Closing date: 20 October 2000

The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) expects to appoint one or two fellows under the European Commission's Marie Curie Development Host Fellowship scheme, in the area of exploiting and optimizing Adaptive Optics techniques for astronomy.

The UK/NL ING is based on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma, where it operates the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope, the largest and most advanced optical telescope in Europe, the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope and the 1-m Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope. They are located in a multi-national observatory site, el Roque de Los Muchachos, at an altitude of 2,400 metres. The ING is pursuing a vigorous optical and IR instrumentation development programme concentrating on the areas of wide field astronomy and Adaptive Optics. This year has seen the highly successful debut of the new IR camera, INGRID, on the WHT and this summer will also see delivery and commissioning of NAOMI, the natural guide star adaptive optics system on the WHT. A coronagraphic facility is also funded and under development, and additional AO instrumentation concerning integral field spectroscopy is expected.

The successful candidate is expected to participate in the operation and development of the telescopes, with a clear focus on the exploitation of Adaptive Optics instrumentation and techniques for astronomy. A key objective of this fellowship appointment is the transfer and advancement of specialist knowledge in Adaptive Optics techniques. Therefore the post holder will be expected to establish links with development teams elsewhere, participate in development projects, and carry out AO observations for his/her personal competitive research programme.

The appointment provides excellent opportunities to gain significant experience with a world-class AO system, and gain expertise in the rapidly developing field of adaptive optics for astronomy.

Candidates should have a PhD in a relevant field, e.g., astronomy or astronomical instrumentation, or at least 4 years of full-time experience at postgraduate level, and a strong interest in astronomical instrumentation and in adaptive optics techniques. The ability to work effectively with engineering staff to diagnose and solve technical problems, plus a strong and competitive research programme are also essential requirements.

Briefly, rules of the programme require that candidates be under the age of 35 at the time of appointment and that these posts are open only to nationals of a European Community Member State (or an associated country), other than Spain, or have resided in the Community for at least the last five years. In addition candidates should not have been resident in Spain for more than 12 months in the two years immediately prior to selection. Salary is fixed at 3742 Euro per month, including a mobility allowance for the duration of the contract, which is expected to last for between 12 and 24 months, subject to negotiation with the successful candidate(s).

Applications, including a CV, publication list, a statement of research interests and two letters of recommendation should reach the Isaac Newton Group by 20th October 2000. They should be addressed to:

Personnel Officer
Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
Apartado de Correos 321
38700 Santa Cruz de La Palma
Spain

Informal inquiries may be addressed to the Head of Astronomy: Dr Danny Lennon (djl@ing.iac.es).

The ING is an Equal Opportunities Employer and explicitly encourages female candidates to apply for this fellowship position.