The Influence of Cosmic Rays on Exoplanetary Atmospheric Biosignatures

Model studies of the neutral and ion composition of exoplanetary atmospheres with varying stellar activity; further development of an existing one-dimensional model of the atmospheric composition, in the frame of the DFG-funded project „The Influence of Cosmic Rays on Exoplanetary Atmospheric Biosignatures“.

With upcoming missions of the next decade like the James Webb Space Telescope or the European Extremely Large Telescope, properties of exoplanet (outside the solar system) atmospheres might become detectable. Of special interest is the detection of atmospheric signatures indicative of life (biosignatures). However, while these are well-known for the Earth's atmosphere, they might be affected by the exoplanets radiation environment, which varies strongly with the stellar activity.

In the DFG-funded project „The Influence of Cosmic Rays on Exoplanetary Atmospheric Biosignatures“, this influence of stellar activity on the biosignatures of exoplanets will be investigated in a cooperation between the Technical University of Berlin, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, and KIT. Our responsiblity at KIT is to investigate the impact of varying stellar activity for known M-dwarfs and K-stars on the neutral and ion composition of different types of planetary atmospheres.

Weitere Informationen

Unternehmen

Helmholtz Gemeinschaft

Bereich/Abteilung

Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research – Atmospheric trace gases and remote sensing (IMK-ASF)

Abschlussart

Dissertation

Ansprechpartner/in

Name: Frau Dr. Miriam Sinnhuber

Branche

Forschung und Entwicklung

Anforderungen

• A degree (Diploma/Master) in Physics, Geophysics, Chemistry or Meteorology.
• Profound computer skills and knowledge of at least one of these programming languages: C, C++, Fortran, idl, or matlab.
• A strong interest in atmospheric physics and chemistry.
• Good English skills.

Zusatzinformationen

Karlsruher Institut für Technologie

Vertragsdauer: befristet for 3 years
Eintrittstermin: as soon as possible
Bewerbung bis: 11.12.2015
Stellenausschreibung Nr. 27-2015-IMK-ASF

Bei entsprechender Eignung werden schwerbehinderte Bewerber/innen bevorzugt berücksichtigt.