The Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences is the national centre for research into the geosphere. With around 1,650 employees, we develop a sound understanding of systems and processes of the solid Earth as well as strategies and options for action to counter global change, understand natural hazards and sustainably secure energy and raw material requirements.

For our research group Astrogeodesy in Section 1.1 “Space Geodetic Techniques” (department "Geodesy"), we invite applications for a

The successful candidate will contribute to the project “Astrogeodesy” funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. Astrogeodesy aims to improve the precision of geodetic products from the next-generation Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) system, named VLBI Global Observing System (VGOS) by (1) deriving structure images of the Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) directly from VGOS observations, (2) aligning the images over time and frequency through relative astrometric observations, and (3) calibrating VGOS observations by using the aligned images to model the quasars to be really point-like anchors on the sky. This project is dedicated to resolve the longstanding challenge in geodetic VLBI, which is the systematic error caused by source structure (i.e., angular distribution of the brightness of the AGNs). High motivation of working with simultaneous multi-frequency VLBI observations and achieving the full potential of VGOS observations is desired. 

Your responsibilities:

• Perform geodetic/astrometric VLBI data processing and analysis, develop pipelines for calibrating VLBI observations and imaging VGOS data, investigate image alignment over frequency and core shift at 3 – 14 GHz, and understand structure evolution over time for the AGNs in VGOS observations
• Explore VGOS data for tropospheric turbulence on short time scale, such as a few seconds to ten minutes, ionospheric parameter estimation, and validate the results from VGOS with GNSS, numerical weather models, and water vapor radiometers
• Collaborative work in a highly interdisciplinary and international team, present your results at international conferences and project meetings, and publish your results in international scientific journals

Your qualifications:

• Master`s degree or equivalent and PhD degree in VLBI, radio astronomy, astrophysics, astrometry, geodesy, or a related field
• Good understanding of estimation process and astrophysical/geophysical models
• Strong background and publication record in the development and application of VLBI observation in astronomy, astrometry, or geodesy
• Very good command of English language
• Strong skills in scientific programming with Python, Fortran, and/or other languages