“Development and analysis of science cases for the CUBES spectrograph”

16 Feb 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste

Research Field

Astronomy

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Italy

Application Deadline

11 Mar 2024 – 23:59 (Europe/Rome)

Type of Contract

Other

Job Status

Other

Offer Starting Date

1 Sep 2024

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

A call is open for a selection procedure on the basis of candidates’ qualifications, integrated by a possible interview, for the assignment of one “Post Doc Research Grant” of the duration of one year, with a possible extension, entitled: “Development and analysis of science cases for the CUBES spectrograph” as part of the CUBES research project (cubes.inaf.it).

The selection is aimed to recruit one qualified staff unit for the development of his/her own personal scientific programme, and for comparing the performance of the CUBES instrument, on the basis of the various E2E and ETC simulators available, with the science cases produced so far by the scientific team through the analysis of the results with the scope of improving the instrument’s design, and of contributing to potential new science cases for CUBES.

The fellowship is aimed at this specific research project, and was not announced with the aim of programming longer term recruitment either of the Institute or of the project itself, but of offering the opportunity to carry out research activities in the framework of the project to candidates who deem it useful to their professional growth.

We specify that the aim of this selection procedure is to:

• offer the opportunity of professional development to young candidates holding research master degrees, to research fellows and to fixed-term contract staff who wish to engage in the national and international research environment, with a view to turnover and mobility, which means recruitment of specific professional skills within fixed-term projects and/or activities;
• to appoint in this way positions which are external to recruitment programming of permanent staff positions and therefore do not represent any binding prerequisite for access to permanent staff positions of the Institute.

Further questions on the scientific project can be addressed to dr. Gabriele Cescutti (e-mail: gabriele.cescutti[at] inaf.it).

Requirements

Research Field

Astronomy

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

    1. Applicants to this Call are required the following:

PhD degree or equivalent degree either in Physics or Astronomy, also if awarded abroad, provided that the relevance of the PhD degree or of the equivalent title will be ascertained by the “Selection Board” further mentioned in article 8;

or alternatively

Master degree  issued according  to the previous  Italian University  regulations or Degree (2^  level) either in Physics or Astronomy, obtained before the Reform introduced by Italian Ministerial Decree (DM) n. 509/09 (Diploma di Laurea), namely the classes of specialist higher education (Lauree Specialistiche),  namely  the classes of Lauree Magistrali which  have been  considered  equivalent to  the above mentioned Diploma di Laurea as per DM of 9 July 2009, or equivalent  foreign degree, provided  that  the  relevance of the Degree or of the equivalent qualification  will be ascertained by the “Selection Board” further mentioned in article 8; and subsequent documented experience of at least 3 years in scientific or technological activities;

For the purposes of admission to this selection procedure only, the equivalence of qualifications obtained abroad will be ascertained by the “Selection Board” further mentioned in Article 5, on the basis of the documentation produced by the applicant in question compliant to Article 4, paragraph 1, letter d), case 2), of this “Call”. Should such applicant be successful, the Administration, upon accepting the assessment of the “Selection Board” will send the assessment report, together with the required documentation mentioned in Article 3, paragraph 2, letter a) or b) of the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 189 of 30 July 2009 and with the application itself, to the Italian Ministry of University and Research in order to obtain their formal advice as foreseen by Article 4, paragraph 2 of the Decree.

Is also required a excellent knowledge of the English language, both oral and written

Specific Requirements

The following preferential qualifications will be considered:

a)         knowledge and experience in the analysis of optical-UV data, in particular from high resolution spectrographs;

b)        knowledge of Python programming languages, and of Linux and Unix operating systems;

c)         thorough knowledge of Astrophysics;

d)        scientific experience in one or more science cases for CUBES.

In addition to the requirement mentioned in previous paragraph 1, applicants to this Call must possess the following:

Registration in the electoral rolls of their residence place (for Italian citizens only);

age not less than eighteen years;

enjoyment of civil and political rights;

no criminal convictions;

no pending criminal proceedings;

According to Article 3 of President of the Council of Ministers Decree No. 174 of February 7, 1994, citizens of EU Member States, as well as citizens of non-EU States, must:

possess all the requirements listed in this “Call,” except for the Italian citizenship;

enjoy civil and political rights also in their countries of origin;

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Excellent

Research Field

Astronomy

Years of Research Experience

1 – 4

Internal Application form(s) needed
Annex.pdf
English
(254.62 KB – PDF)
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Additional Information
Benefits

The grant is worth 28,000.00 Euros gross per year.

This amount is net of burdens to be charged to the “National Institute for Astrophysics-Astronomical Observatory of Trieste” and will be paid in deferred monthly instalments.

The cost deriving from this grant for a total of € 34.600,00 will be charged on the funds assigned in the 2024 Budget on Cost Center 1.04 (INAF – Trieste Astronomical Observatory), under the Function Objective1.05.03.05.06 “ESO VLT UV Spectrograph Fase A – CUBES (ref. Stefano Covino)”, CUP C92F20000120005, chapter 1.01.01.01.009 “Research grants”.

It is arranged that the Budget Office will proceed with the budget transfer within the related Objective Function which may be deemed necessary for proceeding with the commitment of expenditure as recalled in the premises of this Directorial Provision and to reset, with a change in commitment, the sums that are still available at the end of the contract or at the end of the relevant financial year.

Tax legislation applied to research fellowships are the dispositions of article 4 of Law 335 of 13 August 1995, as amended and supplemented.

Applicable rules for obligatory maternity leave are provided in the Decree of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security dated 12 July 2007, published in the “Gazzetta Ufficiale” n. 247 dated 23 October 2007. Applicable rules for sick leave are provided by art. n. 1, paragraph n. 788 of Italian law n. 296 dated 27 December 2006 and subsequent modifications.

During the period of obligatory maternity leave the allowance paid by INPS (Italian national institute for social security) according to art. n. 5 of the above Decree dated 12 July 2007 is supplemented by the “National Institute for Astrophysics” up to the total amount of the grant.

The period of obligatory maternity leave will not contribute to the duration of the grant foreseen by the contract.

Pursuant to article 7, paragraph 11 of this “Call”, the grant holder must draw up at his/her expenses an insurance policy against accidents at work, which must be presented at the time of signing the contract.

 

Articolo 8

Selection process

The selection is based on qualifications and possible interview.

Qualifications to be evaluated, within the maximum score of 60 marks, are the following:

Curriculum Vitae et Studiorum with particular focus on the expertise acquired in the sector object of this Call: up to a maximum of 30/60 scores;

scientific and technological products relevant to the sectors object of this call or to similar sectors, with emphasis on the sector object of this call: up to a maximum of 20/60 scores;

reduced seniority in research activities set  by assigning higher scores to the candidates who have obtained their PhD more recently: up to a maximum of 3/60 scores.

d) other valuable titles: (awards, grants, letters of reference, educational qualifications  in addition to those requested:  up to a maximum of 7/60 scores

        In case of equal scores, the PhD title will be considered as preferred qualification

Applicants whose qualifications score is evaluated not lower than 42/60 marks will be admitted to the possible interview.

The interview, which could also take place by videoconference, will be focussed on topics related to the position of this selection procedure.

During the interview the Selection Board will ascertain the candidate’s knowledge of the English language.

Applicants admitted to the possible interview will be summoned by a specific notice sent either by electronic certified mail or by ordinary electronic mail, with acknowledgment of receipt of the notice, at least 15 days before the date of the scheduled interview.

In the above notice the following will be communicated:

a) the total score obtained by the candidate after evaluation of the qualifications;

b) day, time, and venue of the interview.

   7. For admission to the interview, applications must provide their identity documents with current legal validity.

8. In case interviews take place in videoconference mode, adequate measures will be taken to ensure compliance with the principles of publicity, transparency and impartiality.

9. Conversely, in case interviews take place on-site, the following measures must be taken:

for conducting the interviews, a room open to the public must be used, with space capacity suited to enable maximum participation;

after each session of interviews, the “Selection Board” will prepare the list of examined candidates with indication of marks assigned to each of them;

the above list, undersigned by the “President” and by the “Secretary” of the “Selection Board”, will be posted at the entrance of the room where the interviews are conducted;

at the end of each session the Selection Board will draw up the relevant official report which will display the marks obtained by each individual candidate for the interview;

10. Applicants are deemed to have passed the interview, in case it was performed, if they obtain at least 28/40 marks. 

11. The total score assigned to each candidate is determined by the sum of the marks assigned to qualifications and to the interview.

12. At the end of the selection procedure the “Secretary” of the “Selection Board”, who is also “Responsible for the Procedure”, will submit the relevant acts, together with the “final ranked list by merit”, to the Director of the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste.         .

13. The “final ranked list by merit” of the selection procedure is approved by decree of the Director of the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste and will be posted on the “Website” of the “National Institute for Astrophysics-Astronomical Observatory of Trieste”, at the following link https://www.oats.inaf.it , Section “Job opportunities”.

Additional comments

The successful candidate of the selection procedure will be formally summoned to stipulate the contract for research activities.

The successful candidate of the selection procedure loses the right to the fellowship in case he/she fails to sign the contract within the deadline established in the summon notice of paragraph 1 of this Article, except for cases of objective and proven impediment and/or in case of force majeure.

Signing of the above contract in any case will not establish either a subordinate employment relationship or give any rights to the fellowship holder to access to the Institute’s staff positions.

Within ten days from the notification of the result of the selection, the successful candidate must issue a formal declaration of acceptance of the fellowship and concurrently state that she/he is not subject to any of the incompatibility conditions foreseen in article 9 of this “Call”.

In case the successful candidate possesses an education qualification obtained abroad that  has not been already declared equivalent, according to the Italian law in force, to one of the qualifications listed in Article 2, point 1, letter a), b) or c) of this “Call”, the Administration, after adopting the results of the verification performed by the “Selection Board” with the sole scope of admission to the procedure, will forward the above results, together with the documentation listed in Article 3, paragraph 2, letter a) or b) of the Decree n. 189 of the President of the Republic dated 30 July 2009, plus the application of the candidate, to the Ministry of University and Research with the scope to acquire the opinion foreseen in Article 4, paragraph 2 of the aforementioned Decree.

In case of positive opinion of the Ministry of University and Research or in case of expiry of the time limit by which the opinion must be returned, the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste, by provision which will be communicated both to the candidate and to the Ministry, will apply the acknowledgment of the education qualification and will authorize the assignment of the fellowship for execution of research activity.

In case of negative opinion of the Ministry of University and Research, the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste provides that the qualification is not valid for admission to the selection procedure by provision that will be communicated both to the candidate and to the Ministry, with the consequent exclusion of the candidate, and authorizes to scroll the ranking list and to award the fellowship to the next eligible candidate of the ranking list.

In the declarations of acceptance above, the fellowship holder shall make the commitment on his/her own responsibility that for the whole duration of the research fellowships he/she will not hold either any grants except those awarded by Italian or foreign institutions with the aim of integrating the fellow’s research activity, or any subsidies, or any other fellowships.

Within the same deadline stated in paragraph 4 of this Article, the successful candidate of the selection procedure who intends to renounce the fellowship must send specific communication to the Direction of the “National Institute for Astrophysics-Astronomical Observatory of Trieste”.

In case the successful candidate specifically declares, by the procedure defined in paragraph 9 above, to renounce the assignment of the fellowship, or for any other reason it is not possible to stipulate the relevant contract with the successful candidate, the grant holder decides to renounce the contract or loses the right to the contract, or the contract is terminated, the “National Institute for Astrophysics-Astronomical Observatory of Trieste” reserves the right to award the fellowship to the next eligible candidate according to the ranking of the  “final ranked list by merit” which was approved and published as foreseen by Article 6, paragraph 11 of this “Call”.

Prior to starting his/her research activities, the holder of the fellowship is bound, under penalty of forfeiture of the right to the fellowship, to stipulate a specific insurance policy against accidents at the workplace.  

Instead, as for third party liability, the holder of the fellowship will receive insurance coverage drawn up by the “National Institute for Astrophysics”at its own expenses.

The insurance policy in the previous point does not cover the civil liability of the fellowship holder towards the Institute.

The holder of the fellowship can terminate the contract by written notice of at least 30 days.

The notice term starts from day 1 or day 16 of every month.

In case of failing of the prior notice, the Institute is entitled to recover the amount corresponding to the notice time-span that was not communicated from the salary still to be paid to the fellowship holder.

In any case, revoking the selection procedure of this “Call”, which constitutes the necessary prerequisite for awarding the fellowship, is ground for termination of the relevant contract, without prior notice and without prejudice to the payment of the salary foreseen for possible activities already provided.

Website for additional job details

http://www.oats.inaf.it/
http://www.inaf.it

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Istituto nazionale di Astrofisica-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste

Country

European Union

State/Province

Italia

City

Trieste

Postal Code

34143

Street

VIA Tiepolo n. 11

Where to apply

E-mail

[email protected]

Contact

State/Province

TS

City

TRIESTE

Website

http://www.oats.inaf.it/
http://www.inaf.it/it

Street

VIA Tiepolo n. 11

Postal Code

34143

E-Mail

[email protected]
[email protected]

Phone

0403199111

STATUS: EXPIRED