1. Job Possibilities in Astronomy
Stéphane Blondin & Peter Shaver (ESO)
In collaboration with: Danielle Alloin, Céline Péroux & Carlos de Breuck (ESO)

2. Outline Stéphane Blondin: Results of an ESO job-hunting survey
The astronomy job market (Gibson, 2003)
Job Markets (JENAM 2003 & 2004)
Astro jobs on www
Peter Shaver – The ESO fellowship programme
Danielle Alloin – Research facilities ESO/Santiago
Céline Péroux & Carlos de Breuck – Being an ESO fellow (Q&A)

3. ESO job-hunting survey
Q: How did you get to (do you plan to) hear about your 1st post-doc?

5. Astronomy Job Market (2001)
Gibson, B.K., 2003, “The 2001 Job Market”, astro-ph/
No. of available Post-Doctoral Fellowships (PDF): ~300
No. of astronomy/astrophysics Ph.-D.’s awarded : ~250 (50% US)
No. of permanent positions per year : ~70
____________________________________________________
i.e. ~80% Ph.-D. graduates will end up in a PDF
(or ~100% including voluntary drop-outs)
Over-production of Ph.-D.’s-to-permanent positions ~3

6. ESO fellowship programme
5 fellows per year (Garching and Vitacura)
~95% of all former ESO fellows are still working in astronomy (~200 in 27 yrs)

7. Targeted positions 83.5 permanent positions in AAS
69.5 based in US (~80%)
47.5 targeted (~60%)

8. Ph.-D.’s are important (Gibson et al. 1999, astro-ph/9904229)
# Ph.-D.’s remaining active: 55-75% overall
up to ~80% for “prestigious” institutes
only ~50% for “non-prestigious” programs
(Trimble, 1991)
Within 10yrs of Ph.-D. … recipe for success?
45% permanent
20% “soft-money”
35% quit research

9. Recipe for success for Ph.-D.
(1) Investigate past history of school/supervisor
How have their past students fared?
What is their grant history like?
What are the opportunities for external/international collaborations?
At Yale… The Party Animal Avoiding Vietnam With a turkey

10. Recipe for success for Ph.-D.
(2) Know what’s “Hot”
Both short- and long-term
e.g.: computational and/or theory, cosmology,
instrumentation, planetary, astro-biology
Sofia Loren Brad Pitt

11. Recipe for success for Ph.-D.
(3) Get experience writing grants (and proposals!)
I’d need 3 G$ to build a space telescope…

12. Recipe for success for Ph.-D.
(4) Be sure to network

13. Recipe for success for Ph.-D.
(5) Avoid excessive observing
“excellent observers, (…)
but not at all well-trained in astrophysics”
(Gibson 2003 on Australian students)

14. Recipe for success for Ph.-D.
(6) Be wary of undertaking Ph-Ds in very large teams

15. Recipe for success for Ph.-D.
(7) Move institutes for your Ph-D and PDF, and be prepared to emigrate
Click here and register online *Winners will get FREE Airline ticket to the USA

16. Recipe for success for Ph.-D.
(8) Be aware of the competition
“Most folks have ~10 papers by the end of their first PDF position”, Gibson 2003
Marcel Cerdan (F) vs. Tony Zale (US) 21st Sep 1948

17. Recipe for success for Ph.-D.
(1) Investigate past history of school/supervisor
(2) Know what’s “Hot”
(3) Get experience writing grants (and proposals!)
(4) Be sure to network
(5) Avoid excessive observing
(6) Be wary of undertaking Ph-Ds in very large teams
(7) Move institutes for your Ph-D and PDF, and be prepared to emigrate
(8) Be aware of the competition

18. The EAS – JENAM Job Market (Joint European and National Astronomical Meeting)
25-30 August 2003, Budapest

19. 13-17 September 2004, Granada – “The many scales in the Universe”
The EAS – JENAM Job Market (Joint European and National Astronomical Meeting)
13-17 September 2004, Granada – “The many scales in the Universe”

20. WWW Job Hunting Astronomical Societies:
Americam Astronomical Society (AAS):
European Astronomical Society (EAS):
Royal Astronomical Society (RAS):
Fellowship/Studentship Programmes:
Chandra:
ESO: and
Marie-Curie:
PPARC: and
STSci:
Specific Institutes/Observatories/Organisations:
Cambridge University:
Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS):
European Southern Observatory (ESO):
European Space Agency (ESA):
Joint Astronomy Centre (JAC):
Mount Stromlo Observatory:
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC):
UK Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC):
Science Magazines:
Nature:
New Scientist:

21. AAS Job Register http://members.aas.org/JobReg/Jobregister.cfm
~550 ads yr-1
x2 every ~5 yrs
Peak period in November
Number of Ads
Year

22. AAS Job Register (cont.)
Number of Ads
Year
52%

23. The EAS Job Register http://www2.iap.fr/eas/index.html
Focus on European positions (~80%)
cf. ~80% of AAS ads are positions based in the US

24. RAS e-mail distribution list
~24 ads in 6 months (~4 month-1)
Example (received: 3rd Feb; expires: 1st Mar)

25. The ESO Fellowship Programme
Bruno Leibundgut & Peter Shaver

30. + APEX (2003)

31. ESO Fellowship Programme
Fellows at all ESO installations
Garching
Paranal
La Silla
APEX
14 positions 
Vitacura
16 positions

32. Garching Five Fellows per year Three years (one + two years)
Develop scientific career at a leading observatory
Contacts to
instrumentation
operations
archives
software development

33. Garching (cont.) Excellent scientific environment
Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics
Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
Ludwig-Maximilians University
Technical University Munich

34. Vitacura Five Fellows per year Four years (one + two + one year)
work at the VLT on Paranal, La Silla or APEX
Four years (one + two + one year)
fourth year at an institution within an ESO member state or Chile
first three years with duty work at the observatory (80 nights per year)
Develop scientific career at a leading observatory

35. Vitacura (cont.) Exciting opportunities in
operations
telescope and instrument handling
contacts to the astronomical community
Excellent scientific environment
Universidad de Chile (Cerro Calán)
Pontificia Universidad Católica Santiago

36. Opportunities
95% of all former ESO Fellows are working in astronomy today (about 200 Fellows in 27 years)
Good contacts into the European astronomical community
Active environment both in Vitacura and Garching (ESO staff astronomers, Chilean institutes, MPIs in Garching)

37. Opportunities (cont.) Active seminar programmes in all places
Regular workshops held in Santiago and in Garching
Work within a unique organisation
direct view of observational process and all that is involved
exposure to front-line instrumental research
international environment

38. Additional Information
Deadline:
15. October
Application forms and more information at
Check out the articles written by ESO Fellows in the recent issues of the Messenger