Senior Research Technician

Senior Research Technician

Company: Villanova University

Job Location: Villanova, 19085

Category: Laboratory and Research

Type: Full-Time

Posting Number: 20260156S

Location: Villanova, PA

Work Schedule: full-time/12-months

Department: 186-Physics

Position Summary

Why work at Villanova?

• Join a mission-driven organization. Since Villanova University's founding in 1842, we have been inspired by the values of truth, unity, and love, and are a community dedicated to service to others.
• Villanova has been included among the nation's best colleges and universities. VU's inclusion again in U.S. News & World Report's 2025 "Best Colleges" rankings is another indication of the University's continued prominence and forward momentum.
• Villanova's most precious asset is our people. As an employee, you will receive a holistic benefits package, generous paid time off, a competitive retirement savings plan, flexible work options, wellness programs including gym membership, professional development, tuition assistance, and more.

This position is in direct support of a NASA grant to develop a data pipeline for far-infrared polarimetry data. The employee will work with the team members both at Villanova and at collaborating institutions and will take the primary role developing the software. It is anticipated that the employee will also contribute to publication and dissemination of the knowledge gained from the effort.

Villanova is a Catholic university sponsored by the Augustinian Order. The University is an equal opportunity employer and seeks candidates who understand, respect and can contribute to the University's mission and values.

Duties and Responsibilities

Code development- development of software simulator for HAWC+/SOFIA data and adaption of existing publicly-available analysis code for the HAWC+/SOFIA Galactic center data set.

Code documentation and paper writing. The code will be made publicly-available, so good repository practices will have to be followed. This entails providing clear documentation (likely to a NASA data center) and a well-curated Github online repository. The results of the new data reduction will also be published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is expected that the employee will play a major role in this as well.

Meetings with team members to clarify work and define tasks.

Minimum Qualifications

Formal Education

• Masters degree in a field related to physics (Engineering, Computer Science, Math, etc.)

Minimum Work Experience

• 3 years experience
• Good written and verbal communication skills

Specific Job Knowledge

• Python Programming Language
• Github
• Jupyter Notebook/Google Collab
• Data reduction/signal analysis skills such as Fourier analysis

Preferred Qualifications

Familiarity with FITS file formats, Astropy

Salary Posting Information

This position falls within salaried grade 12 and the range is $47,500-56,900. The final salary will be determined with consideration of several factors including the selected candidate's qualifications, department budget availability, market data, and internal equity.

Salary Grade 12

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