The PSETI Center is hiring!
We are looking for a postdoc who will work on new initiatives to find or put robust upper limits technosignatures, specifically waste heat or other technosignatures from megastructures.
We at the PSETI Center strongly believe that SETI belongs embedded in astronomy and astrobiology, and that technosignature research and natural science research are tightly entwined. We also believe postdoctoral opportunities are apprenticeships focused on the postdoctoral scholar’s professional development and career advancement.
We also understand that very few people are trained in SETI, so we are looking for someone with the astronomical and scientific skills we need, and we’ll teach them the SETI! We understand the person we hire might not want to make a career out of SETI—we’re looking for broad minded people who do great science that want to expand their horizons, regardless of their career aspirations.
We have many projects that need work, so we are open to people with a physics and astronomy background with any of a very broad set of skills including:
- Infrared astronomy, especially surveys or spectroscopy of circumstellar material
- Studies of debris disks, including spectroscopy, orbital dynamics and modeling, and direct imaging
- Observational surveys of galaxies
- Stellar population synthesis and interpretation of galaxy SEDs
- Thermodynamics and information theory
- Artificial satellite orbital dynamics and collision avoidance
- Massively parallel computer architecture
The person we hire will (as consistent with their professional development goals):
– Pursue independent research
– Learn how to apply their skills to SETI
– Do and publish original research in SETI
– Gain experience helping to lead a group and advise graduate and undergraduate students
– Gain experience assisting with center administration, including potentially:
* conference organization
* seminar organization
The Penn State Astronomy & Astrophysics Department is a vibrant research environment in one of the largest departments in the country, offering opportunities to:
– Serve on departmental committees
– Apply for time on the HET and WIYN telescopes
– Teach astronomy courses
The job ad is here:
https://aas.org/jobregister/ad/5abca404
The ad is for a postdoc; people in later career stages should contact me directly about opportunities.
Please share this ad widely with anyone you think would be interested!
Cheers,
In 1980, I worked on a classified cross-disciplinary research project at the Penn State Center for Acoustics. By 1984, I had earned a Doctor of Education Degree from Penn State. At PSU, I studied music, filmmaking, acoustics, aesthetics, and research design, among other subjects. Penn State’s Graduate School awarded my dissertation an excellent rating for advanced research. I have delivered lectures at local, state, national, and international conferences. has more than 25 years of experience teaching on all levels of instruction. As an academic in higher education, I was an adjunct professor at Penn State University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, New Mexico State University, South Texas College, and Grand Canyon University. As a public school teacher, I taught in both elementary and secondary schools. In addition, I successfully worked for more than 17 years as an educational administrator, change agent, curriculum specialist, troubleshooter, turnaround specialist, and government agent. In 2006, I consulted with the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and I worked on NASA’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Directorate. I have also developed an Interdisciplinary Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Education (IUAPE) curriculum. We ought to talk. . . Dr. Robert Wenzel Gross. . ,