University Assistant postdoctoral in Data Science in Astrophysics

Explore and teach at the University of Vienna, where over 7,500 academic minds have found a unique blend of freedom and support. Join us if you're driven by a passion for top-notch international research and scientific excellence.

Your working place:

The Department of Astrophysics with currently around 90 members is part of the Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy at the University of Vienna.

We are looking for a University Assistant Postdoc to join the dynamic research team led by Prof. Oliver Hahn (https://cosmology.univie.ac.at). Our ideal candidate has a strong background in computational cosmology/astrophysics, and a pronounced interest and strong track record in the modelling of the large-scale structure of our Universe or related efforts in cosmology. The successful candidate will support and complement existing research efforts of our team, while further developing and shaping their own research profile in collaboration with the group. The members of our team have privileged access to the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC5).

The employment period is three (3) years, with the possibility of a one-year extention. Starting date is 09/01/2025, but is negotiable, a start date before September 2025 is possible.

Your future tasks:

You will actively participate in research, teaching & administration, which means:

• You identify and address research questions in the field of cosmology and the modelling of our Universe.
• You contribute to the innovative development of numerical or data-driven methods for cosmology.
• You become an active team member of the “Data Science in Astrophysics” research group and help with organizing activities (e.g. journal clubs, seminars).
• You publish in international renowned journals and present at international meetings.
• You (co-)supervise Bachelor, Master and Doctoral students in Astronomy.
• You hold courses independently within the scope of the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.
• You take on administrative tasks in research and teaching.

Your profile:

• Doctoral/PhD degree in physics/astrophysics with affinity for programming, or in computer science/applied mathematics with affinity for astronomy/astrophysics
• Emphasis in one or more of the following areas: numerical or data-driven modelling applied to problems in cosmology
• Main-author publications in renowned subject-relevant media
• Excellent command of written and spoken English
• Excellent abilities to work in a team and excellent communication skills
• Outstanding programming skills
• Readiness to actively contribute to software developed by the group (see webpage)

Additionally:

• Very good organizational skills are highly desirable
• Supervision and teaching experience are desirable
• Expertise in numerical methods for computational cosmology or involvement in LSS collaborations is highly desirable
• Expertise with programming for parallel environments/GPUs is a benefit
• Presentation experience in an international setting is a benefit

What we offer:

Inspiring working atmosphere: You will have the opportunity to work within a dedicated team on forefront science, while profiting from the international environment in the Department of Astrophysics (https://astro.univie.ac.at/en/). We have privileged access to the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC; https://vsc.ac.at/) super-computing facility. As a member state of ESO (https://www.eso.org/) and ESA (https://www.esa.int/), Austria has access to their first-class observing facilities.

Good public transport connections: Your working place, the University Observatory, is located in the middle of the natural monument Observatory Park in the lively city of Vienna with outstanding public transport.

Work-life balance: Our employees enjoy flexible working hours and can partly work from home within Austria upon agreement. Part-time work is possible upon agreement.

Internal further training & coaching: Opportunity to deepen your skills on an ongoing basis. There are over 600 courses to choose from – free of charge.

Fair salary: A basic gross salary of EUR 4,752.30 per month 40h/week (amount for 2024), 14 times a year.

Equal opportunities for everyone: We look forward to diverse personalities in the team!

Are you interested?

Please prepare your application with the following information: a motivation letter, a curriculum vitae (with a list of publications and presentations), a statement of research interests (maximum of three (3) pages) and arrange for two (2) to three (3) letters of recommendation to be sent directly to oliver.hahn@univie.ac.at mentioning the applicant's name and the job ID 3320 by 01/05/2025.