Title: Radio emission from star-planet interaction

Center: Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC)

Type: Predoctoral

Description:

The doctoral fellowship programme INPhINIT ”la Caixa” is devoted to attracting talented Early-Stage Researchers of any nationality to pursue their PhD studies in the best Spanish and Portuguese research centres and units with excellence distinction.

Research Project / Research Group Description

This project has two main goals. First, to search for radio emission arising from starplanet interaction in nearby stars with confirmed exoplanets. The detection of starplanet radio emission would allow us to use it as an independent tracer for future searches of habitable planets. The second main goal is to test star-planet interaction scenarios via radio observations for a number of stars. We will focus on M stars, which are the most abundant type of stars in our galaxy and, due to their low mass, are ideal for searching Earth-type planets. We intend to exploit the fact that the magnetic interaction between this type of stars with planets close enough can lead to radio emission that can be detectable from Earth.

This project has a strong observational component, and the successful candidate will become proficient in the use of radio interferometry techniques, including the software needed to reduce the radio data, which the main workhorse of the project. The candidate will work with radio interferometry data collected so far from state-ofthe-art interferometers, including the the Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA), the Giant Metre Wave Ratio Telescope (GMRT), the MeerKAT interferometer, the e-MERLIN, or the international LOFAR telescope. The successful candidate will become part of the CARMENES collaboration, and is expected to lead additional radio proposals from the planets that will be discovered, searching for signals of radio emission from the most promising targets to show star-planet interaction. The successful candidate will also become familiar with the physics behind the radio emission from exoplanets, and from star-planet interaction, as well as with magneto-hydrodynamic simulations to study the potential habitability of exoplanets around host stars. The overall goal of this project is to advance in our understanding of the origin of radio emission in exoplanets, tying it to the physical properties of the exoplanets and their host stars.

The Solar System Department of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-CSIC (https://www.iaa.csic.es/en#) (Granada, Spain) is offering a postdoctoral research position in the TECHSS group led by Luisa Lara. Our research group focuses on observational and theoretical studies related to Solar System Formation being intensely involved (at Co-PI and Co-I level) in the technical development and scientific exploitation of instrumentation on board different space missions, such as Bepi-Colombo (ESA-JAXA), EnVision (ESA), and Comet Interceptor (ESA-JAXA).

We seek an outstanding candidate with experience in the science of small solar system bodies, either theoretical or observational, to take a leading role in our team in cometary science-related research. In particular, the successful candidate is expected to actively participate, in collaboration with group members, in the research associated with the preparation and exploitation of the Comet Interceptor mission, in which our group is involved in the development of four instruments (CoCa, MANIaC, OPIC, and EnVisS).

The post will remain open until filled, expecting candidate incorporation as early as possible. The initial contract will last up to the end of our current funded research project, 31st of August 2026, with a total duration depending on the incorporation date.

Interested candidates can send his/her CV and a brief description of his/her research interest to Luisa Lara (Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo.). Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or necessary information about the offered contract.

Dear colleagues,

1) The Planetary Science team at the University of Alicante (Spain) is issuing a 2-yr postdoc position in the frame of a coordinated national project with Dr. Jens Ormö at CAB-INTA in Madrid. The project is called CRATERS.The UA leg is more focussed on statistical work and numerical modelling with application to small bodies and related to the DART (NASA) and Hera (ESA) space missions. Please, don't hesitate to ask for more details.

2) Find attached a list of other (pre- and) postdoc positions to join our group. Most calls will open this fall. Our group is currently involved in the DART and Hera missions, but our research interests span from collisional evolution to statistics, dynamics and internal structure of small bodies (asteroids, comets and TNOs). Candidates with observational background are also welcome. Some positions need to be backed by our research group and Institute, so, please, contact me if you are interested.

Feel free to forward this to potentially interested people.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Adriano Campo Bagatin