A study of S7 Seyfert galaxies with the GMRT

Post-Doctoral Fellowships

The National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (NCRA-TIFR), Pune, India, is seeking a Post-Doctoral Fellow to work on “Radio Outflows in Seyfert galaxies with the GMRT”, with Prof. Preeti Kharb and members of the S7 collaboration.

S7 stands for the Siding Spring Southern Seyfert Spectroscopic Snapshot Survey. The S7 is a volume-limited sample of 128 Seyfert galaxies, which have been observed with the Wide-Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) which is an integral field unit (IFU) on the Siding Spring 2.3m telescope in Australia. The WiFeS spectrograph covers the central 3-10 kpc of the Seyfert galaxies. The resulting data cubes determine the morphology, kinematics and excitation of the circumnuclear emission line gas in these Seyfert galaxies. Results from the S7 sample have been presented in several publications, which include Dopita et al. 2014, Shastri et al. 2015, Thomas et al. 2017, Kakkad et al. 2018, and others.

The S7-GMRT sample comprises of 38 Seyfert galaxies from the larger S7 sample which have been observed with the GMRT at 610 MHz and 1.4 GHz. The aim of the S7-GMRT project is to examine the interplay between the radio outflows, either as AGN jets, AGN winds, or stellar winds, and the emission line gas in the AGN that is probed by the WiFeS IFU. Signatures of jet-medium interaction and AGN feedback are the major science drivers for this research. The postdoctoral fellow is expected to reduce and analyse the total intensity and spectral index radio data, especially in regard to the emission line gas morphology and kinematics in the central regions of these Seyfert galaxies.

Prior experience in the areas of radio interferometric observations and data analysis are a must for this project. The post-doctoral must be comfortable in the use of the AIPS or CASA softwares. The emission line data has already been reduced by the S7 collaborators. The post-doctoral fellow may propose for additional observing time with the GMRT to further expand the S7-GMRT sample, or obtain additional data at additional frequencies to better answer the science questions.

Research activities at NCRA-TIFR are centred 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, 2023. 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 47,000 to INR 54,000, depending on experience. Post-doctoral fellows are also entitled to a contingency grant of INR 40,000 per year. All 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.

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