丹麦奥尔胡斯大学物理与天文系招聘博士后

Background
This two year post doc position will be part of a larger interdisciplinary group addressing the evolution of Earth’s surface. Developing the links between climate, topography, and erosion processes represents one of the most intriguing challenges in Earth sciences today. This research involves empirical measurements of cosmogenic nuclides in rocks and sediments. Rocks within the uppermost few meters of the Earth’s surface experience a constant bombardment of cosmic-ray particles, which produce cosmogenic nuclides (e.g. 10Be, 14C, 21Ne, 26Al, and 36Cl) at known rates. The measured nuclide concentrations therefore hold information on the history of surface exposure and rates of erosion. During the recent decades, advanced use of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) has made it possible to measure small concentrations of cosmogenic nuclides in rocks collected in the field. This recent development has revolutionized Earth surface science by expanding the quantitative aspects of the discipline. However, an important mainstay of the current use of cosmogenic nuclides involves the assumption of steady-state conditions – that is, where the removal of nuclides by erosion is equalled by their on-going in-situ production. However, a key effect of the strong climatic variations over the Quaternary is that steady-state conditions are not generally attained in the mountain ranges. Consequently, a new approach is required to fully utilise cosmogenic nuclides for constraining the influence of climate variability on erosion rates by measuring several cosmogenic nuclides with distinctly different decay rates (e.g. 10Be, 14C and >sup>26Al). The focus of this post doc position will be to develop equipment and methods which will enable in situ produced 14C of rocks and sediments to be measured at the AMS tandetron at Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University.

Job purpose
The post doc will be an active member of the AMS 14C Dating Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy. This involves assisting in the development of research proposals and planning research activities using the AMS capability. Particularly, the applicant is expected to assist in developing equipment for measuring in situ produced 14C with the Aarhus AMS system. This will involve development of a pretreatment system to convert in situ produced 14C into CO2 for AMS analysis. Furthermore this will involve development of an inlet system for introducing CO2 samples directly into the AMS ion source. The project will be carried out in close collaboration with international partners.

Essential criteria

1. PhD in Physics or Earth sciences or a related discipline.
2. Experience with chemical preparations, protocol testing and development.
3. Publications in peer reviewed journals.
4. Excellent written and verbal English communication skills.
5. Ability to write scientific reports and publications in English.
6. Presentations at conferences or invited talks.
7. Ability to assess and organise resources.
8. Good reasoning ability.
9. Mechanical aptitude.

Desirable criteria

1. Experience with AMS (any isotope)
2. Experience with development of scientific equipment
3. Experience with electronics troubleshooting
4. Experience with Computer programming (Basic, Fortran, C, C++, R, MatLab, or Excel macros), Statistical analyses
5. Experience with utilising 26Al, 14C, 10Be (or other isotopic) data.
6. Evidence of participation in writing grant applications.

Place of work
Aarhus University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ny Munkegade 120, 8000 Aarhus C.

Further information
For further information, please contact Jesper Olsen, jesper.olsen@phys.au.dk or David Egholm, david@geo.au.dk

Formalities and salary range

Science and Technology refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The application must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, degree certificate, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching portfolio and verified information on previous teaching experience (if any). The recommended level of detail.

Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Confederation of Professional Unions.

Deadline

All applications must be made online and received by: 24/03/2014