Vera C. Rubin Astronomy Frontiers Fellowship

The LSST Discovery Alliance gratefully acknowledges NVIDIA’s generosity in providing the funding for this Fellowship, and for providing the Vera

C. Rubin Astronomy Frontiers Fellow with compute and NVIDIA training resources.

The LSST Discovery Alliance (LSST-DA) announces the Call for Applications for the inaugural Vera

C. Rubin Astronomy Frontiers Fellowship.

The Vera

C. Rubin Frontiers Fellowship will support an exceptionally promising postdoctoral-level scientist who will pioneer the innovative application of AI/ML methods to analysis of data from the NSF-DOE Vera

C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The Fellow will honor the legacy of Dr. Vera

C. Rubin by conducting cutting-edge research using state-of-the-art computational infrastructure—specifically dedicated high-performance GPU hardware—while championing an inclusive, collaborative scientific culture.

The Fellowship will provide salary, benefits, and a research allowance for two years through a grant to the Fellow’s chosen host institution:

• Stipend/Salary: $80,000 annually.
• Benefits:
  Full health insurance and employee benefits provided at the host institution’s standard postdoctoral rate.
• Research & Travel Allowance: $12,000 annually allocated for research-related expenses, including conference travel, publications, and computing supplies.
• Dedicated GPU Hardware Allocation:
  Guaranteed up to 20% reserved access to a dedicated NVIDIA DGX H200 8-GPU server hosted within the SLAC Shared Science Data Facility (S3DF), co-located with Rubin Observatory’s US Data Facility (USDF). Additional compute time may be requested via the Rubin Observatory Resource Allocation Committee (RAC).
• Training & Community Leadership:
  Full access to the NVIDIA Training Program, including instructor-led workshops and up to 100 self-paced NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI) course enrollments. The Fellow will dedicate up to 10% of their time engaging with the research community as an ambassador for AI-driven astrophysics across the scientific community and at NVIDIA public events.

• Degree:
  The Vera
  
  C. Rubin Astronomy Frontiers Fellowship is open to applicants who earned or will have earned their Ph.D. degree between January 1, 2019, and August 2027, in astronomy, physics, data science, or related disciplines. Fellowship funding will be released upon confirmation that the Ph.D. has been granted or that all conditions for its granting have been met.
• Career Stage:
  The opportunity is open to early-career/postdoctoral researchers demonstrating leadership potential in computational astrophysics, AI/ML methodologies, or big-data astronomy.
• Host Institution:
  The Fellowship is tenable at any eligible scientific or academic institution proposed by the applicant. The applicant must obtain written agreement from a faculty or scientific staff member to serve as mentor during the period of the Fellowship. The host institution must be able to accept awards without charging indirect costs ("overhead"). The awarding of this fellowship is contingent upon documented acceptance from the applicant’s host institution which must be received by the LSST Discovery Alliance prior to the formal award letter.
  
  Preliminary indications of acceptance may be submitted with the application, but they will not substitute for the required institutional documentation.
• The Fellowship is open to English-speaking citizens of all nations. All applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, creed, color, age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or national origin. Women and members of underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Applicants must demonstrate that…