Postdoctoral Position in Cosmology - Chang

New ideas are all around us, but only a few will change the world. That’s our focus at JPL. We ask the biggest questions, then search the universe for answers—literally. We build upon ideas that have guided generations, then share our discoveries to inspire generations to come. Your mission—your opportunity—is to seek out the answers that bring us one step closer. If you’re driven to discover, create, and inspire something that lasts a lifetime and beyond, you’re ready for JPL.

Located in Pasadena, California, JPL has a campus-like environment situated on 177 acres in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and offers a work environment unlike any other: we inspire passion, foster innovation, build collaboration, and reward excellence.

JPL is unique among NASA Centers in that its staff are Caltech employees, yet can access NASA technical resources. Cross-discipline teamwork is standard here: colleagues across JPL's science and engineering organizations and Caltech's academic campus often work together. Learning to speak and understand other disciplines' languages is a doorway to the creativity needed to do what has not been done before. JPL staff are encouraged to create mission concepts that address humanity's core questions through a combination of science and technology. They are supported in developing ideas into proposals and hardware, and communicating funded missions' results to the scientific community and the broader public. JPL seeks to employ scientists and engineers who are passionate about lifelong learning and excited to contribute to and lead team efforts. We emphasize the importance of partnering across discipline boundaries and creating a friendly, constructive work environment to overcome space exploration's challenges. The postdocs at JPL benefit from an informal mentoring network, an annual conference showcasing their results, a dedicated seminar series, exposure to diverse career paths, and social connections across the JPL and Caltech community for advice on housing, childcare, and other aspects of living in southern California.

This opportunity broadly targets innovative research in the field of diffuse cosmological background light modeling and measurement, for studies of large-scale structure, galaxy formation and evolution, and cosmic dawn and reionization, with a particular emphasis on utilizing multiple cosmological probes including intensity mapping and cross-correlation with space missions. Dr. Tzu-Ching Chang, in JPL's Structure of the Universe Group, will serve as the JPL postdoctoral advisor to the selected candidate. The appointee will carry out research in collaboration with the JPL advisor and other collaborators, resulting in publications in the open literature.

The postdoc will:

Develop and, or improve upon existing theoretical models, measurement analysis pipelines, and simulations

Implement cross-correlation measurements between galaxy catalogs and multiple diffuse light datasets, and make science interpretations.

Lead publications in scientific journals

Qualifications:

Candidates should have a PhD in any of the following:

Astrophysics or physics with a strong background in astrophysics and cosmology.

Applicants in all area of cosmology are encouraged to apply. However, applicants with experience in large data handling (galaxy and/or intensity mapping surveys, CMB data, diffuse maps, simulations) and scientific code development will be given particular attention.

Applicants may be subject to additional program requirements by NASA. Postdoctoral Scholar positions are awarded for a minimum of one-year period and may be renewed up to a maximum of three years. Candidates are encouraged to apply early and should submit the following to this site by January 15, 2022: CV, a brief research statement, publications, and arrange for three reference letters to be sent to Tzu-Ching Chang ([email protected]). Review of applications will start on December 27, 2021.

JPL is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy or perceived pregnancy, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, protected military or veteran status or any other characteristic or condition protected by Federal, state or local law.

In addition, JPL is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

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The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federal facility. Due to rules imposed by NASA, JPL will not accept applications from citizens of designated countries or those born in a designated country unless they are Legal Permanent Residents of the U.S or have other protected status under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). The Designated Countries List is available here.