China is trying to hire a chief astronomer to work on the world's largest radio telescope, known as the Five Hundred Metric Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST).
According to The South China Morning Post, they are seeking a foreigner because no Chinese citizen has the necessary experience to oversee the operation of a facility of such size and complexity. Chinese Academy of Sciences began promoting the vacancy in Western magazines and other scientific platforms in May, but so far there are no qualified candidates. The salary offered is more than 1.2 million dollars.
One reason is quite obvious: the candidate must have at least 20 years of experience to be the leader of this large-scale radio telescope project. The candidate must also be a teacher and hold the same or higher position in a world-class university or research university.
"It's not a job for a scientist. It's for a superhero," says Wang Tinggui, a professor of astrophysics at China's University of Science and Technology in Hefei, Anhui Province.
According to Ars Technica, there are probably only about 40 astronomers in the world who qualify for this type of work.
Ars Technica correspondent Eric Berger added that Americans have many questions about FAST, for example, about the task set to identify signs of alien civilizations.
"While this is a breakthrough that every astronomer certainly wanted to do, it seems an unlikely discovery. That may be enough reason for no stranger to move to China, start learning Chinese to challenge the Byzantine bureaucracy of the world's largest radio telescope," he concluded. Berge.
FAST has been running since September 2016 and was open to the public in March. However, it will start collecting data only as of September this year, it takes two or three years to calibrate and adjust the antennas and receivers.
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