Reports to: Deputy Director, Head of Science and Education
Salary range: $150,000 plus generous benefits
Status: TBD – while we would prefer to hire a full-time staff member, we are open to considering unique remote/on-site work arrangements that may flex seasonally, yearly, or change over time, as well as shared or joint appointments.
Application Deadline: Review begins February 10, 2023.
YERKES FUTURE FOUNDATION and YERKES OBSERVATORY
This position offers a rare opportunity for the right candidate to impact the course of public engagement with science in the United States and make their mark on one of the iconic institutions in the history of astronomy.
Yerkes Observatory is known globally as the birthplace of modern astrophysics and remains the home to the world’s largest refracting telescope. Since 1897, science luminaries who have walked the observatory’s halls include Edwin Hubble, Gerard Kuiper, Carl Sagan, NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy Nancy Grace Roman (after whom NASA’s next space telescope is named), and Nobel prize-winners Albert Einstein and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, among others.
Located on Geneva Lake in Wisconsin in an elaborate Beaux-arts building—roughly an hour each from metro Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison—the Observatory, which was opened to the public for the first time in 2022, is within 75 miles of a population of 11.3 million potential visitors. The site houses two roboticized reflecting telescopes along with the historic Yerkes Refractor, a glass-plate library holding 180,000 astronomical images, and classrooms, offices and outbuildings surrounded by 50 acres of grounds designed by the legendary landscape design firm Olmsted and Olmsted.
The University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics is pleased to invite applications for the Margaret Burbidge Prize Postdoctoral Fellowship in Astrophysics (with the University Rank of Postdoctoral Scholar) to begin in the fall of 2023. The Margaret Burbidge Prize Fellow will be appointed to renewable one-year terms, for up to three years. The Prize Fellowship seeks entrepreneurial individuals who will actively pursue bold and creative ideas. It carries an annual salary of $75,000, and annual research expense fund of $15,000. Applications can be submitted through the fellowship website (https://astro-fellowship.uchicago.edu).
The successful applicant will have the opportunity to pursue new and innovative research utilizing abundant resources available at the University of Chicago. Research in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics is defined by three broad themes - the Universe where we live, the universe beyond our Milky Way galaxy, and the extreme Universe. These themes are linked through the science, instruments, techniques, and faculty involved in each area, and bound by crosscutting activities that are as important and distinctive to our department as the science themes themselves - computational astrophysics, instrument development, and a multi-messenger approach to exploring and studying the Universe.
Members of the Chicago community enjoy guaranteed access to the Magellan telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile and proprietary access to high-performance computing resources. Members of the Chicago community are actively involved in the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-V), the South Pole Telescope (SPT), the CMB-S4 Experiment, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), the Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA), and the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) among many other projects. The University of Chicago is a founding partner of the Giant Magellan Telescope and department members are involved in the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, the Enrico Fermi Institute, Fermilab, and Argonne National Laboratory. More details can be found at the department website (https://astrophysics.uchicago.edu/research/).
Equity, diversity and inclusion are core components of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. Students, postdocs, and faculty work together to build a culture within the department where under-represented groups can thrive. Information about the community values can be found at the department website (https://astrophysics.uchicago.edu/diversityinclusion/).
Applications can be submitted through the fellowship website (https://astro-fellowship.uchicago.edu). A complete application consists of a Cover Letter, Curriculum Vitae, Research Statement, and List of Publications, each of which should be submitted as PDF files through the website. In addition, email contact information should be provided for 3 references who can independently write a letter of support for the applicant.
If you have any questions, please contact margaretburbidgeprize2023@astro.uchicago.edu.
The position will remain open until filled; however applicants are strongly encouraged to submit applications by October 31, 2022, and ensure that 3 letters of recommendation are received by November 14, 2022. Review of applications will begin shortly thereafter, and the position is expected to begin in the fall of 2023.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All University departments and institutes are charged with building a faculty from a diversity of backgrounds and with diverse viewpoints; with cultivating an inclusive community that values freedom of expression; and with welcoming and supporting all their members.
We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages diverse perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange. The University’s Statements on Diversity are at https://provost.uchicago.edu/statements-diversity.
The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-834-3988 or email equalopportunity@uchicago.edu with their request.
The Space Telescope Science Institute is collaborating with The Brinson Foundation to support the Brinson Prize Fellowship program. The fellowships are awarded to early-career astrophysicists and cosmologists who are committed to chasing bold ideas with creative, nimble and innovative research. The awards focus on supporting research in observational cosmology, particularly capitalizing on and complementing space science.
Brinson Prize Fellowships are available to U.S. citizens and are tenable at participating U.S. host institutions. The award provides up to 3 years support for independent research, including an annual research stipend.
The STScI on-line application portal will open on Thursday September 15, 2022. Applications received by Thursday November 3, 2022 will receive full consideration. References will be contacted through the application system for the letter submissions. Emails will come from: notifications@slideroom.com.
Applicants should contact their letter writers separately to inform them of the process. Letters are due no later than Thursday November 10, 2022.
For further details please see the Announcement of Opportunity: Brinson Prize Fellowship Program
Participating Institutions:
- California Institute of Technology
- University of Chicago
- Princeton University
- Stanford University
Questions about this opportunity should be sent to BrinsonFellow@stsci.edu
Please ONLY use this link to apply: https://stsci.slideroom.com/#/permalink/program/69208
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All University departments and institutes are charged with building a faculty from a diversity of backgrounds and with diverse viewpoints; with cultivating an inclusive community that values freedom of expression; and with welcoming and supporting all their members.
We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages diverse perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange. The University’s Statements on Diversity are at https://provost.uchicago.edu/statements-diversity.
The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-834-3988 or email equalopportunity@uchicago.edu with their request.
The Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at The University of Chicago invites applications for tenured Associate Professor in any area of observational, experimental, theoretical, and computational astrophysics. Department members play leading roles in a wide range of research projects, including the Dark Energy Survey (DES), Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), South Pole Telescope (SPT), and many others; more details can be found at the Department website. The University of Chicago is a founding partner of the Giant Magellan Telescope, and members of the Department have access to the twin 6.5-m Magellan Telescopes. Computational astrophysics is supported by access to high-performance computing through the Research Computing Center at the University and through connections to Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab. The University of Chicago has an inherently crosscutting and interdisciplinary structure that is very supportive of newly emerging research opportunities and is open to the possibility of appointments with other departments. Department members are also involved in the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, the Enrico Fermi Institute, Fermilab, and Argonne National Laboratory.
All University departments and institutes are charged with building a faculty from a diversity of backgrounds and with diverse viewpoints, with cultivating an inclusive community that values freedom of expression, and with welcoming and supporting all their members.
We seek candidates with an established record of high-impact research to conduct an independent research program, and to teach and advise our undergraduate and graduate students.
Qualifications
A Ph.D. in astrophysics or a closely related field is required.
Application Instructions
Applicants must apply online through the University of Chicago academic careers website apply.interfolio.com/111763 . Required materials are:
- a cover letter,
- a curriculum vitae,
- a list of publications,
- a statement of research,
- and a teaching statement (which should include information about the candidate’s teaching and mentoring activities, teaching philosophy and goals, and should also, where possible, include a description of the candidate’s experience in teaching and mentoring students, research or teaching assistants, or postdoctoral fellows, and in fostering their learning and ability to do research; the teaching statement may also include relevant experience in teaching and mentoring students from a diversity of backgrounds, if applicable).
- A list of at least 3 references is also required.
Review of applications will begin on November 6, 2022 and will continue until the position is filled.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All University departments and institutes are charged with building a faculty from a diversity of backgrounds and with diverse viewpoints; with cultivating an inclusive community that values freedom of expression; and with welcoming and supporting all their members.
We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages diverse perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange. The University’s Statements on Diversity are at https://provost.uchicago.edu/statements-diversity.
The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-834-3988 or email equalopportunity@uchicago.edu with their request.
The Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at The University of Chicago invites applications for Assistant Professor in any area of observational, experimental, theoretical, and computational astrophysics. Department members play leading roles in a wide range of research projects, including the Dark Energy Survey (DES), Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), South Pole Telescope (SPT), and many others; more details can be found at the Department website. The University of Chicago is a founding partner of the Giant Magellan Telescope, and members of the Department have access to the twin 6.5-m Magellan Telescopes. Computational astrophysics is supported by access to high-performance computing through the Research Computing Center at the University and through connections to Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab. The University of Chicago has an inherently crosscutting and interdisciplinary structure that is very supportive of newly emerging research opportunities and is open to the possibility of appointments with other departments. Department members are also involved in the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, the Enrico Fermi Institute, Fermilab, and Argonne National Laboratory.
All University departments and institutes are charged with building a faculty from a diversity of backgrounds and with diverse viewpoints, with cultivating an inclusive community that values freedom of expression, and with welcoming and supporting all their members.
The successful candidate will conduct an independent research program, and teach and advise undergraduate and graduate students.
Qualifications
All requirements for a Ph.D. in astrophysics or a closely related field must be completed prior to the start of the appointment, expected to be July 1, 2023 or later.
Application Instructions
Applicants must apply online through the University of Chicago academic careers website apply.interfolio.com/111760. Required materials are:
- a cover letter,
- a curriculum vitae,
- a list of publications,
- a statement of research,
- and a teaching statement (which should include information about the candidate’s teaching and mentoring activities, teaching philosophy and goals, and should also, where possible, include a description of the candidate’s experience in teaching and mentoring students, research or teaching assistants, or postdoctoral fellows, and in fostering their learning and ability to do research; the teaching statement may also include relevant experience in teaching and mentoring students from a diversity of backgrounds, if applicable).
- Applicants are required to request at least three confidential letters of recommendation via Interfolio.
Review of applications will begin on November 6, 2022 and will continue until the position is filled.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All University departments and institutes are charged with building a faculty from a diversity of backgrounds and with diverse viewpoints; with cultivating an inclusive community that values freedom of expression; and with welcoming and supporting all their members.
We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages diverse perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange. The University’s Statements on Diversity are at https://provost.uchicago.edu/statements-diversity.
The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-834-3988 or email equalopportunity@uchicago.edu with their request.