AddressAbout us
The Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (CIRA) is a multi-disciplinary research institute engaged in a range of projects involving or motivated by radio astronomy. CIRA’s activities draw together academic research and professional staff from a variety of science, engineering, and computing disciplines to tackle unique and demanding challenges in radio astronomy. CIRA is the lead organisation and operator of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), half of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), a member of the Australian SKA Regional Centre Joint Venture, and a key participant in the international SKA project.
CIRA celebrates diversity and is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applications from all cultures, races, nationalities, genders, identities, and abilities meeting the requirements outlined in this role, and are committed to preserving our principles of equitable and inclusive work and study environments.
The Australian SKA Regional Centre (AusSRC)
The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) is an intergovernmental organisation tasked with building and operating the world’s largest radio telescopes. To fully exploit the scientific output of the immense amount of data flowing from the telescopes, the SKAO is working with science communities across the world through SKA Regional Centres (SRCs), which are nationally lead hubs containing infrastructure for supporting the science and computing required by this international community.
The Australian SKA Regional Centre (AusSRC) is Australia’s portion of this international network and has been funded – by the Australian Government through the Department of Industry, Science, and Resources (DISR) – $63 million from FY 2022/23 to 2030/31, to establish and build capability to support the Australian and international SKA science communities, thereby ushering in the next era of astronomical discovery and advanced data processing.
For the next few years of the AusSRC program, the primary focus will be on facilitating and enhancing the scientific output of Australian SKA Precursors: the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) and the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP). Working with science teams as well as local resource providers, the AusSRC will help to develop scalable post-processing and data analysis strategies and automated workflows that could eventually be applied to data from the SKA telescopes. Effort will also be directed to establishing and prototyping various aspects of the international SRC Network, including data distribution and archiving frameworks, operational requirements and pipelines, and user interfaces.
To learn more about our university, please visit www.curtin.edu.au
Your new role
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Curtin University, Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, and The University of Western Australia (UWA) are the four foundation partners formally collaborating to support and develop the Australian SKA Regional Centre (AusSRC) into a long-term national facility. AusSRC is now seeking a Support Scientist to work within an expanding team of Science Support personnel, who will work closely with a broad and diverse scientific community, aiming to turn the wealth of data coming from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and its precursor telescopes into science. The Support Scientist will liaise between this scientific community, internal (AusSRC) and external (international) developers, systems, and operations personnel to facilitate high-impact science making use of the SKA and its precursors, as well as a variety of expanding services and capabilities within the AusSRC facility.
The AusSRC Support Scientist will be employed by Curtin University, embedded within the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (CIRA), and managed by the CIRA-based AusSRC Senior Project Scientist.
The Support Scientist will:
- Liaise with scientists and science projects using the SKA and its precursors, to translate science objectives into system and software requirements;
- Conduct research utilising SKA and precursor telescopes, especially those stretching the capabilities of AusSRC systems;
- Participate in the development and verification of the international SRC Network and SKA Science Data Archive, particularly focusing on UX/UI requirements, to ensure users can access the global network to perform data analysis and produce publishable scientific results;
- Support user systems and services, including contributing to documentation, community training tools and events; and
- Simulate SKA data-sets in different formats, and exercise different tools and software packages for processing these data, including prototyping and benchmarking.
Alternatively, call the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research Phone: (+61) 08 9266 4***
To learn more about CIRA, please visit the below websites:
www.astronomy.curtin.edu.au
www.icrar.org
www.mwatelescope.org
www.skatelescope.org
Join us!
Your application must include your CV, a cover letter and separate document addressing the selection criteria (noted below), to allow us to assess your suitability for this role. Incomplete applications may not be considered.
Note that all applications must be submitted via the application link provided – applications via direct email will not be considered due to Curtin Equity policies.
Essential Criteria:
- A doctorate in a relevant discipline area such as physics, astronomy, or computer science.
- Knowledge, background, and experience in radio interferometry.
- Experience working with scientific research teams, promoting diversity and inclusivity.
- Good motivational skills and strong organisational skills.
- The ability to communicate openly, effectively, and respectfully with personnel, stakeholders, and external agencies.
Desirable Criteria:
- Experience conducting astronomical research using scientific programming and high-performance computing, particularly with low-frequency or time-domain astronomical data.
- Experience simulating large (e.g. spectral-line or spectro-polarimetric) data-sets in a standard format (e.g. MS data, FITS or HDF5 hyper-cubes).
- An impactful publication record relevant to SKA precursors.
- Experience with a variety of standard Radio Astronomy software tools and packages.
Applicants should note that prior to appointment, you will be required to undergo a new National Police Records check, and character, integrity, and reference checks.
Applications from non-Australian citizens/residents are welcome however the successful candidate must be eligible to obtain work rights in Australia that match the tenure of this role, and must be willing to relocate to Perth, Western Australia for the duration of the position. Visa sponsorship and relocation support may be considered for the preferred candidate.
If you have any queries in relation to the application process, please contact our careers team at *************@curtin.edu.au.
Disclaimer
Curtin reserves the right at its sole discretion to withdraw from the recruitment process, not to make an appointment, or to appoint by invitation, at any time. We reserve the right to remove the advert earlier than the date on the advert.
