Postdoctoral Prize Fellowship and Postdoctoral Positions in the Galaxies and Cosmology Department at MPIA (#382)

We anticipate filling two prize fellowships and the following three postdoctoral research positions with starting dates by Autumn 2025 under the corresponding job ad listed on the AAS job register (see here). Details on the available positions are given below. The prize fellowship positions are each for four years, while the postdoctoral positions are for three years unless otherwise stated in the descriptions below. Please do not hesitate to contact the respective MPIA staff member directly if you have any questions. Generic questions can be directed to the chair of the search committee, Dr. Annalisa Pillepich (pillepich@mpia.de). Please send logistical questions to the department assistant, Susanne Koltes-Al-Zoubi (koltes@mpia.de).

The application material should include a cover letter indicating the position(s) of interest, a CV, a publication list, a statement of research (up to 4 pages), and three letters of reference provided separately by the same date. References in the research statement do not count against the page limit, and we suggest using a font size of at least 11pt and standard page margins.

Independent MPIA prize fellowship positions:

a) Two independent postdoctoral prize fellowship positions.
We seek candidates to conduct excellent independent research related to one or more of the research areas covered by the various research groups in the Galaxies and Cosmology Department.

Postdoctoral Research Positions in our Research Groups:

b) One postdoc position in the group led by Dr. Hans-Walter Rix. We are looking for a postdoc to do (also independent) research on the dynamics and formation history of the stellar population of our Milky Way in the group of Hans-Walter Rix. We encourage candidates with scientific interests in this direction and experience in any of galaxy dynamics, stellar spectroscopy, stellar populations, or forward modelling of large data sets to apply. Data opportunities arise in particular from SDSS-V, 4MOST, and Gaia.

c) One postdoc position in the group led by Dr. Nadine Neumayer. The group is working on observational projects to study the build-up and evolution of galaxy centres, focusing on the formation of massive black holes. We seek a postdoc who is interested and has experience in carrying out studies of globular clusters and nuclear clusters. The research will focus on observational or simulation studies of (stripped) galactic nuclei to understand their star formation history, chemical enrichment, and link to the dynamics of stars (and gas). The ideal candidate would have significant experience in stellar population analysis and/or dynamical modelling methods of dense stellar systems. Expertise in the reduction of imaging and spectroscopy data is a valuable asset.

d) One postdoc position in the group led by Dr. Annalisa Pillepich. The GC theory group works in the fields of numerical galaxy formation and numerical cosmology, focusing on galaxy evolution, cluster cosmology, and detailed comparisons to observational data and forward modelling of simulated datasets. We are looking for a postdoc who is interested and has experience in carrying out ambitious research in one or more of the following scientific directions and methodologies: computational galaxy formation and evolution; galaxy groups and clusters and the physics of the halo gas; numerical modelling of feedback, particularly SMBH feedback; development and analysis of large cosmological galaxy simulations; machine learning methods for both data analysis and in simulations; cosmological-parameter inference.

e) One postdoc position in the group led by Dr. Christian Fendt. This position needs to be filled asap (urgently) and is for 2 yrs. The project work is about simulations of magnetohydrodynamic, relativistic AGN jets - propagation, particle acceleration and radiation (see publications by Dubey, Fendt, Vaidya, 2023, 2024). We plan to add more physics to our current models. Experience in relativistic MHD, high energy astrophysics, and coding (preferably PLUTO) would be essential. While the project works needs to be done (funding ...), there should be also room for personal projects (30%).