Postdoctoral Scholar - Astronomy

The UC Berkeley center for Multi-messenger Research on Astrophysical Transients and OutReach (Multi-RAPTOR) invites applications for a postdoctoral fellow (Payroll Title: Postdoctoral Scholar - Employee) in time-domain multi-messenger astrophysics. The successful applicant will become part of the vibrant intellectual communities of the UC Berkeley Astronomy and Physics departments, and will pursue independent research to advance our understanding of the dynamic universe using multi-messenger observations, theory, big-data analysis, and/or instrumentation. Multi-RAPTOR faculty affiliates carry out cutting-edge research in a wide area of multi-messenger astrophysics including observations across the electromagnetic spectrum (Raffaella Margutti, Multi-RAPTOR director; Ryan Chornock, Alex Filippenko), AI, machine learning and big-data analysis (Josh Bloom), theory of multi-messenger phenomena (Wenbin Lu, Dan Kasen, Liang Dai), electromagnetic (Jessica Lu) and gravitational wave instrumentation (Victoria Xu).

UC Berkeley has access to the Keck telescopes and Lick Observatory. Amongst other collaborations, Multi-RAPTOR faculty are involved with the La Silla Schmidt Southern Survey (LS4, a new time-domain survey in the southern skies), the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (with focus on gravitational wave sources follow up), the UltraViolet EXplorer (UVEX) and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Multi-RAPTOR faculty have active time-domain programs on a wide range of electromagnetic facilities (including Swift, Chandra, XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, Hubble, JWST, ATCA, VLA), and are leading the First VLBI Survey of Transients (NRAO Large Project).

UC Berkeley researchers have access to high performance computing on the Savio cluster.

This position comes with a travel/research budget of $10,000 per year.

The successful applicant is expected to carry out independent, innovative research in theory, data analysis, and/or instrumentation in the field of multi-messenger astrophysics, under the mentorship of PI Raffaella Margutti. All the faculty affiliated with the Center will serve as mentors as well for the PostDoctoral fellow.

The day-to-day duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Expected activities include: the publication of research results on major journals of the field
• Travel to conferences to present their results and expand their network of collaboration
• In-person interactions with other scientists in the department
• Participation in departmental events of relevance

Labor Contract: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/labor/bargaining-units/px/index.html

Savio cluster: https://research-it.berkeley.edu/services-projects/high-performance-computing-savio

• A PhD (or equivalent international degree) or enrolled in a PhD (or equivalent international degree) program.

• PhD (or equivalent international degree)
• No more than three years of post-degree research experience by start date

• A PhD degree or equivalent international degree in Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics, or a related field is required by the start date.

• Experience with the multimessenger (i.e. light, gravitational waves, neutrinos and/or cosmic rays) data acquisition/reduction/analysis or modeling/interpretation of transients is highly desirable.

• Publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

• 3 letters of reference required

UC Berkeley is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. The excellence of the institution requires an environment in which the diverse community of faculty, students, and staff are welcome and included. Successful candidates will demonstrate knowledge and skill related to ensuring equity and inclusion in the activities of their academic position (e.g., teaching, research, and service, as applicable).

The University of California, Berkeley is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status.

Please refer to the University of California's Affirmative Action Policy and the University of California's Anti-Discrimination Policy.

In searches when letters of reference are required all letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law. Please refer potential referees, including when letters are provided via a third party (i.e., dossier service or career center), to the UC Berkeley statement of confidentiality prior to submitting their letter.

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.