Pulsar Search Deployment with SPOTLIGHT at the GMRT

The National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (NCRA-TIFR), Pune, India, is seeking a Post-Doctoral Fellow to work with Prof. Jayanta Roy and the team on the SPOTLIGHT system enabling a commensal survey for Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) and Pulsars with the GMRT.

SPOTLIGHT` is a time-domain survey instrument to perform a real-time commensal search for FRBs and Pulsars with a PetaFlop system funded under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM). While the FRB search will be fully in real-time,  the pulsar search will be performed in  quasi-real time. The pulsar search will utilize 10% of the SPOTLIGHT field-of-view by recording data from 200 selected beams (filtered from 2000 beams) after a real-time evaluation of the likelihood of detecting periodic accelerated or non-accelerated signals using a very fast, unmatched boxcar. With an unprecedented sensitivity, SPOTLIGHT is expected to find several hundreds of pulsars. 

The post-doctoral position is part of a larger project, "Building Indo-UK Collaborations Towards the Square Kilometre Array", funded under the DAE-STFC Technology and Skills Programme 2023 Call. The post-doctoral fellow will work with the SPOTLIGHT team participating in the commissioning of the multi-beam pulsar search system, leading the science validation and performing early science observations. Prior experience in the area of pulsars/FRBs would be beneficial for this project.

Research activities at NCRA-TIFR are centered on low-frequency radio astronomy, with faculty members pursuing research in diverse areas of astrophysics. NCRA-TIFR operates two large observational facilities, the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and the Ooty Radio Telescope.

Applications containing a curriculum vitae, a research plan, and the names and e-mail addresses of three or more referees should be sent to the Dean, NCRA-TIFR Faculty, at the e-mail address dean_nf@ncra.tifr.res.in, by November 30, 2024. Applicants should also request their referees to send in recommendation letters by the same deadline. All enquiries should also be made to this e-mail address. All applicants will automatically be considered for all available Post-Doctoral Fellowships at NCRA-TIFR.

The monthly salary of Post-Doctoral Fellows at NCRA-TIFR depends on experience after the doctoral degree. Candidates are required to have at least a provisional Ph.D. degree when taking up the position. For candidates who have received their doctoral degrees, the monthly salary ranges from INR 58,000 to INR 67,000. Post-doctoral fellows are also entitled to a contingency grant of INR 40,000 per year. All project post-doctoral positions are tenable for a maximum of 3 years, with continuations subject to a yearly review.

Post-doctoral Fellows at NCRA-TIFR are provided a travel grant of INR 3,00,000 over the course of the fellowship to enable them to travel for international conferences or for research collaborations. They are also entitled to a house rent allowance, and medical coverage under NCRA-TIFR's medical scheme.