The Centre for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics (https://wis.kuleuven.be/CmPA) of KU Leuven (Belgium) offers a postdoctoral position, until the end of 2026, in computational plasma physics, starting as early as March or April 2025 if possible. The CmPA is a dynamic, diverse, and international welcoming environment pursuing a broad variety of research topics. In the context of the EuroHPC-SPACE European research project (https://eurohpc-ju.europa.eu/research-innovation/our-projects/space-scalable-parallel-astrophysical-codes-exascale_en), we seek a junior researcher (<3 years postdoc experience) to carry out work on the GPU porting (based on CUDA) of the astrophysical simulation code iPic3D, developed in-house at KU Leuven. The ported code will allow for next-generation simulations currently not possible with CPU-based calculations. Applications are accepted until the end of May 2025, but selection will continue until a suitable candidate is found.
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Responsibilities
The general goal is porting an established CPU code for kinetic astroplasma simulations to GPU (in CUDA). The specific goals to be pursued within the 2-year time period (until the end of 2026) are rather well-defined by the milestones of the SPACE project, but the candidate is also free to propose a personal research path to be followed in parallel if it aligns with the general topics of interest of the division: solar and heliospheric plasmas in the Newtonian regime, and/or relativistic plasmas in high-energy astrophysical environments. The KU Leuven provides access to Tier-2 computing facilities, and Tier-1 Belgian machines are easily accessible via dedicated computing proposals. The SPACE consortium provides access to a wide variety of supercomputing facilities across Europe.
The ideal candidate is a junior researcher with maximum 3 years of postdoctoral experience. They have a strong interest in HPC and scientific computing, as well as in the physics of space plasmas, with a preference for candidates who matured experience in GPU code development. Knowledge of numerical methods is an appreciated bonus. Applications are welcome also from candidates with experience on directly related topics.
We encourage the publication of research results in high-impact peer-reviewed journals in the domains of computer science, astrophysics, space physics, space weather, computational physics, and related topics.
Profile
Required:
- Knowledge of parallel computing and GPU (especially CUDA) code development
- Experience in using parallel computing facilities
Desirable:
- Experience with astroplasma simulations
- Knowledge of computational methods applied to physics, e.g. Particle-in-Cell.
Education: PhD degree in computer science, physics, engineering, mathematics, or equivalent field, obtained within the last 3 years (at the time of applying); preferentially, experience in computer modeling of plasmas and a clear motivation to work with astrophysical applications.
Offer
We offer a full-time position with a competitive salary. The funding is limited to the end of 2026 but the contract could be further extended depending on performance evaluation and available financing from other sources.
We encourage the selected candidate to also propose and pursue topics of research of their own interest. We value initiative and promote new directions of research.
More information
https://eurohpc-ju.europa.eu/research-innovation/our-projects/space-scalable-parallel-astrophysical-codes-exascale_en
Interested?
The application will require:
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A curriculum vitae;
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A statement of research interests or research proposal (free format, max 3 pages plus references);
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Up to 3 letters of reference to be directly sent by the reference person(s) to fabio.bacchini@kuleuven.be
For more information please contact Prof. dr. Fabio Bacchini, mail: fabio.bacchini@kuleuven.be
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