Doctoral Researcher / Project Researcher position at FINCA

The Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO (FINCA) is seeking a Doctoral Researcher / Project Researcher in astronomy, more specifically in the field of time-domain astrophysics. FINCA is a national, inter-university institute that takes care of Finnish co-operation with the European Southern Observatory (ESO), practices and co-ordinates high quality astronomical research and technological development work related to ESO, and promotes co-operation of Finnish universities in astronomy.

This work is part of the project Ambiguous Progenitors of Powerful Hydrogen-rich Supernovae (APoPHiS) funded by the Research Council of Finland and led by Dr. Tuomas Kangas. The selected person will conduct observational studies of newly discovered luminous and superluminous hydrogen-rich supernovae. This includes performing astronomical observations, light-curve and spectroscopic analysis, sample studies, and comparing the observations to state-of-the-art numerical simulations. The research is mainly performed in the ultraviolet-optical-infrared regime, and will make use of, e.g., the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT), the 2.56-m Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) co-owned by the University of Turku, and new facilities such as the Son of X-Shooter (SOXS) at ESO.

The successful applicant will join the APoPHiS project, which will be conducted at the University of Turku as part of the Turku transient group. The group is a major node of time-domain astrophysics in Europe, with a number of senior and junior researchers and PhD students working on the topic of astrophysical transients. The selected person will work with members of this group and its collaborators, and will have the opportunity to participate in international collaborations in the field. Funding will be provided for conferences and research visits, providing an opportunity for networking.

The position is fixed-term for three years, as the main purpose is to conduct a PhD thesis during the course of the project. The start date can be mutually agreed on between April and July 2025. The doctoral dissertation will be conducted within the PhD program at the University of Turku. The student will also have the opportunity (recommended!) to spend one year working at the NOT on La Palma as a Student Support Astronomer and obtain hands-on experience with telescope operations.