"Postbac Researcher"

Postbac Researcher

Caltech
Job Category: Fulltime Regular
Exempt Overtime Eligible: Overtime Eligible
Benefits Eligible: Benefit Based

Caltech is a world-renowned science and engineering institute that marshals some of the world's brightest minds and most innovative tools to address fundamental scientific questions. We thrive on finding and cultivating talented people who are passionate about what they do. Join us and be a part of the diverse Caltech community.

Job Summary

The successful applicant will participate two astronomical projects by building sophisticated data analysis pipelines. The first is the PANOSETI project to detect nanosecond optical pulses using an array of small telescopes and fast detectors. The second relates to the Keck Planet Finder instrument that is in use at the W.M. Keck Observatory. Work will be done in collaboration with the research group of Andrew Howard, Professor of Astornomy.

Essential Job Duties

The successful applicant will develop a set of data analysis pipelines written in Python and be part of the official pipelines for the projects on Github. Documentation, continuous integration, and other testing are important parts of these software projects. For the PANOSETI project, the real time pipeline should be designed to detect unusual events of astronomical origin while identifying and filtering instrument systematics. For the Keck Planet Finder project, the pipeline is designed to measure precise Doppler shifts from high-resolution optical echelle spectra.

Basic Qualifications

• BS degree in related field
• Experience with data reduction pipelines for astronomical pipelines.
• Experience with the Python programming language, version control software practices with git, and prior work on data from an echelle spectrometer or a nano-second speed optical imaging telescope.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with analysis of data projects from astronomical telescopes that can detect Cerenkov air showers.

Required Documents

• Resume.