Postdoctoral Fellowship in Exoplanets and Galactic Science

About the role

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.

Responsibilities

• 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.
• Participate in a diverse range of research into exoplanets, galactic science and astronomical software.
• Contribute to major new surveys and missions that promise to be transformative for time domain and multi-messenger astrophysics.
• Enhance software skills in partnership with professional software engineers.
• Gain experience and familiarity with all aspects of surveys, missions and projects, and explore scientific results.
• Interact with the Astronomy group at UC Santa Barbara and the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics.

Requirements

• 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.

Qualifications

• 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.

Benefits

• LCO is a private, non-profit corporation, based in Goleta, California.
• The position is on-site in Goleta.
• US work authorization is required.

Schedule

• The successful applicant will be an employee of LCO.

Pay

• The starting salary is $75,000.

Contact Information

• To apply, submit the following to lcojobs@lco.global by June 15, 2026: cover letter, curriculum vitae, research statement of no more than 3 pages, and names and contact information for three referees that can provide letters of reference.