Postdoctoral research in Observational Cosmology

Submission Information
Publish Date: 
Friday, November 12, 2021
Archive Date: 
Friday, December 17, 2021
Job Summary
Job Category: 
Post-doctoral Positions and Fellowships
Institution Classification/Type: 
Research Laboratory
Institution/Company: 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA
Street Line 1: 
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Street Line 2: 
M/S 241-211
Street Line 3: 
91109
City: 
Pasadena
State/Province: 
CA
Zip/Postal: 
91109
Country: 
United States of America
Announcement
Job Announcement Text: 

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.

The Postdoctoral Program at JPL invites applications for a postdoc position within the JPL ‘Dark Sector’ cosmology research group. Our group is active in a wide range of current and upcoming cosmology surveys, including: the Dark Energy Survey, the SuperBIT balloon project, the UNIONS Ultraviolet Near-Infrared Optical Northern Sky (UNIONS) Survey, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formerly WFIRST), the SPHEREx mission, the Vera Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time, ESA’s Euclid mission, and the upcoming COSMOS JWST survey.

Postdoc in this position will be expected to:

Contribute materially to the development of the Euclid mission’s weak lensing measurement effort

Undertake their own independent projects. If desired, this can include contributing to any of the aforementioned survey programs.

JPL provides a collaborative and interdisciplinary environment for researchers with interests spanning a range of astrophysics, with particularly strong efforts in exoplanetary science and dark energy cosmology, and the associated technologies that enable this work. There are many opportunities for collaboration with researchers at the Caltech campus including at IPAC.

Qualifications:

Candidates should have a Ph.D. in:

Astronomy

Astrophysics

Physics, or related fields

A publication record that indicates active participation in the field of astronomy or astrophysics.

The successful candidate will have a strong background in cosmology and theories of large-scale structure, in statistical inference in the context of wide-field imaging and spectroscopic surveys, and should be competent to devise and implement algorithms for precision measurement from wide-field imaging survey data, especially as applied to weak gravitational lensing investigations. Previous experience with weak gravitational lensing measurements is particularly important.

Candidates will be expected to collaborate with members of the JPL ‘dark sector’ research group, and to contribute to the creation and maintenance of a positive, collaborative research environment.

The appointee will carry out research in collaboration with the JPL advisor, Eric Huff, resulting in publications in the open literature.

The postdoc will have access to local facilities, including Palomar Observatory, the JPL Supercomputing Facility, and the JPL/Caltech Optical Observatory Precision Projector Laboratory (PPL) image sensor testing facility. Postdoc positions are awarded for a minimum of one year and with sufficient progress may be renewed up to a maximum of three years.

A complete application will consist of:

1) A cover letter describing the particular interest in the opportunity, and the specific connections and potential collaborations that are envisioned.

2) A CV that includes contact information, a bibliography which clearly shows refereed publications, and contact information for three reference letter writers.

3) A statement describing current and proposed research of no more than 3 pages. 

For this last item, the applicant may choose to separate the current and proposed statements, or to have them written as one unit.  For full consideration, please submit these by December 15, 2020.

Information about science at JPL can be found at https://science.jpl.nasa.gov.  For more information, please contact Dr. Eric Huff ([email protected]).

Applicants may be subject to additional program requirements by NASA.

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.

EEO is the Law.

EEO is the Law Supplement

Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision

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.

Application Deadline: 
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Selection Deadline: 
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Current Status of Position: 
Accepting Applicants
Apply to Job
Attention To: 
Dr. Eric Huff
Title: 
Scientist
Institution/Company: 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA
Street Line 1: 
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Street Line 2: 
M/S 241-211
City: 
Pasadena
State/Province: 
CA
Zip/Postal Code: 
91109
Country: 
United States of America
Inquiries About Job
Attention To: 
Eric Huff
Subject: 
Postdoctoral research in Observational Cosmology