Postdoctoral Fellowship in Exoplanets and Galactic Science

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Exoplanets and Galactic Science

Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) seeks to recruit a postdoctoral fellow interested in advancing a research program centered around exoplanets and galactic science.

LCO’s global, robotic telescope network was custom‑built specifically for time‑domain astronomy. Our 25 robotic telescopes provide instant access to the sky in both hemispheres. Postdoctoral Fellows at LCO join a unique environment that is a public/private partnership conceived from some of the best ideas at companies like Google and Apple, but in an academic setting consisting of in‑house scientists and engineers.

Our staff scientists lead a diverse range of research into exoplanets, galactic science and astronomical software (Dr. Rachel Street);
Solar System astronomy, particularly Near‑Earth Objects (NEOs) and comets (Dr. Tim Lister) and the characterization of explosive transients, tidal disruption events, and gravitational waves (Prof. Andy Howell). They have established multi‑national networks of collaborators where the successful applicant would be welcomed as a partner.

LCO scientists are active contributors to a range of major new surveys and missions that promise to be transformative for time domain and multi‑messenger astrophysics. Members of LCO’s Exoplanets and Galactic Science group are part of the Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey Project Investigation Team and Dr. Street co‑chaired the design committee for Galactic Plane Survey of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

The team is also an active contributor to the Transients and Variable Stars Science Collaboration of the NSF/DOE’s Vera

C. Rubin Observatory, and members of the Black

GEM survey. Dr. Street leads the OMEGA Key Project at LCO, which characterizes microlensing events caused by exoplanetary and stellar remnant systems. Dr. Street also has a strong interest in astronomical software development; she is Principle Investigator of the TOM Toolkit software and the AEON+ program to optimize observatory operations for time domain science.

LCO leads astronomy in enabling responsive, real‑time observing programs for a wide range of science, and in making our advanced observing software tools available to the wider community. For example, LCO’s TOM Toolkit package is designed to make it easy for anyone to take advantage of these tools, and customise a powerful observing database system to their own science goals. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to enhance their software skills in partnership with our professional software engineers.

LCO is also a founding member of the Astronomical Events Observatories Network (AEON), which aims to optimize software and operations among collaborating observatories, giving postdocs programmatic tools to access to significantly larger apertures, including facilities such as SOAR and Gemini, for time domain follow‑up.

LCO postdoctoral fellows have the opportunity to gain experience and familiarity with all aspects of these surveys, missions and projects, and will be well positioned to explore their scientific results. LCO postdocs also benefit greatly from interactions with the Astronomy group at UC Santa Barbara, and the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics.

• research statement of no more than 3 pages
• names and contact information for three referees that can provide letters of reference

A Ph.D. in astronomy, physics, or a related discipline is required by the start of employment. Software development experience, for example using Python, is desirable.

The postdoctoral appointment will be for a two‑year term, starting in September 2026 or earlier, with likely extension for a third year, based on satisfactory evaluations. The successful applicant will be an employee of LCO. The position comes with a generous employee benefits package including health insurance, paid time off, holidays, as well as support for travel, page charges, and computing.

The starting salary is $75,000. LCO is a private, non‑profit corporation, based in Goleta, California. The position is on‑site in Goleta. US work authorization is required.

LCO is an Equal Opportunity employer. Our mission is to…