MOLECULAR UNIVERSE

Expertise in Research and Complementarity
The Cologne team is lead by Prof. S. Schlemmer (StSch). His background is in molecular astrophysics with emphasis on high resolution spectroscopy in the submm- and FIR-spectral range and ion molecule reactions. Team 4 is deeply involved in two upcoming observatories: Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) and in the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) for Herschel, ESA's cornerstone 4 mission. P4's research activities include the development of dedicated instrumentation, astrophysical observations and chemical and radiative transfer modelling. For the last twenty years the Cologne group has conducted a closely co-ordinated program of laboratory and radio astronomical investigations dedicated to the study of interstellar molecules. Simultaneously, the team developed laboratory spectrometers, radio astronomical receivers, and state-of-the-art detector electronics with the aim to push the frequency of detection further into the terahertz (THz) region. This work has resulted in the successful identification of a fairly substantial number of new laboratory and astronomical species, particularly reactive ones previously unfamiliar or unknown in the terrestrial laboratory. The goals of these investigations has been to open the THz region to spectroscopic investigation and to determine from the smallest to the largest and most complex molecules that can be identified in space, in a general attempt to understand the chemical architecture of interstellar gas and the synthetic processes at work there. The Cologne THz-spectrometers are the most powerful and unique tools for high resolution spectroscopy at these high frequencies. An overview of the activities of the spectroscopy group can be found on our homepage http://www.ph1.uni-koeln.de/workgroups/lab_spectroscopy/. The Cologne spectroscopy group maintains the Cologne Database for Molecular Spectroscopy (CDMS) as an important tool for the community both in astrophysical and spectroscopy research (details at http://www.ph1.uni-koeln.de/vorhersagen).
Expertise in Training and Knowledge Transfer
The postdoctoral fellow (PDF) will be located in the I. Physikalisches Institut der Universitaet zu Koeln. PDFs are participating in regular research seminars, prepare short courses for the benefit of PhD students and gain experience in teaching and research by helping in the supervision of PhD students. In addition they participate in the varied general seminars in the Departments of Physics and Chemistry of the University of Cologne leading to interdisciplinary education. The PDF attend one or two well established International meetings yearly. Over the past five years, Prof. Schlemmer has supervised 8 PhD students (6 M, 2 F) of whom 6 have graduated and 2 are currently pursuing their PhD. He has also supervised several PDFs, of whom two are current.

Involvement of Key Scientific Staff.

Significant References
1. Precise Laboratory Observations of the P-P Fine Structure Transitions of C and C , Klein, H., Lewen, F., Schieder, R., Stutzki, J., and Winnewisser, G., Astrophys. J. (Letters), 494, L125-L128, 1998.
2. CI in high-mass star-forming clouds , Tieftrunk, A., Jacobs, K., Martin, C.L., Siebertz, O., Stark, A.A., Stutzki, J., Walker, C.K., and Wright, G.A., Astron. Astrophys. 375, L23-L26, 2001.