2025 Montreal Planetarium / Université de Montréal / MITACS Postdoctoral Fellowship

Deadline : April 15th, 2025

The Montreal Planetarium, in collaboration with the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (IREx), affiliated with the Department of Physics of the Université de Montréal (UdeM), invites candidates to apply to a MITACS Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship in observational astrophysics applied to the study of brown dwarfs, isolated planetary-mass objects and nearby, young associations.

Eligibility

A PhD in physics, astronomy or related discipline is required at the time when the position starts. All areas of research related to brown dwarfs, young stars and related fields of astrophysics are eligible. Preference will be given to applicants within 5 years of obtaining their Ph.D. Applicants with career interruptions due to parental, medical or family leaves, or other causes are invited to mention it in their cover letter if so desired.

IMPORTANT: Once an applicant is selected by our committee, they must also successfully apply and obtain a MITACS Elevate Fellowship in collaboration with our team, given that half of the postdoctoral stipend will be paid by MITACS. Details can be found at:

https://www.mitacs.ca/our-programs/elevate-students-postdocs/

The requirements specific to MITACS also apply to this announcement:

• Applicants must commit to the MITACS Elevate fellowship when applying to the MITACS program.
• Postdocs can complete a total of nine internship units (typically 3 years) of Mitacs funding and no more, including any combination of Elevate & Accelerate in any order (e.g. Accelerate after an Elevate; hold more than one Elevate). One year of Elevate counts as 3 internship units.
• Fellows cannot apply to multiple Mitacs programs for the same period.
• Fellows cannot have been employed for more than 6 months in an R&D position outside the academic institution after receipt of their PhD degree.
• Fellows cannot apply if they have already received an offer of employment from UdeM or the Montreal Planetarium, except for short-term employment of up to six months while awaiting a decision of the MITACS Elevate Fellowship.

Montréal Planetarium. Credit Raymond Jalbert.

Location

The position is held at the Montreal Planetarium, located at 4801 av. Pierre-de Coubertin in Montreal. IREx will also offer the successful applicant a visitor’s office at the MIL campus of Université de Montréal, located at 1375 ave Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux in Montreal.

Starting Date

The successful applicant is expected to start between June and September 2025.

Duration

The position will be held for a total of two years, with a possibility of renewal for a third year upon a successful extension request to MITACS.

Conditions

A stipend of 60,000 $CAD/year will be offered for two years (with a possibility of renewing for an additional year). Postdoctoral fellows are part of SERUM-POSTDOC union, and a collective agreement governs their working conditions. A full-time employee works 35 hours per week (140 hours spread over four-week periods). They are entitled to 23 vacation days and up to 8 sick days per year. They are also entitled to several holidays and social leaves, including parental leave.

Application

To apply, fill out the following form: https://forms.gle/kiq3os1rfnpX6r7p6.

Your application must include, in a single PDF file:

1. A cover letter (maximum 1 page)
2. A curriculum vitae
3. A list of publications: please clearly distinguish between peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed articles.
4. A statement of research interest (maximum 2 pages, references can be added in a 3rd page)

You should also arrange to have three referees send a letter of reference to irex-applications@umontreal.ca before the deadline. Please ask your referees to adopt the format YourLastName_HisHerLastName_Rec_MITACS.pdf

Deadline

Applications submitted by April 15th, 2025 will receive full consideration.

Once an applicant has been selected by our team, they will collaborate with the Montreal Planetarium and IREx to submit a MITACS Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship before May 31, 2025. MITACS takes 6—8 weeks to review an application and accept or reject the application. The applicant will only be able to carry the Postdoctoral Fellowship if the MITACS application is successful.

About the Montreal Planetarium

The Montreal Planetarium initiated its astrophysics research branch in 2020, and has since hired two permanent researchers with growing teams of graduate-level researchers: Jonathan Gagné, an expert in brown dwarfs, young stars and exoplanets and adjunct professor at Université de Montréal, and Auriane Egal, an expert in the observation and modelling of meteor showers and adjunct professor at the University of Western Ontario.

The Montreal Planetarium is part of Space for Life, Canada’s largest natural science museum complex (the Biosphere, Biodome, Planetarium, Botanical Garden and Insectarium). The Planetarium’s mission, like that of the other Space for Life museums, is to bring people closer to nature, and it has a strong commitment to the diffusion of knowledge to the general public.

About IREx

IREx consists of a growing team of about 60 people working on a variety of observational, theoretical, and instrumental projects related to the study of exoplanets and other related fields of astrophysics. They work within several research institutions located in Quebec, Canada (Université de Montréal, McGill University, Bishop’s University, Montreal Planetarium of Space for Life, Université Laval). Our professors, researchers, and students are actively involved in large international projects related to the detection and characterization of exoplanets, notably the James Webb Space Telescope, the SPIRou and NIRPS spectrographs, and have privileged access to time and data from these instruments. More information on IREx’s research programs can be found on their website.

IREx also has a vibrant science education and outreach program led by astrophysicists who are seasoned science communicators. They believe in the importance of training scientists who have exceptional scientific research skills, but also outstanding communication skills. All the team is committed to bringing science to a wide audience in a variety of ways.

The Montreal Planetarium and IREx advocate for diversity, inclusion, and employment equity

We strongly encourage applications from women, visible and ethnic minorities, Indigenous people, persons with disabilities and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities to apply. With the support of the IREx and Space for Life’s EDI committees, we are committed to the professional integration of people from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the physics research community. 

If you have any questions about this fellowship application, please contact Olivier Hernandez, olivier.hernandez@montreal.ca

If you have any questions about IREx, please contact Marie-Eve Naud, marie-eve.naud@umontreal.ca