MAIT Manager for the NewAthena Wide Field Imager (f/m/d)

MPE is a world-leading institute in space- and ground-based experimental astrophysics, with leading roles in a number of large astronomical projects. The High-Energy Group at MPE carries out major space hardware programs, including the development of X-ray detectors and X-ray optics. The group has contributed significantly to Chandra and XMM‑Newton and has more recently led the development of the eROSITA X-ray telescope, launched in 2019 aboard the SRG mission. The group is also involved in several ground-based projects in support of eROSITA, such as LSST, GROND, SDSS-V, 4MOST, primarily in support of our space programs. For further details about MPE or the High-Energy group, see https://www.mpe.mpg.de/214514/heg.

MAIT Manager for the NewAthena Wide Field Imager (f/m/d)

Reference number 32/2025

Applications are invited for the position of MAIT (Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration and Manager) for the Athena Wide Field Imager in the High-Energy astrophysics group of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, led by Prof. K. Nandra.

The main future project of the MPE High-Energy Group is NewAthena, the future observatory-class X-ray astronomy mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). MPE is the lead institute responsible for the Wide Field Imager (WFI), one of the two instruments aboard the mission, and leads the international consortium responsible for the WFI development. The WFI camera itself is based on the unique Silicon DEPFET technology developed by the semiconductor laboratory of the Max Planck Society. This enables spatially and temporally resolved spectroscopy of X-ray photons in the energy range from 200 eV to 15 keV over a large field of view, with excellent energy resolution and fast readout. More details can be found here: https://www.mpe.mpg.de/ATHENA-WFI/index.html