CSIRO Science Leader in Low Frequency Radio Astronomy

The CSIRO Science Leader program attracts the best researchers from across the globe to deliver outstanding translational science and engineering impact. The purpose of the CSIRO Science Leader Program is to capture new capability and technology into areas which have been identified as strategic, and to assist our business units to manage and develop their capability for the future. Over their five year appointment, CSIRO Science Leaders play an active role within and across business units and contribute to business goals through both scientific excellence and the translation of research outcomes into impact. They foster a culture of excellence in their teams and peers and have sufficient experience to supervise and mentor early-career researchers.

In addition to the Science Leader’s salary, the Science Leader has support for two three-year CSIRO Early Research Career (CERC) Fellowships, a three-year Postgraduate Student top-up scholarship, as well as generous funds for operating and/or additional team members as appropriate.

As a Science Leader, you will be responsible for carrying out world-class research in astronomy and spearheading CSIRO’s effort to expand Australia’s low-frequency radio astronomy capacity through the LAMBDA (Low-frequency Australian Megametre Baseline Demonstrator Array) project. The resulting network is designed to magnify the impact potential of the SKA (Square Kilometre Array), permitting the direct study of some of the biggest questions pondered by humankind, such as whether the planets orbiting stars near our own Sun are habitable; searching for evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth; and pinning down the origin of the most energetic bursts in the Universe. You will:

• Lead the development of a robust and scalable network of low-frequency radio astronomy stations across the Australian continent, an outcome that relies on strong relationships within and beyond CSIRO and lends itself to the opportunity to support multi-disciplinary applications.
• Leverage traditional strengths of the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) and intelligently pivot our infrastructure and world-leading radio astronomy skillset to deliver unique science capability in the era of the SKA.

The program is directed towards mid-career researchers who may have between 10 to 15 years post-PhD experience.