Archive for Computational Astrophysics

Job Opportunity in Computational Astrophysics at Maynooth!

Posted in Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on December 2, 2022 by telescoper

Just a quick post to advertise the fact that the Department of Theoretical Physics at Maynooth University is inviting applications for a Postdoctoral Fellowship Position in Computational and Theoretical Astrophysics. The successful applicant will join the Research Group led by Dr John Regan and is expected to develop their own independent research program within the confines of a research project investigating the formation, growth, and demographics of Black Holes in the early Universe. The group, currently consisting of four PhD students and one additional postdoctoral researcher, is currently engaged in numerous research topics with the goal of understanding early black hole formation. In line with this we are currently implementing an ambitious research project using the EnzoE exascale class code to run large volume, high resolution simulations focused on the first billion years of black hole formation. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute significantly to this research effort but are free to pursue their own research lines under this remit.

For more information, including deadlines and the applications procedure, please see the AAS Jobs register advertisement here.

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R.I.P. Willy Kley (1958-2021)

Posted in Biographical, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , on December 29, 2021 by telescoper

Once again it is my sad task to pass on news of the death of a colleague from the field of astrophysics. Prof. Dr. Wilhelm (“Willy”) Kley of the Institut für Astronomie & Astrophysik at the Universität Tübingen
in Germany passed away suddenly on 21st December 2021, at the age of 63.

Here is the official announcement (in German) from his institution:

Willy Kley was a computational astrophysicist who worked on accretion processes, especially in the context of the formation of planets and planetary systems. I knew him a little personally, as he was for a time in the Astronomy Unit at Queen Mary & Westfield College (as it was then called) at the same time I was there. He worked with the group led by John Papaloizou, alongside Richard Nelson and others, and I was working on cosmology, so we didn’t work together, but I did get to know him a bit and had a number of interesting discussions. He was a very nice man as well as a first-rate scientist. Looking at his (extensive) publication list it seems that he continued to collaborate with former QMW colleagues after his return to Germany in 2000.

His death was unexpected – I believe he suffered a heart attack – and I’m sure the news will come as a shock to many of his friends and collaborators. To them, and to his family, I send heartfelt condolences.

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