Two PhD positions in Theoretical Astrophysics: Winds of Cool Giant Stars and Red Supergiants - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The research conducted at the Department of Physics and Astronomy encompasses a wide range of physics topics, distributed over ten divisions. The department is located in the Ångström laboratory and employs nearly 400 people, 125 of whom are doctoral students. It offers a broad physics curriculum to undergraduate and graduate students, participation in nationally and internationally leading projects for researchers, and opportunities for partnership with industry and various outreach activities.

Project description: Evolved stars play a crucial role for the cosmic matter cycle and the origin of life. Critical chemical elements, like carbon, are produced inside luminous cool giant stars, transported to the surface by turbulent gas flows, and ejected into interstellar space by massive outflows of gas and dust. The current knowledge of stellar winds is incomplete, and does not allow us to fully understand their effects on the evolution of stars, and how they enrich their surroundings with newly produced elements and cosmic dust. Project EXWINGS, funded by the European Research Council with an ERC Advanced Grant, aims at a breakthrough in understanding the winds of cool giant and supergiant stars by developing a new type of models: global dynamical star-and-wind-in-a-box simulations, in full 3D geometry. Astronomical instruments with high spatial resolution, which give images of the stellar atmospheres where the winds originate, will allow us to test the new models.

Duties: The PhD student will work together with Susanne Höfner, Bernd Freytag, and other EXWINGS team members on producing and testing a new generation of wind models for Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, comparing them to state-of-the-art observations, and deriving a new description of mass loss, based on first principles, which can be applied in stellar evolution models. Extending the new modelling approach to the warmer, more luminous red supergiant (RSG) stars, the mechanisms which drive their still enigmatic winds will be explored. More information on project EXWINGS and the stellar winds research group can be found at https://www.physics.uu.se/research/research-funding/european-research-council/exwings/ and https://www.physics.uu.se/research/astronomy-and-space-physics/research/stars/Stellar+winds/.

The PhD student position is a 4-year appointment, and the candidate will primarily devote the time to his/her own research studies. Extension, up to a maximum of five years, is possible by including department duties at a level of at most 20%, typically teaching.

Requirements: This position requires a university degree in Astronomy or Physics at an advanced level (e.g. a MSc degree), completed by the time of employment. Furthermore, candidates should be fluent in English and have the capacity to work both independently and in a team. Applications should include a brief description of research interests and relevant experience, CV, copies of university grades, certificates and diplomas, BSc/MSc thesis (or draft thereof), and contact details for at least one reference person.

Additional qualifications: Practical experience with numerical simulations of gas dynamics, or with observational data on AGB and RSG stars, will be considered a merit.

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines http://regler.uu.se/?languageId=1.

Salary: According to local agreement for PhD students.

Starting date: 01-09-2020 or as otherwise agreed.

Type of employment: Temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7.

Scope of employment: 100 %

For further information about the position please contact: Susanne Höfner
(susanne.hoefner@physics.uu.se), Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics.

Please submit your application by 1 June 2020, UFV-PA 2020/1443.

Are you considering moving to Sweden to work at Uppsala University? If so, you will find a lot of information about working and living in Sweden at www.uu.se/joinus. You are also welcome to contact International Faculty and Staff Services at ifss@uadm.uu.se.