A compsoc member, John Swinbank swinbank@transientskp.org, asked for this message to be forwarded:

Applications are invited for two software developer positions, one at PhD student level and one at postdoc level, to join a team of in total 9 postdocs and PhD students to work on the AARTFAAC project (see www.aartfaac.org). AARTFAAC is a project to extend the LOFAR radio telescope (www.lofar.org) with an all-sky monitor operating in the 30-80MHz band, funded through an ERC Advanced Investigator Grant to prof. Wijers (University of Amsterdam), and to exploit both LOFAR and this extension to study extreme radio transients observationally and theoretically. It will be executed jointly by the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and ASTRON (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy). The project aims to open up new discovery space for very rare transient sources by imaging all the sky, all the time, and to break new ground in the realm of fast, near-real time wide field radio imaging.

For the postdoc/developer position we require an MSc, PhD or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Astronomy, or a closely related field, and affinity with cutting-edge computer applications to practical Science. The position will be based at the University of Amsterdam. Good knowledge is required of C++, Python, and Linux/Unix, and some experience in designing and developing software in the context of an astronomical or applied-science environment. The candidate must be flexible in working with colleagues in an environment of changing requirements as the project progresses, and be a team player. Salary is on pay scales 9 or 10 of UvA, i.e., in the range €35,000-52,000 /year gross with good benefits.

The PhD position is for research into fast imaging algorithms on extremely large radio astronomical data streams, and finding optimal combinations of hardware architectures and algorithms for such computations. The student will be based mostly at ASTRON (Dwingeloo, the Netherlands), but enrolled in the University of Amsterdam PhD programme. The candidate should have an MSc in Computer Science or Astronomy or closely related field, with affinity for the technical aspects of astronomical computing, with a clear bent to scientific application of algorithms. Knowledge of C++, Python, and Linux/Unix are highly desired, and the candidate must be a team player interested in working within the project to immediately test newly developed algorithms on real data.

Both positions are open to people from non-traditional career tracks, and will start between February and September 2011. Evaluation of candidates will start on January 15 and will continue until the positions are filled. Candidates should send a motivation letter, CV, and 2-3 letters of recommendation to secr-astro-science@uva.nl. Further inquiries about the positions can be made with Prof. Ralph Wijers (Ralph.Wijers@uva.nl) or Dr. John Swinbank (swinbank@transientskp.org).