Job description
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) seeks a talented Astronomy Research Scientist to join a collaborative team focused on advancing our understanding of the universe through observational and theoretical work. This role offers access to state of the art facilities, telescope time, and a vibrant, interdisciplinary research community.
As a key member of our department, you will lead data analysis, develop scalable data pipelines, and collaborate with researchers across campuses and observatories to drive high impact publications.
Responsibility
- Lead the analysis and interpretation of astronomical data from ground and space based observatories using Python, Astropy and related tools.
- Design and maintain data pipelines for processing imaging and spectroscopic datasets.
- Collaborate on proposal development, allocate telescope time, and plan observation strategies.
- Develop calibration, reduction and simulation workflows; contribute to instrument teams as needed.
- Publish findings in peer reviewed journals and present results at conferences.
- Mentor graduate students, postdocs and junior researchers; supervise interns and researchers.
- Contribute to grant proposals and manage project milestones with departmental leadership.
Qualification
- PhD in Astronomy, Astrophysics or related field or equivalent research experience.
- Strong programming skills in Python and experience with Astropy, NumPy, SciPy; comfortable with SQL and data visualization.
- Proven track record of scientific publications and conference presentations.
- Experience with astronomical data from telescopes and archives (eg HST, Keck, VLT, ALMA) and data reduction techniques for imaging and spectroscopy.
- Familiarity with machine learning methods for astronomical data analysis is a plus.
- Excellent communication and teamwork skills; ability to supervise and mentor junior researchers.
- Ability to thrive in a fast paced, collaborative environment with strong organizational skills.
- US work authorization or equivalent; willingness to travel for collaboration and conferences.