The Institute of Astronomy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) is establishing a new research group in the area of star and planet formation. The focus of the research group will be in the areas of: (i) star clusters and the origin of the initial mass function; (ii) formation and evolution of planetary systems; and (iii) ground- and space-based optical/infrared instrumentation.

Applications are invited for several new positions at variety of levels including graduate studentships, postdoctoral fellows, as well as more senior members of the scientific staff. Applicants with a particular interest in science education will also be considered. Salary will be commensurate with experience, in the range of CHF 78'000-100'000, with appointments for a minimum of two years, and up to a maximum of six years.

Switzerland is a member of ESO and ESA, and successful applicants will have full access to their facilities, as well as data from ongoing programs utilizing the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Institute of Astronomy maintains a network of workstations and a large fast-connection Beowulf cluster and has competitive access to the Cray XT, IBM and other supercomputers of the Swiss National Supercomputing Center (CSCS).

Applications are invited from all nationalities and should consist of: i) CV, ii) publication list, and iii) brief descriptions of past and proposed research (combined length not to exceed 10 pages) . Materials should be sent electronically in a single pdf file. This file, as well as three letters of reference (sent directly by the referees) should be sent to eth-astro-star-planet@phys.ethz.ch. Review of applications will begin Monday, December 1, 2008.

For more information concerning the new ETH Star and Planet Formation Research Group, visit www.astro.phys.ethz.ch/spf or contact Professor Michael R. Meyer at mmeyer@phys.ethz.ch.