PhD position in Astronomical Instrumentation – Astrophotonics

Applications are invited for a doctoral student under the supervision of Prof. Lucas Labadie at the Institute for Astrophysics of the University of Cologne (Germany).

The project: The proposed position is linked to the field of astrophotonics, a synergetic partnership between astronomy and photonics to enable groundbreaking instrumentation for modern telescopes and interferometric arrays (e.g., ELT, VLTI). The project is offered in the context of the project NAIR (“Novel Astronomical Instrumentation through photonic Reformatting”) between the University of Cologne, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam and the Durham University. NAIR aims at enabling significant progress in the on-sky deployment of innovative photonic-based solutions, leveraging the technology transfer from manufacturing platform to astronomical instrumentation. These technologies will be integrated in future astronomical instruments at observatories such as the CHARA array in the US, or the VLTI array in Chile, giving the student unique opportunities to access the most advanced astronomy facilities worldwide.

The role: The doctoral student is primarily based at the Institute for Astrophysics. He will pursue an experimental project to develop discrete beam combiners (DBCs) for astronomical interferometry. The DBCs will be manufactured at the Politecnico di Milano/CNR in the group of Prof. Osellame, bringing the student in close contact with state-of-the-art photonic manufacturing platforms. She/He will lead the research and development phase using the astrophotonics lab at the University of Cologne and at the AIP/Potsdam. Finally, the DBCs will be integrated to the testbed CHARIOT a CHARA and tested on astronomical sources. In parallel, qualified for the instrument BIFROST/VLTI developed in the group of Prof. S. Kraus at the University of Exeter. The candidate will also contribute the development of 3D-printed micro-dispersers directly integrated on to the chip surface.

The candidate: The applicant should have a Master of Science (MSc) in physics, engineering or related discipline. She/He should be motivated by the fields of research associated with astronomical instrumentation, optics, photonics and lab demonstrators. A first experience with the technique of ultrafast laser writing is an asset. The working language is English.