The heliophysics group of the Institute of Data Science at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) is announcing a job opening for a postdoc position (4 years) starting in spring 2026 or later. The position is to work on the Swiss National Science project “Solar Orbiter Flare Campaign: Fragmented Energy Release”. The project will exploit the recently obtained observations from ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission to investigate the fine structures in solar flare ribbons and solar flare loops in space and time. In addition, the position gives the opportunity to work within the Solar Orbiter STIX team on instrument operation and calibration.
Requirements:
- PhD in Physics, Astrophysics, or Astronomy
- PhD received in 2025 or 2026 (requirements from the Swiss National Science Foundation to qualify for a 4-year postdoc position).
- Prior knowledge in solar flare physics is desired
- Experience working with imaging data in optical, UV, and EUV wavelengths
- Experience with hard X-ray indirect imaging systems such as Solar Orbiter/STIX
- Previous knowledge working with RADYN simulations
- Prior knowledge in combining Solar Orbiter and ASO-S data sets
- Experience on instrument calibration on mission level
- Extensive experience in data science with Python and IDL
Please send your application package (CV, motivation letter discussing suitability for the project, contact details of two references) to Säm Krucker. Applications are due by 15th February 2026.