Scientist (Open Rank

Position: Scientist (Open Rank)
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Title: Scientist (Open Rank)

Location: NRAO Headquarters, 520 Edgemont Rd, CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia, United States of America

Requisition Number: 240

Job Family: Astronomy

Pay Type: Salary

Required

Education:

SCI

Position

Description:



Position Summary

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a n exciting and prestigious research and development organization that plays a vital role in the study of the universe. Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) is a nonprofit organization that manages and operates the NRAO under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. The Observatory is a hub for technological and scientific collaboration, operating state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the international scientific community, and allowing astronomers to explore the universe in unprecedented detail .

The North American ALMA Regional Center (NA ARC) supports the North American astronomical community in using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array ( ALMA) and, in collaboration with the ALMA international partners, provides scientific support for the operations and development of the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) in Chile. ALMA is beginning a very exciting phase as it undergoes a major upgrade of the array's components - the ALMA Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU).

The objective is to increase the system bandwidth by at least a factor of two (and a goal of a factor of four), as well as to upgrade most receivers and the signal chain.

The NA ARC is seeking up to three qualified Scientists (open rank) within the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) to support ongoing ALMA operations and software design and development for the WSU. Positions will focus on one of the following two areas:

ALMA data processing software development support. The focus of two positions will be to support the ongoing development of ALMA's current automated data processing pipeline (ALMA Pipeline) and the transition to a new data processing software (Radio Astronomy Data Processing System for ALMA; RADPS-ALMA) that is capable of handling the very large increase in data volume for some observing modes that the WSU upgrades of hardware capabilities will bring.

Initially, WSU data will be processed by upgraded versions of the current ALMA Pipeline and CASA software; work on a significant refactoring of the ALMA Pipeline is already underway. Once ALMA operations with the WSU-upgraded ALMA system is underway in the 2030s, there will be a transition to the new RADPS-ALMA software whose development is being led by NRAO.

Specific duties may include supporting the development of new heuristics for automated data processing and quality assessment for the ALMA data processing pipelines and helping bring them into production for WSU commissioning and subsequent operations. This work offers numerous exciting opportunities, including: participating in the re-envisioning of data processing software design to use modern software tools for high throughput computing, abstraction of functionality, portability, containerization, etc.;

and implementing new functionality such as multi-array imaging that will accelerate community science.

ALMA user and telescope support. The focus of one position will be to support users in obtaining, reducing, and analyzing data, and engaging in community training activities. Support will include current ALMA operations and the transition to the WSU-upgraded ALMA. Specific duties may include the preparation of Scheduling Blocks, serving as a Contact Scientist for user programs, supporting users on the ALMA Helpdesk or in person during face-to-face data reduction visits, preparing user documentation, supporting user training events, and data reduction.

Work may also include testing and providing scientific input into the various software tools needed for program setup, scheduling, and execution.

Staff scientists within the NA ARC are involved in a variety of scientific support activities and some fraction of the successful candidates' time may be spent on functional activities beyond the main focus of the appointments.

The positions will be…