• Highly motivated young and experienced researchers looking for a research experience in the field are encouraged to contact us to evaluate job opportunities 

• May 2024: EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

SCIENTIST / ENGINEER RESEARCH and DEVELOPMENT

We are evaluating to open a couple of positions on Juin 2024 in the field of the optical turbulence forecast applied to the ground-based astronomy and the free-space optical communication (FCO). 

We are looking for: Engineer, Physicist, Mathematician, Computer scientist 

The selected candidate will join the Optical Turbulence (OT) group of the Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri (OAA) and he/she will be involved in the R&D activities related to the optical turbulence forecast applied to the ground-based astronomy in particular in the international projects FATE (applied to the Very Large Telescope) and ALTA Center (applied to the Large Binocular Telescope) in which INAF-OAA is leader. Such a forecast is crucial for the optimization of observations performed with instrumentation equipped with adaptive optics and interferometry on top-class telescopes (8-10 m diameter) and new generation telescopes (Extremely Large Telescopes – ELT with 30-40 m diameter).

We are looking for candidates interested in a professional growth in a dynamic context, motivated by the team work in international frameworks and in multidisciplinary activities. We are considering professionalisation position (only master diploma is required) and positions for more experienced post-docs/researchers. Depending on the expression of interest the position output, will be opened in one or the other category. Salary order of 1900 euros monthly net (for entry level - professionalisation) and order of 2200 euros monthly net (for post-doc or person with at least 3 year of experience).

The selected candidate will be involved in the mentioned projects (FATE and ALTA) and in research finalised to the application of optical turbulence forecast to ground-based astronomy as well as to the free space optical communication research field.

It is requested a good ability in data analysis and autonomy in programming (Python, Bash and Fortran90 or C) and interest/experience in writing scientific papers summarizing results of research. We are particularly interested in candidates with experience in one of the two areas:

(1) 

• development and application of algorithms of machine learning, deep learning, artificial neural networking or more generally data assimilation procedures finalised to the optimization and improvement of performances of the OT forecasts applied to the mentioned projects.

• management and optimization of the automatic forecast system: model configuration, simulation initialisation and forcing, post-processing

• data analysis and development of dedicated graphical tool for the OT prediction

• involvement in R&D activity of the group related to the FATE and ALTA projects and potential new projects in the FCO research field

Preferential skills:

• documented experience in technics of machine learning (preferably temporal series) and data assimilation 

• documented experience in automatic and/or control systems

• documented autonomy in Python, Bash and Fortran90 (or Fortran/95 or C ++)

• documented experience in the atmospheric turbulence research field and background in the optical turbulence field

(2) 

• development and study of new methods for the parameterization of the OT that will be implemented in mesoscale models 

• research, development and implementation in the OT forecast system of a probabilistic approach 

• data-analysis and quantification of model performances at different time scales with respect to benchmark references

• involvement in the R&D activity of the group related to the FATE and ALTA projects and potential new projects in the FCO research field

Preferential skills:

• documented experience in using and/or development of hydrodynamic atmospherical mesoscale or GCMs models.

• documented experience in the atmospheric turbulence research field and background in the optical turbulence field

• documented autonomy in Python, Bash and Fortran90 (or Fortran/95 or C ++)

• documented experience in using HPC facilities

Interested candidates are encouraged to get them in touch with the scientific responsible (elena.masciadri@inaf.it)  to have more information and insights and to evaluate the possibilities to engage them in an exciting research activity and appreciate perspectives. This phase is extremely important. 

The interested candidates are asked to send the following infos to the email address elena.masciadri@inaf.it within 30 May 2024:

• First Name and Surname

•  Date of Birth

• Email address

• Current position 

Disclaimer: this is not yet a job vacancy advertisement. Based on the expression of interest for this position INAF-Arcetri will open a job vacancy position for a professionalization (with master diploma) or experience post-doc/researcher level.