integrate the various subproblems defined by these processes into global MHD simulations of the dynamic solar wind from its origin in the low solar corona up to its interaction with the outer magnetosphere. By confronting these simulations with actual observations, we want to evaluate the predictive capabilities of such global MHD simulation models. The succesful candidates will be appointed for two or three years. The project starts on December 1, 2000.

In this project the Centre for Plasma Astrophysics (K.U.Leuven), the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), and the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI) combine their expertise in theoretical modeling (CMEs, solar wind, shock waves, etc.) and observational solar physics (EIT, LASCO, radio observations), aeronomy and magnetospheric physics (ULYSSES and CLUSTER), numerical techniques, large-scale computer simulations and numerical analysis. In each of the four teams there is a position vacant.

The postdoc salary is approximately 36000 Euro per year (before taxes), depending on qualifications. A budget is available for attending international conferences, study visits and publications.

Profile of the candidate:

  • a Master's degree or a PhD in physics, mathematics or computational sciences;
  • previous experience in ANY of the following fields is an advantage:
    simulation techniques in MHD, LASCO/EIT data analysis, radio observations, magnetospheric physics (theory and observations);
  • a collaborative spirit is required since the candidate will have to collaborate closely with the other post-docs and research students in the project. Interested candidates should send or Email their CV and a short statement of research interests ASAP to:
    Stefaan Poedts
    CPA, K.U.Leuven
    Celestijnenlaan 200 B
    3001 Leuven
    Belgium
    Tel: + 32 16 32 70 23
    Fax: + 32 16 32 79 98
    Email: Stefaan.Poedts@wis.kuleuven.ac.be
    and, when applying for a specific position, to the contact person of the prefered group (see the above-mentioned links).