Postdoctoral Associate in Exoplanet Science
Job Summary
Job Description
Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position at Lowell Observatory to work on exoplanet detection, confirmation, and characterization. This position will be supervised by Dr. Joe Llama.
The initial appointment is for one year, renewable for an additional year contingent upon satisfactory performance, and availability of resources. The position is expected to be split with 80% of the time dedicated to the main program and 20% for any other research of the postdoc’s choosing. The start date is negotiable. This position is funded by active grants and comes with a competitive salary with full benefits. Funding is available for computer resources, attending conferences, publication charges, and observing runs. Postdocs at the Observatory have access to our 4.3m Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT) including the EXtreme PREcision Spectrograph (EXPRES), as well as several 1-m class telescopes. Lowell offers numerous opportunities for involvement in education and public outreach.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The postdoctoral researcher will work with Dr. Llama on both analyzing existing observations of exoplanet systems and also obtaining new observations EXPRES on the LDT and other high-resolution spectrographs including IGRINS on Gemini South, iSHELL on NASA’s IRTF.
The postdoc will contribute to some combination of the following tasks:
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- Conduct regular telescopic observations, either remotely or on site to measure the masses of newly discovered planets from the TESS survey with EXPRES.
- Characterize exoplanet atmospheres with high-resolution optical and infrared spectroscopy.
- Develop new software tools and techniques for removing telluric contamination from high-resolution infrared spectra.
- Commission and develop curriculum for a medium-resolution optical spectrograph for use by the Observatory’s Outreach team to demonstrate spectroscopy to the general public.
- Lead publications relevant to this work.
Review of applications will begin on January 15th, 2021
For a complete job description and instructions on how to apply, please visit https://lowell.edu/about/employment/
Compensation and Benefits
In addition to 10 scheduled paid holidays, Lowell Observatory offers a Flexible Paid Time Off policy for all full-time, benefit eligible employees which allows you to determine how much time you need to rest and enjoy yourself outside of work. The cost of premiums for medical, life & long term disability insurances for benefit eligible employees is 100% paid by the company, and includes a contribution to either an H.S.A or HRA account for first dollar medical expenses.