Star Formation and Galaxy Evolution Group at the MPIfR
Director: Prof. Dr. Amélie Saintonge
Supernova remnants (SNRs) form an important part of the stellar lifecycle due to their feedback effects and chemical enrichment of the nearby ISM. This feedback plays a key role in the evolution of galaxies. The shocks from the expanding shell of an SNR may trigger the next generation of star formation by compressing the surrounding ISM. However, SNRs can also destroy dust and increase turbulent pressure, which may quench star formation activity in their vicinity. In the Milky Way, there is a clear discrepancy between the number of expected supernova remnants based on the rate of star formation and the number of known SNRs. While many radio surveys of the Galactic plane have detected a large number of SNR candidates over the last decades, the number of confirmed remnants is still only about one third of the expected value. This discrepancy could be due to observational biases that impede the identification of a significant number of SNRs, or it could indicate that the current estimates for the star formation rate in the Milky Way are overestimated.
The aim of this PhD project is to use state-of-the-art Galactic plane surveys at higher radio frequencies and higher spatial resolution, in combination with information from other wavelengths (e.g. sub-mm and IR), to search for new SNR candidates and distinguish them from HII regions. You will have access to data from the MPIfR-MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey (MMGPS) and GLOSTAR surveys conducted with MeerKAT, the Very Large Array, and the Effelsberg telescope. You will then use all avaible data, including spectral index and polarization information as evidence for non-thermal emission, to confirm or reject the detected candidates and help to resolve this long standing issue. These results can then be compared to the numbers and properties of SNRs in nearby galaxies with various star formation histories.
- Strong background in physics and astronomy and relevant degree
- Experience working with interferometric datasets
- Good proficiency in scientific coding with Python
- Good proficiency in scientific writing supported by previously written research articles/thesis etc.
- Ability to work as part of a large, international team.
- Experience with commonly-used software for radio data analysis (in particular CASA and AIPS).
Contacts:
Dr. Andreas Brunthaler (brunthal@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de), Prof. Dr. Amélie Saintonge (asaintonge@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de)
Site: Bonn, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Star Formation and Galaxy Evolution Group
Detailed studies of molecular gas in large galaxy samples have revealed that star formation is not a completely universal process: at fixed molecular gas surface density, the output of the star formation process can vary by an order of magnitude, depending on the local properties of the gas and the large scale galactic environment. Understanding what exactly regulates the efficiency of the star formation process, and what are the dominant factors responsible for suppressing or enhancing it is however still work in progress. The challenge lies in the need to measure gas, star formation, and both the local and global properties of the galaxies in large enough samples to probe a wide range of conditions and get the full picture, while also having enough spatial resolution to zoom in on the sites of star formation and disentangle the many possible mechanisms at play.
In this PhD project, you will get to explore these questions by analysing data from a new survey, KILOGAS, which has this exact aim of combining sample size (and broad parameter space coverage) with spatial resolution. KILOGAS is a high-priority ALMA Cycle 11 project which will deliver kpc-scale CO(2-1) maps for an unprecedentedly large sample of 500 galaxies (order of magnitude increase on previous samples). All the galaxies also have resolution-matched optical integral field spectroscopic observations from the SAMI and MaNGA surveys. This will allow us to tackle a broad range of science questions, including for example the factors that trigger and regulate star formation and those responsible for quenching, to the impact of galaxy dynamics and stellar potentials on the ISM, and the connection between the ISM of galaxies and the larger scale gaseous environments. Depending on the specific science questions tackled in the thesis work, the project may be supplemented with additional data from relevant (sub)mm/radio facilities such as IRAM, APEX and MeerKAT.
Necessary requirements:
- Strong background in physics and astronomy and relevant degree.
- Good proficiency in scientific coding with Python
- Good proficiency in scientific writing supported by previously written research articles/thesis etc.
- Ability to work as part of a large, international team.
Other desirable criteria:
- Experience with commonly-used software for submm/radio data analysis (in particular CASA and GILDAS).
- Experience working with large datasets.
- Previous research experience in the general areas of interstellar medium studies, star formation, or galaxy evolution.
Prof. Dr. Amélie Saintonge (asaintonge@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de)
Site: Bonn, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Star Formation and Galaxy Evolution Group
- Strong background in physics and astronomy and relevant degree
- Good proficiency in scientific coding with Python
- Good proficiency in scientific writing supported by previously written research articles/thesis etc.
-
Ability to work as part of a team
- Experience with commonly-used software for submm/radio data analysis (python and GILDAS)
- Experience with spectroscopic data
- Previous research experience in the general areas of star formation or interstellar medium studies
Massive stars form in dense clumps within giant molecular clouds. This evolutionary sequence, from diffuse clouds, to dense cores and ultimately stars, depends on the galactic environment and the conditions in the interstellar medium. Understanding this in detail is a challenge, as it requires large-scale mapping of the gas and dust in a broad range of environments. In recent years, much progress has been made in sensitive, high-resolution mapping of our Milky Way at (sub) millimeter wavelengths, both in the dust continuum and in molecular line emission. The APEX 12m submm telescope has contributed to this significantly, with both the ATLASGAL dust continuum survey at 870 micron and the SEDIGISM survey of the southern Galactic plane in the 13CO and C18O (2-1) lines.
These surveys are now being complemented by (1) new APEX CO (2-1) and dust observations in the outer Milky Way towards lower metallicities and dust-to-gas ratios, and (2) higher excitation and angular resolution observations of CO (3-2) line and 350 micron dust imaging of giant molecular cloud complexes in the inner Milky Way. For the dust observations, the new APEX A-MKID dual color camera with ~3500 pixels at 870 and ~20000 pixels at 350 micron will be used.
In this PhD project, you will join the observations of these new Galactic Plane surveys and work on the data reduction and the combined analysis of the datasets to analyse how the physical conditions, as well as the fragmentation of clumps within clouds, vary in different Galactic environments and evolutionary stages. Furthermore, with the high spatial resolution and sensitivity that can only be obtained in our own Galaxy, the surveys will be used as a “local truth” for the reliable interpretation of gas and dust observations in distant galaxies.
Necessary requirements:
Strong background in physics and astronomy and relevant degree.
Experience working with large datasets.
Ability to work as part of a large, international team.
Other desirable criteria:
Experience with commonly-used software for submm/radio data analysis (in particular CASA and GILDAS).
Previous research experience in the general areas of star formation or interstellar medium studies.
Contacts:
Dr. Friedrich Wyrowski (wyrowski@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de), Prof. Dr. Amélie Saintonge (asaintonge@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de)
Site: Bonn, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Star Formation and Galaxy Evolution Group
- Strong background in physics and astronomy and relevant degree.
- Good proficiency in scientific coding with Python
- Good proficiency in scientific writing supported by previously written research articles/thesis etc.
- Ability to work as part of a team
Other desirable criteria:
- Experience with commonly-used software for submm/radio data analysis (python and GILDAS)
- Previous research experience in the general areas of star formation or interstellar medium studies.
Contacts:
Dr. Axel Weiss (aweiss@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de), Prof. Dr. Amélie Saintonge (asaintonge@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de)
Site: Bonn, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Star Formation and Galaxy Evolution Group
Radio continuum emission (below 10 GHz) observed in astronomical sources is a dust unbiased tracer of the thermal (free-free) and non-thermal (synchrotron) processes in the interstellar medium. The former, thermal emission, originates from warmer, ionised gas, e.g., in HII regions with electron temperatures, Te above 10000 K and is characterised by a flat power-law radio spectral energy distribution. Non-thermal emission on the other hand arises from cosmic-ray electrons gyrating in the ambient magnetic field, manifested in regions such as supernova remnants, and is described by a steeper power-law spectrum. But important questions remain regarding the distribution and relationship between these components and the molecular material. This thesis aims to address these open questions using data collected from a variety of radio and sub-mm telescopes. The aim is to understand the interplay between the different phases of the Galactic interstellar medium, i.e., thermal (neutral and ionised) and non-thermal, and how they affect the baryon cycle in galaxy evolution.
While a global linear correlation is observed between the radio continuum and molecular gas emission, the nature and variability of this relationship on local, sub-kpc scales remain unclear. Open questions include how the radio continuum—an important tracer of the star formation rate—correlates with, or deviates from, molecular gas tracers such as CO, which indicate the amount of material available for star formation, at these smaller spatial scales. Furthermore, it is essential to validate the significance of this correlation using other tracers of the molecular gas content.
The candidate will use molecular gas data from spectroscopic surveys obtained with the APEX 12m telescope, and closely work with the MPIfR-MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey (MMGPS) team to exploit the continuum data between 0.544 and 3 GHz obtained as a part of MMGPS.
Necessary requirements:
- Strong background in physics and astronomy and relevant degree (Masters).
- Good proficiency in scientific coding with, e.g., Python
- Good proficiency in scientific writing supported by previously written research articles/thesis etc.
- You are fluent in English (spoken and written).
- Motivated to work as part of a large, international collaboration.
Other desirable criteria:
- Proficiency in using the Linux OS
- Experience with commonly-used software for sub-mm/radio data analysis (GILDAS/CLASS)
- Experience working with single dish and interferometric datasets.
- Previous research experience in the general areas of interstellar medium and star formation studies.
- Experience with handling FITS/hdf5/CASA frequency cubes
- Experience with interferometric techniques and data calibration strategies
- Experience with/basic understanding of polarimetry
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Arshia Jacob (ajacob@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de), Dr. Aritra Basu (abasu@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de), Dr. Sui Ann Mao (mao@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de), Dr. Friedrich Wyrowski (wyrowski@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de)
Site: Bonn, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Star Formation and Galaxy Evolution Group
Fundamental Physics in Radio Astronomy Group at the MPIfR
Director: Prof. Dr. Michael Kramer
The origin of repeating fast radio bursts is still a major astronomical mystery, and their recurring emission enables a wide range of multi-wavelength follow-up observations that contribute to solving it. Currently new sources are discovered by blind surveys with relatively narrowband widths, providing a limited view into their emission. Broadband instruments on sensitive radio telescopes, such as the Ultra-Broadband Receiver (UBB) on the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope, provide a complementary, broadband radio view of repeater emission.
With Effelsberg and the UBB we are conducting regular monitoring of the known repeaters to investigate their emission physics through studies of burst morphology and polarization, as well as the plasma along the line of sight through propagation effects such as scattering. Moreover, the wider bandwidth and high sensitivity gives us a higher detection rate, which is critical for coordinated, multi-wavelength observing campaigns. Therefore, broadband observations provide important insights into the origin of repeaters.
The UBB receiver on Effelsberg observes at a unique frequency band of 1.3-6 GHz and is supported with the powerful, flexible Effelsberg Direct Digitization backend. With increased bandwidth comes an increase in computational requirements and contamination from radio frequency interference. In addition, our high cadence, regular monitoring requires that we process our data quickly, motivating realtime searches.
The successful applicant will implement, test, and maintain a fast single pulse search pipeline for UBB observations of repeaters and other sources of interesting single pulses such as giant pulse emitters or magnetars. Part of the work will include developing robust machine learning models that can accurately distinguish between astrophysical signals and anthropogenic interference. The student will also prepare and conduct observations with the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope. Finally, they will perform scientific analyses on the bursts discovered with the realtime pipeline and publish these results in a scientific journal.
This project is advertised as a joint project between the Fundamental Physics in Radio Astronomy group led by Prof. Michael Kramer and the Lise Meitner research group led by Dr. Laura Spitler. It will be done in collaboration with the new dynaverse Excellence Cluster funded by the DFG.
Necessary requirements for this project:
- Strong proficiency and experience in scripting/programming, in particular in Python
- Strong interest in programmatic problem solving and developing pipelines
- A background knowledge of radio astronomy
- Comfortable working with the Linux operating system
- Proficiency in scientific writing, ideally supported by previously written research articles or a masters thesis
- Enthusiasm working with in a large, international team
Other desirable criteria:
- Experience in pulsar or FRB astronomy data acquisition, analysis or inference
- Experience with machine learning techniques
- Experience with interacting with computing clusters
Contact: Dr. Laura Spitler (lspitler@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de), Prof. Dr. Michael Kramer (mkramer@mpifr.de), Dr. Ramesh Karuppusamy (ramesh@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de), Dr. Ewan Barr (ebarr@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de)
Site: Bonn, Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Fundamental Physics in Radio Astronomy Group and Research Group on Radio Transients
a) Revealing the Universe mysteries with pulsar polarimetry
Pulsar polarimetry in radio band has a wide range of astrophysical applications. In particular, the coupling of axion-like particles (ALP) to photons alters the polarization properties of light, i.e. the plane of polarization of a linearly polarized radiation propagating through the axion field with ultra-low masses starts to oscillate with typical frequencies of tens of nHz. The unique percentage of linear polarization of pulsars make pulsars one of the best and most robust probes of ALP-photon coupling. However, several pathfinder projects investigating the effectiveness of ALP searches using pulsar polarimetry revealed a number of obstacles obscuring the effect of interest. Above all are the factors related to highly-dynamical terrestrial plasma and poorly known physics of the pulsar magnetosphere, which biases our dark matter searches. The main focus of the PhD is searching for ALP signals in the latest pulsar data of LOFAR and EPTA and investigating possible influences caused by the aforementioned effects. Additionally, we will explore the potential application of pulsar polarimetric data in the study of terrestrial and pulsar plasma physics.
b) Exploring cosmological background with Pulsar Timing Arrays
Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs), whose main mission is the direct detection of nHz gravitational waves (GWs), offer unparalleled opportunities to observe the primordial Universe up to the epoch of inflation and probe physics beyond the Standard Model. In the summer of 2023 independent publications from five major pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations reported evidence for the “Hellings-Downs correlation” between datasets from different pulsars, which is a unique signature of GWs. One of the possibilities is that the observed signal may originate from the dynamics of the early Universe. This is referred to as a cosmological GW background, as opposed to an astrophysical background, formed by a population of supermassive black hole binaries residing at the centres of galaxies. Exploring possible scenarios associated with the physics of the early Universe, especially those providing a viable solution to the dark matter problem, is the overarching problem of the proposed PhD. Particular emphasis will be placed on developing the methods of advanced machine learning and high-performance computing to accelerate the analysis of the PTA datasets. This will make it easier to explore featuring observables, such as non-Gaussianity and anisotropy of the detected signal.
Necessary requirements for the project :
- Strong background in physics or astronomy
- Good proficiency in scientific writing supported by previously written research articles/thesis etc.
- Good understanding of Linux
- High level programming experience, applicant should be comfortable with scripting and/or programming, especially Python and bash
Other desirable criteria:
- Experience in working with large dataset
- Background knowledge in statistics and machine learning
- Strong background in high-performance computing
- Willingness to participate in telescope observations
- A good TOEFL/IELTS score as a testimony for their language expertise
Contact: Dr. Nataliya Porayko (nporayko@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de), Prof. Dr. Michael Kramer (mkramer@mpifr.de); in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Dominik Schwarz (University of Bielefeld)
Site: Bonn, Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Fundamental Physics in Radio Astronomy Group
Very Long Baseline Interferometry and Radio Astronomy Group at the MPIfR
Director: Prof. Dr. J. Anton Zensus
Research Group on Radio Cosmology at the MPIfR
Research Group Leader: Prof. Dr. Jonathan Pritchard
Understanding the epoch of reionization and the formation of the first stars and galaxies is a goal of many new telescopes. Complementary to direct observation of luminous galaxies is the mapping of neutral hydrogen in the inter-galactic medium via its 21cm line emission. Maps of the 21cm signal from radio telescopes, such as SKAO, will contain information about both astrophysics and cosmology.
This project will explore approaches to detecting and characterising the cosmological 21cm line over cosmic time. The project will consider modelling of the 21cm signal during and after reionization and look at applications of novel statistical and machine learning tools to inference from the 21cm signal.
Required skills:
Experience with:
- programming e.g. in python
- statistical inference and/or machine learning
- cosmology and/or extragalactic astrophysics
will be considered an advantage for this position.
Contact: Prof. Jonathan Pritchard (jpritchard@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de)
The Argelander Institute for Astronomy at the University of Bonn
Research Groups: https://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/en/research
The most massive stars, assuming mass loss is not too strong, are thought not to form iron cores, but rather to become unstable due to electron-positron-pair formation before central oxygen burning. The collapsing oxygen-rich core will then ignite oxygen explosively, which may lead to pair-instability supernovae, leaving no compact remnant. While such explosions have been predicted since 50 years ago, they were often assumed to only occur in the early universe. However, very recently, pair- instability supernovae have been found observationally in the local universe. This PhD project aims at constructing the first progenitor and explosion models for local, i.e., finite metallicity pair-instability supernovae, using our most modern hydrodynamic stellar evolution code. The idea is to characterize the observable properties of the progenitor and of the supernovae, and to make predictions for the nucleosynthesis yields of pair-instability, which could well dominate the metal production in their host galaxies.
Requirements:
- Candidates are expected to have attended master level courses on the structure and evolution of stars and on other advanced astronomy topics
- affinity to theoretical astrophysics based on their master thesis work
- experience with the MESA stellar evolution code will be helpful but is not required
Bibliography:
Gal-Yam, A., et al., 2009, Nature, 462, 624
Langer, N., 2009, Nature, 462, 579
Contact: Prof. N. Langer (nlanger@astro.uni-bonn.de)
Site: Bonn, Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn
Abstract:
Molecular clouds are the sites where star formation happens. To unravel the puzzle of star formation, a full characterisation of molecular clouds in the galaxies is, therefore, paramount. Besides the advancement in technology, the Milky Way is still the place where star formation processes can be accessed with the highest level of detail. To date, clouds in the inner Galaxy (e.g. in the 1st and 2nd Galactic quadrants) have been widely studied. However, the outer Galaxy is largely unexplored territory, with only a few works targeting this region. Notably, the environment of the outer Galaxy is distinctly different to the inner Galaxy, which might indicate that interstellar medium (ISM) properties and star formation processes are different there. The Outer Galaxy High-Resolution Survey (OGHReS) project has recently completed the mapping of the whole 3rd Galactic quadrant in CO lines with the APEX telescope, giving an unprecedented view of the molecular gas distribution in the far regions of the Milky Way.
In this PhD project, you will join the OGHReS collaboration to work on the data reduction and characterisation of the molecular cloud population of the outer Galaxy in terms of their distribution, morphology, evolution, and star formation in comparison with the inner Milky Way and nearby galaxies, using advanced analysis techniques, including dedicated machine learning-based algorithms. Furthermore, you will have the possibility to expand the study with your own projects, proposing follow-ups with telescopes such as APEX, MeerKAT, and CCAT-p.
Necessary requirements:
- Strong background in physics and astronomy and relevant degree.
- Good proficiency in scientific coding with Python
- Experience in scientific writing.
- Interest in working with large datasets.
- Interest and ability to work as part of a large, international team.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Frank Bigiel (bigiel@astro.uni-bonn.de) & Dr. Dario Colombo (dcolombo@uni-bonn.de),
Site: Bonn, Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn
Abstract:
Most of the normal matter in the Universe is expected to reside in warm-hot filaments that connect galaxy clusters. Recently, X-ray space telescopes have allowed us to study the intergalactic gas in the outskirts of galaxy clusters and to discover X-ray emission from these filaments. The PhD project focuses on systematically expanding these and related studies in a multi-wavelength approach, exploiting machine learning tools.
References:
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025arXiv250302884R/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025A%26A…694A.168V/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024A%26A…691A.286D/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024A%26A…689A.113M/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024A%26A…681A.108V/abstract
Necessary requirements:
- A M.Sc. in Physics or Astrophysics.
Other desirable criteria:
- Project and study experience in extragalactic astrophysics and cosmology
- Expertise with machine learning tools.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Thomas Reiprich (reiprich@uni-bonn.de)
Site: Bonn, Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn
The doctoral student will participate in the preparation, observation, and analysis of the spectroscopic epoch of reionization galaxy survey with FYST. The science goal is to trace the ionized carbon fine structure line emission and thereby the star formation history at the earliest galaxy formation epoch of the universe. For this we will refine models of the star formation history, of [CII] and CO line emission, and develop tools to separate emission components in the spectral data cube.
Required skills:
The analysis of large data sets requires the application and development of analysis tools that are mostly written in python. Programming skills and a background in astrophysics are required.
Contact: Prof. Dr. Frank Bertoldi (bertoldi@astro.uni-bonn.de)
Site: Bonn, Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn
The successful candidate will work on the preparation and execution of (sub-)millimeter continuum surveys with the new FYST/CCAT telescope, which will have first light in late 2024.
The candidate will work on the combination and cross-matching of CCAT and Herschel data (as well as any ancillary information available) for infrared spectral energy distribution analysis of star-forming galaxies in the early universe. The goal of this project is to develop a model of the underlying dusty galaxy population across cosmic history.
The doctoral student will participate in the preparation, observation, and analysis of the deep extragalactic galaxy survey with FYST. The science goal is to trace the star formation history of the universe to unprecedented depth and large spatial scales. For this we will develop novel statistical and ML methods to identify and characterize individual galaxies and constrain population properties.
Required skills:
Experience with programming, e.g., in the python language, telescope data analysis, interferometry, gravitational lens modeling, MCMC-based statistical analysis and/or scientific writing will be regarded as a plus for this position.
The analysis of large data sets requires the application and development of analysis tools that are mostly written in python. Programming skills and a background in astrophysics and statistics are recommended.
Further information:
CCAT Observatory: http://www.ccatobservatory.org
Contact: Prof. Dr. Frank Bertoldi (bertoldi@astro.uni-bonn.de)
Site: Bonn, Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn
This PhD project will be carried out within the framework of the Excellence Cluster “Our Dynamic Universe” (DynaVerse). The aim is to explore the physics of the early universe by analyzing the large-scale structure of the cosmos with multiple observational probes.
A key challenge in this field is the complexity of connecting early-universe physics to late-time observables, which requires robust statistical tools capable of dealing with high-dimensional data, non-linear structure formation, and systematic uncertainties. The project will leverage state-of-the-art, AI-supported inference techniques—such as simulation-based inference and machine learning methods—to efficiently extract cosmological information and constrain theoretical models of the early universe.
The successful candidate will contribute both to methodological innovation (developing, adapting, and validating new AI-driven inference pipelines) and to their scientific application, delivering new insights into fundamental physics. The project will be highly collaborative, linking astrophysics, cosmology, applied mathematics, and computer science within DynaVerse.
Required skills:
Master degree in relevant subject.
Contact: Prof. Dr. Cristiano Porciani (cporcian@uni-bonn.de), Dr. Emilio Romano-Díaz (emiliord@uni-bonn.de)
Site: Bonn, Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn
Research Groups: https://www.astro.uni-koeln.de/
Recent studies with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed the existence of luminous star-forming galaxies up to redshifts of 14, proving that photons to ionize the universe were already plentiful only 300 million years after the Big Bang. We thus know that the epoch of cosmic reionization stretched out at least for 700 million years, resulting in a virtually fully ionized universe by a cosmic age of one billion years. Yet, it still remains poorly understood how reionization progressed over this period, and across different cosmic environments.
This project focuses on the exploitation of new and upcoming datasets from the CCAT/FYST telescope, the SKA, and complementary facilities to understand the dynamical evolution of cosmic reionization based on cutting-edge empirical data to be taken starting in 2026, coupled with modern methods in astrostatistics, AI, and machine learning. The successful candidate will also have the opportunity to participate in large international collaborations as part of their research efforts.
This position is offered in the framework of the Dynaverse Cluster of Excellence (ARC3.2): https://dynaverse.astro.uni-koeln.de/
Requirements:
Experience with
- programming, e.g., in the python language,
- telescope data analysis,
- statistical analysis
- machine learning tools
- and/or scientific writing skills
will be regarded as a plus for this position.
Further information:
CCAT/FYST: https://ccat.uni-koeln.de/
SKAO-DE: https://www.skao.int/en/partners/skao-members/399/germany
Contact: Prof. Dr. Dominik A. Riechers (riechers@ph1.uni-koeln.de), Prof. Dr. Jonathan Pritchard (jpritchard@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de)
Site: Cologne, I. Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet zu Koeln
In the framework of the recently approved Excellence Cluster Dynaverse (http://dynaverse.astro.uni-koeln.de) we would like to advertise a PhD position in the area of investigation of shocks.
Shocks in the ISM have been observed in outflows, cloud–cloud collisions and in molecular clouds exposed to expanding supernova remnants. Both the chemistry and the molecular line excitation have been studied, but only integrated properties (temperatures, column densities) have typically been examined. No self-consistent 3D simulations that reproduce line shapes exist, and there is little study of the impact of shocks on molecular cloud evolution. We would like to improve on that.
In this project, we conduct targeted observations with instruments like ALMA, NOEMA, JWST, etc., will be conducted and archive mining to increase the number of available data sets will be used. To constrain shock properties, a statistically comparison of the observations with synthetic emission line cubes produced by post-processing the shock simulations with radiative transfer tools, first with an existing 1D shock code, later with a 3D MHD code developed in Cologne. We will first concentrate on molecular outflows from protostars.
Requirements:
- A strong background in physics and astrophysics.
- Excellent English written and spoken communication skills.
- A willingness to explore novel data analysis techniques.
- The ability to work as part of an international collaboration
Desirable experience:
- programming, e.g., in the python language,
- telescope data analysis,
- interferometry,
- statistical analysis,
- scientific writing skills
Contact: Prof. Dr. Peter Schilke (schilke@ph1.uni-koeln.de)
Site: Cologne, I. Physikalisches Institut, University of Cologne
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Gary Fuller & Prof. Dr. Peter Schilke
The goal of this project is to constrain the temporal, spatial, and velocity structure of the streamers which feed the central regions and circumstellar disks of forming massive protostars. Most state-of-the-art studies of the mass flow in molecular clouds focus on either the plane-of-the-sky velocity to trace the gas motions or on using simple models applied to self-absorbed spectral lines to constrain the line-of- sight inflow velocities. However, no existing study of accretion streamers has used comparisons of observations with MHD simulations to exploit the full 3D velocity field to constrain the flow. This project will develop and exploit new analysis techniques to harness the coupled power of extensive, rich, spectral line observations and state-of-the-art MHD simulations to provide astrophysical tomographic reconstructions of streamer mass flows across a range of evolutionary star formation stages and environments.
The initial steps in this project require the definition and initial analysis of a baseline observational dataset of target sources. In parallel, simulations will be post-processed to provide a full suite of synthetic observations which will ultimately enable the derivation of the probabilistic interpretation of the structure and flow within star forming regions. This will require the establishment of a workflow to post-process existing simulations and the development of ML systems to exploit these synthetic observations.
Requirements:
- A strong background in physics and astrophysics.
- Excellent English written and spoken communication skills.
- A willingness to explore novel data analysis techniques.
- The ability to work as part of an international collaboration
- Good programming and software skills and significant experience with Linux and Python.
Desirable experience:
- Experience with ML/AI methods
- Experience with radiative transfer modelling
- Experience working with observational spectral line data from radio telescopes and/or synthetic observations
Contact: Prof. Dr. Gary Fuller (fuller@ph1.uni-koeln.de)
Site: Cologne, I. Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet zu Koeln
In the context of our recently approved Cluster of Excellence DYNAVERSE, we are pleased to advertise a PhD position in the area protoplanetary disks and planet formation
Planet formation in young stellar systems is nowadays a clearly identified evolutionary path in the cycle of matter from large to small scales. Such processes seem to occur predominantly in the circumstellar disks surrounding pre-main sequence stars much younger than 10 Myr. Multi-wavelength and multi-technique approaches involving high-spectral and high-angular resolution observations are required for a comprehensive understanding of planet formation in disks. As part of this comprehensive approach, the exploration of the inner astronomical units of protoplanetary disks requires observations using VLTI infrared interferometry.
As a follow-up of the GRAVITY YSO Survey, the topic of this PhD will focus on the exploitation of existing high-resolution data from GRAVITY and MATISSE, as well as from GRAVITY(+), to constrain the ejection/accretion processes driving the star-disk interactions and to exploit the temporal baseline of our observations to probe to the temporal variability of the highly dynamic inner regions of the disk. The project will exploit multi-scale observations combining high-resolution VLTI infrared dataset and VLT (SPHERE. ERIS) dataset to investigate the physical connection of variable phenomena between the different disk scales. The project foresees working with post-processed simulations of dynamical disks and addresses the problem of sparse dataset through machine learning (ML) techniques. Close collaborations are foreseen with scientists from IPAG in Grenoble, from OCA in Nice, France, and from MPIA in Heidelberg.
Candidates with experience in
- Long-baseline (infrared and/or sub-millimeter) interferometry
- Radiative transfer models
- Programming in Python or comparable language
- First experience with ML/AI methods
- Experience in reduction of astronomical observational data (spectroscopy/imaging)
- Satistical analysis of data
- Good communication skills in oral and written English
will be strongly considered for this position.
Contact: Prof. Dr. Lucas Labadie (labadie@ph1.uni-koeln.de)
Site: I. Physikalisches Institut, University of Cologne