Recruitment Period Open date: September 13th, 2019 Last review date: Friday, Sep 27, 2019 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications received after this date will be reviewed by the search committee if the position has not yet been filled. Final date: Friday, Oct 18, 2019 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled. Description

The Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) at the University of California, Berkeley seeks applications for a full-time (100%) Junior Specialist - Junior Level Astronomer with an anticipated appointment start date between October 1, 2019 and November 1, 2019.
Position Description:

The successful applicant will be a junior level astronomer responsible for reducing, analyzing, and publishing astronomical data obtained with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Wide-field InfraRed Camera Polarimeter (WIRC+Pol).

The data from GPI, an instrument capable of directly imaging planets around other nearby, young stars, consist of calibration measurements taken to verify the optical properties of GPI's infrared camera, and the orientation of GPI's camera relative to the International Celestial Reference System. The successful applicant will be responsible for continuing the development of a pipeline that measures the location of stars in images obtained with GPI over the past several years, converts these detector locations to celestial coordinates, and derives their parallax and apparent motions across the sky. These measurements will be used to verify the astrometric calibration of GPI through a comparison with data of similar star fields obtained at other observatories.

The data from the Hubble Space Telescope are high-contrast imaging observations of dusty debris disks taken from several optical and near-infrared imaging cameras at multiple epochs. The candidate will be responsible for developing and applying methods to reduce the data and produce precision photometry and astrometry to be used in the astrophysical interpretation of each debris disk system's dynamical history.

The WIRC+POL instrument, a newly commissioned low-resolution near-infrared spectropolarimetry capability on the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory, utilizes a novel polarimeter design based on a quarter-wave plate and a polarization grating, which provides full linear polarization measurements (Stokes I, Q, and U) in one exposure. The spectra of brown dwarfs and gas giant exoplanets are profoundly affected by the formation of clouds in their atmospheres, but the clouds' grain size distributions, depth variations, and horizontal structures remain largely unknown. Polarimetry is an emerging method for constraining both exoplanet and brown dwarf cloud models—scattering by aerosols in these objects' atmospheres induces polarization of their thermally emitted, near-infrared radiation. This project concerns developing software tools to extract target objects from the raw WIRC+POL images, improving the performance of and automating existing steps in the data reduction pipeline, and analyzing past WIRC+POL data to search for polarized brown dwarf candidates.

The successful applicant will be responsible for maintaining a well-documented codebase, communicating progress on their research at regular group and one-to-one meetings, and publishing the results of their research in a peer-reviewed article. The applicant may have the opportunity to apply these techniques to both calibration and scientific datasets obtained at other observatories if time permits.

Basic Qualifications (at time of application): Bachelor's degree (or equivalent international degree) or enrolled in a bachelor's degree (or equivalent International degree program).

Additional Qulaifications (by the start date): Bachelor's degree or equivalent international degree.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Astronomy, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Physics, or equivalent international degree.
• Experience with both the Interactive Data Language (IDL) and Python (2 or 3).
• Experience with astronomical data processing techniques for ground and space-based observatories, precision astrometry, near-IR polarimetric data products, and Markov Chain Monte Carlo-based inference.
  
• Version control software (e.g., subversion, github).
• Experience with presenting scientific results through peer-reviewed articles and/or presentations at scientific conferences.

Starting salary based on appointed rank and step will be commensurate with experience.

To apply, please go to the following link: https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF02338
Applicants should submit the contact information only for 3 references required; 1 optional (4 total).

The position will remain open until filled.

Please address inquires to Paul Kalas at kalas@berkeley.edu.

The University of California 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. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see:http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct
Job location Berkeley, CA Requirements Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
  
• Cover Letter (Optional)
  
• Statement of Research (Optional)
  

Reference requirements

• 3-4 required (contact information only)

Copyright ©2017 Jobelephant.com Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted by the FREE value-added recruitment advertising agency

jeid-81c89caa0f122a41bb1ed2418514127e