Missions

The SVOM project is a Franco-Chinese space mission dedicated to the study of transient phenomena in the Universe, particularly gamma-ray bursts, which are highly energetic explosions detectable even in the very distant Universe. The launch took place in June 2024, and the operational phase is ex-pected to begin in late January 2025. The specifics of such a mission are: (i) the transient nature of the sources studied: it is not known in advance in which direction in the sky a gamma-ray burst will occur, and once the gamma-ray burst is detected, real-time action is required to study it because its duration is brief (a few tens of seconds for the main emission, a few hours or days for the afterglow emission); (ii) the combination of wide-field instruments (for detection) and narrow-field instruments (for follow-up) at multiple wavelengths (gamma, X, visible, near-infrared) to successively monitor all phases of the emission of the phenomenon; (iii) the rapid availability (or even near real-time availability for certain key data) of a portion of the data to the international community to encourage follow-up of transient events detected by other instruments outside of the SVOM collaboration. In particular, the satellite is supported by a network of ground-based optical telescopes located around the world, including the COLIBRI telescope. This telescope, installed at San Pedro Mártir in Mexico, is primarily dedicated to the optical and infrared follow-up of alerts from the SVOM satellite.
The CPPM is one of the French laboratories participating in the SVOM project, contributing to scien-tific tasks (gamma-ray burst study program and multi-messenger follow-up) and technical ones (devel-opment of the image analysis pipelines for the COLIBRI telescope, its interfaces with other analysis centers, and the telescope's monitoring center).
Links describing the SVOM space project and COLIBRI:
https://www.svom.eu
https://www.colibri-obs.org

Activities

The main missions of the recruited engineer are:
· Development and maintenance of the automatic image processing pipelines for the three cam-eras of the COLIBRI telescope, one of which will be equipped with a near-infrared sensor.
· Participation in the telescope operations (COLIBRI telescope operation shifts, COLIBRI In-strument Scientist shift for the SVOM collaboration).
· Participation in scientific activities related to the objectives of CPPM: study of gamma-ray bursts, active galaxy nuclei, multi-messenger follow-up for major neutrino and gravitational wave alerts.

Skills

The candidate should have a PhD at the start of the contract. A strong background in astroparticle physics, astrophysics, and astronomy would be a significant advantage.
For technical contributions, the candidate should have strong skills in Python and Bash programming, knowledge of software development in open environments (Git, Docker containerization, unit tests, software quality).
Proficiency in written and spoken technical English (being able to write technical reports in English, present results orally, and participate in meetings and video-conferences in English) is essential (B2 level or equivalent).
The recruited individual must have excellent teamwork skills. Experience in working within interna-tional teams and large collaborations is highly recommended. In this regard, the recruited person will be required to participate in collaboration meetings in France and possibly in China and Mexico.

Work Context

Located in the heart of the Calanques National Park, on the Luminy campus, the CPPM is a joint re-search laboratory of CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, with approximately 180 researchers, engi-neers, and PhD students. The laboratory conducts research on topics ranging from particle physics to astroparticle physics and cosmology, with a strong technical expertise in electronics, mechanics, in-strumentation, and computer science. This expertise allows for the design and construction of cutting-edge detection systems, often required to operate under extreme conditions: in the depths of the sea, in space, or underground. Most of our research is carried out within the framework of leading interna-tional scientific collaborations, and our contributions are recognized worldwide. The CPPM is commit-ted to conducting ethical research and promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and pro-vides administrative and logistical support to newcomers, especially PhD students. (More details here: https://www.cppm.in2p3.fr/web/fr/index.html)
The recruited individual will join a team at the CPPM consisting of two permanent researchers, one research engineer, one postdoctoral researcher, and two PhD students.
It is a CNRS position funded by a CNES grant for a duration of 1 year, renewable up to 3 years.