Postdoctoral position and PhD position on a project "Unification of Black Holes across the Mass Scale"

The Astronomical Institute offers two positions for prospective young researchers, 1 postdoctoral position and 1 PhD position to work on a project "Unification of Black Holes across the Mass Scale" under the supervision of Jiri Svoboda and in collaboration with Abhijeet Borkar.

Astrophysical black holes exist with a wide range of masses, from a few to ten billion times the mass of the Sun. The project aims to unify black holes across their mass scale by a detailed comparison of accretion states in super-massive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGN) and stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binaries (XRB). The goal of the project is to significantly enhance our current knowledge about the accretion physics and observed radio dichotomy of AGN.

• Postdoctoral position

The postdoctoral researcher will perform the spectral analysis using multi-wavelength observations (from radio to X-rays) and will study the spectral states of different kinds of AGN. The focus of the analysis will be given to the spectral decomposition of the nuclear and host-galaxy emission of low-luminosity AGN. The promising candidate should already have some experience with the astronomical data analysis in radio, UV or X-ray domain. Good knowledge of the statistical methods, computational skills, high motivation and ability to work independently as well as in the team collaboration are expected.

The position of the postdoctoral researcher is supposed to start on 1st May 2019 (the exact date may be negotiable). The applicants are expected to have completed their PhD in astronomy or a related field by the start date of the appointment. The position is opened for 1 year, after which it can be prolonged until the end of 2021 based on successful performance. The interested candidates should send their CVs, the motivation letter and ensure sending of two recommendation letters by the deadline to jiri.svoboda@asu.cas.cz.
The monthly gross salary of the postdoctoral researcher is 39 000 CZK (~1500 EUR, approx. 1.3 x average salary in the Czech Republic) from which tax, social and health insurance (all together ~25%) are deducted. The travel funds are available in the project.

All applicants should send their materials to jiri.svoboda@asu.cas.cz by *15th of March 2019*.

The application deadline is prolonged to March, 28th.

• PhD position

The PhD student will study the multi-spectral long-term variability of AGN. She/he will investigate how to use the flux variability to decompose the emission from the nucleus and the host-galaxy of AGN. The interested candidates for the PhD position should send their CV, the motivation letter and ensure sending of two recommendation letters to jiri.svoboda@asu.cas.cz by the deadline. The candidates should have already completed Masters degree in Astrophysics, Physics or related field, or plan to defend their Master Thesis by July 2019. Good level of spoken and written English, high motivation for scientific research and ability to work independently as well as in the team collaboration are expected. The candidate will also need to apply for the PhD position at the Charles University (deadline for application to University is 30th April). The PhD study at the Charles University usually takes 4 years during which the student is awarded a stipend provided by the University (about 400-600 EUR/month based on the successful completion of exams). In addition to that, the student will be employed at the Astronomical Institute for 0.3 FTE (about 500EUR/month) during the project and will also have access to
travel funding for conferences and international collaborations.

All applicants should send their materials to jiri.svoboda@asu.cas.cz by *15th of March 2019*.

The application deadline is prolonged to March, 28th.

The Astronomical Institute has a large tradition in astronomical research in various fields and is running several international collaborations. One of the ALMA EU-ARC node is settled at the institute, the Prague Relativistic Group is involved in projects on future X-ray missions (such as Athena, eXTP, IXPE). The Czech Republic is part of ESO and ESA, allowing the access to the most advanced astronomical facilities. The successful candidates will thus have good possibilities for their career development. The institute also offers a possibility of a short-term accommodation at the guest-house during the start of the project.