Senior Research Assistant — coordinate software developments for Genesis

The Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern (AIUB) is receiving funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) for the project

Genesis-CH

to support the preparation of the Bernese GNSS Software for the rigorous data processing of ESA’s co-location in space mission Genesis, which is currently scheduled for launch in 2029. In the frame of Genesis-CH funding will be available for a

Senior Research Assistant

The main objective of ESA’s Genesis mission is to realize an ultra-stable, global Earth-fixed coordinate system (aiming for 1 mm accuracy and 0.1 mm/year stability necessary to monitor climate change relevant processes). The Genesis satellite will combine the four space geodetic techniques, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, like GPS), Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS), and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), on a highly calibrated and stable platform. The adequate analysis of these mission data requires significant upgrades and developments in scientific software packages, like for instance the Bernese GNSS Software maintained and used at AIUB.

The position of the Senior Research Assistant is scheduled for two years and will coordinate the significant amount of software modifications, that need to be done in parallel. In this context, the development environment and process used at AIUB shall be reviewed and advanced where necessary. In the frame of this project a number of decisions have to be taken (regarding, e.g., software design, data handling, High Performance Computing, HPC), where professional input from a software engineer is welcome. The activities will also include contacts to external partner institutions such as the Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie (BKG), Germany, the Research Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Topography (VUGTK), Czech Republic, and the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. The planned developments will be performed in close exchange with ESA’s Genesis Science Exploitation Team and the IAG/IERS Joint Working Group.