CMB-S4

CMB-S4 Next Generation CMB Experiment

job listings

This page is for advertising positions related to CMB research, e.g., postdocs, faculty, laboratory and technical positions. To post positions, please send the description and link to C. Reichardt.

Postdoc CCAT-prime 850GHz camera, Jan 25, 2021
Applications are invited for a postdoctoral research position in experimental cosmology and astrophysics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. Members of our group study the CMB and astrophysics as participants in the South Pole Telescope (SPT, https://pole.uchicago.edu/), CCAT-prime (https://www.ccatobservatory.org/), Polarbear/Simons-Array, ACT, and CMB-S4 collaborations.

UBC is funded to build the polarization sensitive, 850GHz (350um) KID camera for the CCAT-prime telescope. The successful applicant will have the opportunity to actively contribute to the design, construction and testing of this instrument, with close collaboration with the Cornell CCATp group. The applicant will also have opportunities for cosmological/astrophysical analysis of data from the SPT-3G receiver and Polarbear-2/SA, as well as in technology development for CMB-S4.

Postdoc on SPHEREx at Rochester Institution of Technology, Jan 31, 2021
The School of Physics and Astronomy at the Rochester Institute of Technology is seeking an outstanding postdoctoral researcher in astrophysical data analysis with immediate effect. The successful candidate will work as part of the Experimental Cosmology Laboratory with Dr. Michael Zemcov, primarily focused on data pipeline construction and science extraction for the SPHEREx experiment (see http://spherex.caltech.edu). The postdoc is expected to spend most of their time on SPHEREx tasks, but may also be involved in personal or other projects in RIT’s Experimental Cosmology Lab (examples include the TIME sub-mm spectrometer and the CIBER-2 sounding rocket). If of interest, RIT permits postdoctoral researchers to be primary instructor on undergraduate Physics and Astronomy courses, which can be negotiated as part of a plan of work.

Brinson Fellowship at UC Davis, Feb 1, 2021
The University of California Davis Department of Physics and Astronomy is pleased to invite applications for the Brinson Prize Fellowship in Experimental Physics (with the University Rank of Postdoctoral Scholar) to begin in the Fall of 2021. The Brinson Prize Fellow is a three-year position.

The Brinson Fellow will join a search for a very low mass dark matter candidate: the dark photon. The experiment is called “Dark E-field Radio”, and the Brinson Fellow will participate in the design of novel RF instrumentation, search strategy, analysis of time-spectrum data from multiple detectors, and spearhead the next phase of the search beyond 1 GHz. Creativity and expertise in RF radiometry, weak signal detection, and RF simulation tools are desired. Involvement with inventing and planning the next generation of laboratory searches for dark matter will be welcome.

The department has several groups probing the nature of dark matter, ranging from underground searches, accelerator experiments, to strong and weak gravitational lens probes. The successful applicant will also have the opportunity to join our astrophysics group probing the physics of dark matter using Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Members of the UC community enjoy guaranteed access to the Keck telescopes.

Postdoc in Theoretical Cosmology at CWRU, Feb 3, 2021
The Theoretical Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology group at Case Western Reserve University anticipates offering a Postdoctoral Scholar position open to all areas of theoretical cosmology, broadly defined. The position is for two years, starting September 1, 2021 (earlier/later start dates may be negotiated), with a third year likely, but contingent on continued funding.

Postdoctoral Fellow in mm-wavelength instrumentation at Stockholm University, Feb 19, 2021
The Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics at Stockholm University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow focusing on the design and testing of lightweight metamaterial candidates for broadband millimeter-wavelength absorbers to be used by the LiteBIRD satellite. The Centre houses research groups from Stockholm University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The Centre hosts a vibrant research programme on dark matter, dark energy, transient and multimessenger astrophysics, structure formation, and related particle physics questions, including LHC-based studies. Theoretical activities at the Centre include particle and astroparticle phenomenology, neutrino theory, gravitation and string theory.

We are advertising a 2-year postdoc position, funded by the Swedish Space Agency, to work on the development and testing of mm-wavelength absorbers for the LiteBIRD satellite. The project involves further development of existing technologies while optimizing for broadband and wide-angle absorption, low mass, and cryogenic robustness. The custom materials will be tested against well-known absorber solutions under a range of conditions mimicking those that will likely be seen in a 4th-generation CMB satellite, LiteBIRD led by JAXA, observing at frequencies covering 40-400 GHz.

In the appointment process, special attention will be given to proven experience in mm-wavelength instrumentation, particularly experience with quasi-optical testing for experiments observing the cosmic microwave background. Similarly, any experience with testing of mm-wavelength telecommunication systems is beneficial. We are looking for driven candidates with strong ability to work both individually and in groups.

Assoc. Scientist in quantum/dark matter detectors at Fermilab, Feb 25, 2021
The Fermilab Particle Physics Division is seeking outstanding candidates to fill an Associate Scientist position for the synergistic development of dark matter detectors and solid-state quantum sensors. The successful candidate will study the effects of ionizing radiation on the coherence time of solid-state qubits, which is currently a technological limitation in their implementation for quantum computers. The candidate will simultaneously drive an experimental program to explore the use of quantum sensors for dark matter detection. It is expected that such a program will complement existing dark matter efforts within the Fermilab Cosmic Physics Center.

The successful candidate will become a member of the Quantum Science Center (QSC), a National Quantum Initiative (NQI) research center which blends expertise in diverse fields including particle physics, condensed matter physics, materials science, and computer science from its 16 member institutions to develop new quantum devices, sensors, materials and algorithms. These efforts will capitalize on a broad range of scientific, computing, engineering, and technical expertise available at Fermilab, particularly in the areas of cryogenic detector instrumentation and low background dark matter detectors. This position also provides opportunities to collaborate with other aspects of the Fermilab’s strong and growing QIS program, including efforts in the Fermi Quantum Institute (FQI) and the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems center (SQMS). We seek exceptional candidates with a proven research record in experimental particle physics, cryogenic detector development, and/or experimental quantum information science.

Faculty position at Washington University in St. Louis, Mar 15, 2021
The Department of Physics at Washington University in St. Louis (https://physics.wustl.edu) invites applications for a tenure-track/tenured faculty appointment in Physics at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor to begin in the fall semester of 2021. We invite applicants in all areas of theoretical, observational, and experimental astrophysics, cosmology, particle physics and nuclear physics who specialize in the use of data-intensive methods, data mining, statistics, large-scale computer simulations, machine learning, neural network, and GPU computing. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, simulations of astrophysical processes (e.g. black hole and neutron star accretion or merger, cosmological simulations), processing large data sets (e.g., gravitational wave, cosmological, multi-wavelength and multi-messenger data sets), and statistical, uncertainty quantification, and Bayesian analyses. The hire forms part of Washington University’s Digital Transformation initiative, in which 14 faculty members are hired in departments across the schools of Arts & Sciences (https://bit.ly/artscidigital). The ability and willingness to collaborate with colleagues across traditional discipline boundaries will be considered as a strength of the application. Furthermore, a joint appointment with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics (https://math.wustl.edu) can be considered if appropriate. The faculty hire will be a member of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences (https://mcss.wustl.edu).

CMB Postdoc at Harvard
The Harvard CMB group invites applications for two Harvard Postdoctoral Fellow positions to pursue research related to cosmic microwave background measurements with the BICEP Array telescopes, the South Pole Observatory, and CMB Stage 4. The multi-institutional BICEP program produces extremely deep maps of polarization of the CMB at multiple frequencies from the South Pole, measuring gravitational lensing and galactic foregrounds and placing leading constraints on primordial gravitational waves. The BICEP Array project is upgrading the current program with new instrumentation to include over 30,000 detectors and five frequency bands, to be deployed and operated over the next five years. The program will continue to produce maps with groundbreaking sensitivity, while validating technologies and methodologies essential to Stage 3 and Stage 4 CMB science goals. A major focus is analysis of current and upcoming BICEP data, including joint analysis with data from the 10m South Pole Telescope and external datasets, to continue to improve lensing measurements, component separation, and constraints on primordial cosmology, as well as forecasting and design optimization for future efforts. These include the operational South Pole Observatory and the ongoing instrument development for the Small Aperture Telescopes of CMB Stage 4.

Successful candidates will play a variety of leading roles spanning receiver and telescope design, instrumentation development, deployment and operation, real time control code, optimization of data reduction and simulation on leading HPC infrastructure at Harvard and NERSC, and development of high-level analyses for survey combination and cosmological interpretation. Applicants should indicate which roles best match their experience and interest. Successful candidates will actively represent this research at conferences and take leading roles in preparation of results for publication. The postdoctoral fellow positions offer a highly competitive salary, an independent research fund and an allowance for relocation expense. The position will be renewed annually based on satisfactory performance, for an expected total length of three years. Joint appointments with collaborating institutions are possible and may be considered on a case by case basis.

Postdoctoral position at Argonne NL
The High Energy Physics Division at Argonne National Laboratory invites applications for postdoctoral research positions in the Experimental Cosmology group. Members of our group study the cosmic microwave background as participants in the South Pole Telescope (SPT, https://pole.uchicago.edu/) and CMB-S4 (https://cmb-s4.org/) collaborations. Successful applicants will have opportunities for cosmological analysis of data from the SPT-3G receiver as well as in technology development for CMB-S4. They will have access to multiple test and fabrication facilities at Argonne, the latter involving close collaboration with the Materials Science Division and the Center for Nanoscale Materials. Opportunities also exist to collaborate closely with the Cosmological Physics and Advanced Computing group as well as groups at Fermilab and the University of Chicago.