Radboud Excellence Postdoctoral Fellowship

Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, invites applications for the Radboud Excellence Fellowship. This postdoctoral fellowship is for a duration of 2 yrs (or longer in case of a part-time contract) and open to non-Dutch researchers based outside the Netherlands, who have no previous study or work experience in the Netherlands.

You will be integrated into the Department of Astrophysics, which is part of the Institute of Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics (IMAPP). The vibrant department consists of 14 faculty, ~10 postdocs, ~30 PhD students, and the Radboud Radio Laboratory. Our department does research in the fields of black holes, jets, compact binaries, optical and radio transients, gravitational-wave and radio astronomy, stellar and binary evolution, stellar clusters, galactic magnetic fields, astroparticle physics, exoplanets, proto-planetary disks, and asteroseismology. We are part of the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA), are a member of the Virgo collaboration, the Pierre Auger Observatory, and the ENGRAVE collaboration. We have access to major (inter)national research facilities (ESO, ESA, LOFAR, ING telescopes, etc.), as well as to major computer facilities. We are the PI institute of the BlackGEM telescope and the BlackHolistic project on the Event Horizon Telescope.
The Radboud Excellence Fellowship is a university-wide initiative, where fellows are expected, apart from their own research, to actively engage in an interdisciplinary/intercultural program with fellows in other departments. Radboud University appoints ~20 fellows per year.

Applications consist of a research proposal (max. 1500 words excl. references, including title of the project, subject, methods, aims, motivation of selection of the host institute, bibliography, time schedule etc.), a layman’s summary (100-150 words), a Curriculum Vitae (max. 3 pages, no publication list), a list of the 10 most relevant publications, and two 1-page letters of reference. You must hold a PhD in astronomy or physics at the start of the position, obtained not earlier than 8 years before the time of application (this period can be extended in case of care tasks or part-time work).

Selection will commence on Oct 10 and will be a two-stage process. After an initial selection at the Department of Astrophysics the application of the top candidate(s) will be forwarded to the university-wide program (with deadline Nov 1). The selection committee is interdisciplinary (with no astronomers) so your research plan should be appealing to non-specialists. The first down select will take place mid-October, and selection by the university is expected in December.