Researcher in Astrophysics with focus on evolved stars - 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.

Duties/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 (https://www.astro.uu.se/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.

The researcher will be a member of the EXWINGS team, and work together with Susanne Höfner, Bernd Freytag, and other team members on studying the effects of stellar pulsation and convection on physical phenomena (shocks, dust formation, emergence of complex structures) in the extended atmosphere, where the stellar wind has its origin. Comparing new dynamic models for Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) and red supergiant (RSG) stars to state-of-the-art observations (in particular new high-angular-resolution data probing the stellar atmosphere and circumstellar envelope), the mechanisms which drive their winds will be explored.

Requirements
To qualify for an employment as a researcher you must have a PhD degree or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in Astronomy or Physics. Furthermore, candidates should be fluent in English and have the capacity to work both independently and in collaboration with the team.

Additional qualifications
Practical experience with simulations of radiative transfer in stellar atmospheres and winds, linking their morphology to observable properties, or with relevant observational techniques (in particular interferometry at infrared and sub-mm wavelengths) applied to AGB and RSG stars, will be considered a merit.

About the application
Applications should include a brief description of research interests and relevant experience, CV, certificates and diplomas, and contact details for at least one reference person.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position, 2 years. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 2022-01-01 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

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

Please submit your application by 26 November 2021, UFV-PA 2021/3941.

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