Postdoctoral Fellowships at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences for 2027

The Astronomical Institute (ASU, https://asu.cas.cz/en) is the leading astronomical research institute in the Czech Republic, located at the Ondrejov Observatory and in Prague. Its main research activities are in the formation, evolution, dynamics and physical properties of galaxies, stars and star systems, research on the physics of compact objects including black holes and gravitational waves, research on the Sun, solar activity and its effects on processes on Earth and in interplanetary space, research on the Earth's immediate environment, the dynamics of natural and artificial bodies in the Solar System, and research on interplanetary matter and its interaction with the Earth's atmosphere.

For 2027, ASU will consider research project proposals for postdoctoral fellowships in the fields of research conducted at the Institute.

 Applicants are required to get in touch with our staff members to discuss their support of the application and to discuss a research project and implementation plan (theory, observation, and data analysis are all welcome). A list of supervisors for hosting postdoctoral fellows in 2026 is provided below.

 Only applications that have been discussed with supervisors will be considered. Supervisors are expected to make their private shortlists and only recommend the final submission to the most promising applicants.

 Deadlines:

1.  Get in touch with the selected supervisor before October 9, 2026. Later enquiries may not be accepted.
2.  Application Deadline is October 23, 2026, 12 PM (noon; in CEST/UTC+2 timezone). Submissions by email to sekretariat@asu.cas.cz with the subject POSTDOC 2027.

Required application parts (all in PDF):

- cover sheet listing: full name, birth date, nationality, current position, the exact date of PhD defence, name of the host/supervisor at ASU, short motivation (½ page max)
- curriculum vitae
- list of publications including citations
- summary of the most significant research results achieved to date and proposed research project (2 pages max in total)
- outline of the implementation plan for 2 years (4500 characters max)
- 2 recommendation letters (to be delivered separately)

 Applicants must arrange for a minimum of two recommendation letters to be sent directly to the same electronic address as above. The letters may be issued up to 9 months before the application deadline.

 Applications can be submitted slightly before finishing a PhD, in which case a statement from the current supervisor stating the planned date of the defence should be included. Applicants MUST then prove they have been awarded the PhD degree before October 31.

 The appointment is initially for one year; an extension for another year is expected upon satisfactory scientific performance. A necessary condition is to satisfy legal requirements for employment in the Czech Republic (EU member state). Salary will be based on the domestic level (cca 1900 EUR/month before taxes (~25%); health insurance is included in the taxes). The starting date of employment is expected to be January 1, 2027, but it is negotiable.

Further information:

• http://www.asu.cas.cz for the list of working groups at the Institute. 
• http://www.euraxess.cz for details about the research employment and work conditions in Czech Republic. 
• http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp to compare cost of living.

 List of researchers and topics:

• Miroslav Bárta, miroslav.barta@asu.cas.cz: MHD simulations of solar corona: waves, oscillations, vortices & plasmoids

• Jan Benáček, jan.benacek@asu.cas.cz: Pulsars, magnetars, and fast radio bursts

• Abhijeet Borkar, borkar@asu.cas.cz: Radio properties of AGN and galaxies

• Jaroslav Dudík, jaroslav.dudik@asu.cas.cz: Solar flares and eruptions, solar corona and transition region

• Petr Hellinger, petr.hellinger@asu.cas.cz: Solar wind turbulence

• Pavel Jáchym, pavel.jachym@asu.cas.cz: Evolution of galaxies in galaxy clusters

• Jan Jurcak, jurcak@asu.cas.cz: Magneto-convective processes in the solar photosphere

• Petr Kabáth, petr.kabath@asu.cas.cz: Exoplanets and their atmospheres

• Vladimír Karas, vladimir.karas@asu.cas.cz: Acceleration and collimation processes in strong gravity

• Jana Kašparová, jana.kasparova@asu.cas.cz: Solar flares in X-ray domain

• Michalis Kourniotis, michail.kourniotis@asu.cas.cz: Machine-learning classification of massive stars

• Artem Koval, artem.koval@asu.cas.cz: Solar radio bursts

• Michaela Kraus, michaela.kraus@asu.cas.cz: Pulsations, mass eruptions, and evolution of circumstellar environments of blue supergiants and yellow hypergiants

• Jiří Kubát, jiri.kubat@asu.cas.cz: Radiative transfer and modelling of stellar atmospheres and winds

• Brankica Kubátová, brankica.kubatova@asu.cas.cz: Wind-fed accretion in X-ray binaries

• Olga Maryeva, olga.maryeva@asu.cas.cz: Physical properties of evolved massive stars and their nebulae

• Dieter Nickeler, dieter.nickeler@asu.cas.cz: Investigations of astrospheric plasma boundaries in the frame of topological fluid dynamics

• Jan Palouš, palous@ig.cas.cz: Feeding supermassive black holes

• Marek Skarka, marek.skarka@asu.cas.cz: Stellar variability

• Petr Škoda, petr.skoda@asu.cas.cz: Astroinformatics, deep learning and astronomical applications of large language models, namely in the context of exoplanet discovery and analysis

• Jiří Svoboda, jiri.svoboda@asu.cas.cz: Multiwavelength observations of black holes across the mass scale

• Rhys Taylor, rhys.taylor@asu.cas.cz: Arecibo studies of galaxy evolution

• Richard Wünsch, richard.wunsch@asu.cas.cz: Formation of stars and star clusters

• Ondřej Zelenka, ondrej.zelenka@asu.cas.cz: Gravitational waves from small mass ratio black hole binaries

Inquiries:
Mrs. Lenka Čiháková
sekretariat@asu.cas.cz

Postdoctoral and Student Positions at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Closing date: 10 October 2026

Contact: Petr Kotlařík

The Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences invites applications for one part-time postdoctoral position and for one or two early-career researcher positions in the Relativistic Astrophysics Group (astro.cas.cz/people) at the Prague section of the Institute. All positions are supported by the INTER-COST project LUC25003, associated with the COST Action CA23130 (BridgeQG).

THE POSITIONS

Postdoctoral position (part-time): The appointment is for 6 to 10 months at a negotiable workload between 0.2 and 0.8 FTE. The starting date is 1 October 2026.

Early-career researcher positions: Appointment is for 3 months, from 1 October 2026 to 31 December 2026, with an extension possible upon satisfactory scientific performance and availability of funds.

The salary is based on the domestic level and includes health insurance.

RESEARCH TOPICS

We seek candidates with a strong background in one or more of the following areas: black hole perturbation theory and quasinormal modes, quadratic and other modified theories of gravity, black hole ringdown and gravitational-wave theory, and applications of advanced computational or machine-learning methods in theoretical physics.

The successful candidates will join a project devoted to black hole spectroscopy as a probe of quantum and environmental effects. Topics include quasinormal mode spectra of black holes in quadratic gravity, perturbation theory beyond the vacuum Teukolsky framework, and the observational prospects of the resulting ringdown signatures.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Please submit the following documents in a single pdf:

1. Curriculum Vitae
2. full list of publications
3. Research Statement (max. 2 pages) detailing past achievements and how your expertise would benefit the position.

Please arrange for two recommendation letters to be sent directly by the referees to the email addresses listed below.

SUBMISSION DETAILS

Applications should be sent to:sekretariat (at) asu.cas.cz
CC to: kotlarik (at) asu.cas.cz
Subject: "LUC25 postdoc - Prague" or "LUC25 student - Prague", according to the position applied for.
Closing date: please ensure that all materials, including recommendation letters, are submitted by 10 October 2026 to receive full consideration.

Candidates for the postdoctoral position must hold a PhD in theoretical physics, astrophysics, or a closely related field by the start of the appointment. Candidates for the early-career researcher positions should hold a master's degree in the field. A necessary condition for the appointment is satisfying the legal requirements for employment in the Czech Republic. For informal inquiries, please contact Petr Kotlařík at kotlarik (at) asu.cas.cz.

Shortlisted candidates will be notified following the conclusion of the selection process.

FURTHER INFORMATION

See https://astro.cas.cz/people
See https://www.asu.cas.cz for the list of working groups at the Institute.
See https://www.euraxess.cz for details about the research, employment, and work conditions in the Czech Republic.
See https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp to compare the cost of living.