Postdoc: Large-scale Structure Cosmology with Euclid and Roman

Job Details

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 on 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 in 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 both 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 Postdoctoral scholars 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 Astrophysics section at JPL invites applications for a JPL Postdoc to conduct cosmology research relevant to Stage IV Dark Energy surveys.

 

The successful candidate will be part of a dynamic "Dark Sector" team at JPL, which consists of multiple staff researchers interested in mostly large-scale structure dark sector cosmology, each mentoring one or more postdocs. The Dark Sector is largely part of the "Origins of the Universe" group of JPL's Astrophysics section, historically tied with JPL's Planck team, now deeply involved and holding key leadership roles in the Dark Energy Survey, Euclid, SPHEREx, Roman, Rubin and more. The postdoc will have opportunities to co-mentor student interns (at graduate or undergraduate level). Via JPL's association with Caltech, the postdoc will be part of Caltech's postdoc cohort, entitling them to a whole range of development opportunities (e.g. seminars, teaching skills, coding workshops etc. – see https://cpa.caltech.edu/career/resources for more) in addition to those offered to all JPL researchers and staff (both soft and technical). At JPL we also have priority access to time on the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory (https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/homepage.html) and unique insights into the building of NASA missions in general, also being the world-leader in planetary exploration.

 

The successful candidate will derive science results from Euclid large-scale structure data and prepare to do so with Roman data. They will work at one or more points in the analysis pipeline that starts with pixel-level images and ends in cosmological parameter contours. They will be working with statistics of how matter clusters, which is a powerful probe of the nature of dark matter and dark energy.

 

They may address one or more of the following example challenges, and/or propose their own generally related project:

The postdoc may think about how to optimally select galaxy samples and construct catalogues of galaxies and their properties from the two missions, from which clustering statistics will be derived, supported with auxiliary ground-based data. The postdoc may run individual or joint likelihood analyses using different sets of data, testing against different physics models of gravity and dark energy, while thoroughly testing different contributions from systematic effects and model miss-specification. They may derive parameter constraints on the parameters that specify the cosmological models. The postdoc may produce forecasts for a set of cosmological parameters that describe an interesting dark sector model to test the performance of the mission, assumptions in the data analysis pipeline, the selected sample or indeed the testability of the model itself.

 

The successful candidate will be advised by Dida Markovic and have the opportunity to collaborate with other staff members and postdocs of the Dark Sector. It is assumed that the postdoc will bring existing projects into the post and it is expected that they will begin to expand their topics of work to those aligned with the work of the "Dark Sector" team over the 3 years of their appointment. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to join Euclid and/or Roman in particular. The postdoc will be expected to build their strategic perspective and start or continue to develop their own research program over with the support of the postdoc advisor.

 

Required Qualifications:

• PhD in Astrophysics or a related field (or it's near completion).

• Experience in cosmology research.

 

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience in dark sector cosmology research.

• Experience working with data analysis or modeling relevant to Stage III or IV Dark Energy surveys.

 

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

 

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.

 

Applicants should submit a cover letter, CV, and a 3–5-page research plan. Please arrange for three letters of recommendation to be sent to markovic@jpl.nasa.gov by the application deadline of Monday, December 30, 2024.

JPL has a catalog of benefits and perks that span from the traditional to the unique. This includes a variety of health, dental, vision, wellbeing, and retirement plans, paid time off, learning, rideshare, childcare, flexible schedule, parental leave and many more. Our focus is on work-life balance, and living healthy, fulfilling lives as we Dare Mighty Things Together. For benefits eligible positions, benefits are effective the first day of the month coincident with or immediately following the employee’s start date.

For further benefits information click Benefits and Perks

The hiring range displayed below is specifically for those who will work in or reside in the location listed. In extending an offer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory considers factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s job related skills, experience, knowledge, and relevant education/training. Hiring range for this job may be adjusted based on primary work location outside of Pasadena, California. This adjusted range will be provided to candidates by the Recruiter when applicable.

The typical full time equivalent annual hiring range for this job in Pasadena, California.

$82,180 - $82,180

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 U.S. Citizens, 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.