The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) invites applications for multiple positions with the Roman Project Science Team.
Roman is a NASA astrophysics flagship mission expected to launch in the mid-2020s that will perform wide-area and time-domain surveys at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. The primary mission objectives are studies in cosmology and exoplanet demographics, but a wide range of astrophysical investigations are anticipated. Roman hosts two instruments. The Wide-Field Instrument (WFI) is a 300-megapixel visible to near-IR camera with an 0.28 deg2 field-of-view and both imaging and spectroscopic capabilities. The Coronagraph Instrument is a technology demonstration using a coronagraph to suppress starlight and achieve the extreme contrasts needed to directly detect circumstellar disks and exoplanets in reflected light.
Successful applicants will work directly with the GSFC Roman Project Science team. A fraction of the applicant’s time will be devoted to WFI and/or Mission support on one or more of these activities: science and instrument simulations, WFI calibration, integration & test support and data analysis, mission and science operations, and science communications. The remainder of the applicant’s time will be available for science research either independently or with other members of the group.
Current members of the Roman Science team at Goddard conduct research in cosmology and the early universe, local galaxies, exoplanets, stellar astrophysics, astrophysical transients, and instrument and detector development.
We anticipate making multiple offers for positions through UMBC’s Center for Space Sciences and Technology (CSST), funded by NASA through the Center for Research and Exploration in Space Sciences & Technology II (CRESST II) cooperative agreement. The positions will be for two years, renewable upon mutual agreement and availability of funds. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in astronomy, physics, or a related field by the date of the appointment. Salary and benefits are competitive, commensurate with experience and qualifications.
The position will remain available until filled. Applications received by August 31, 2021, will receive full consideration. Candidates should provide a cover letter, Curriculum Vita including publications list, statements of technical and research interests, and contact information for three references to:
Roman Scientist
CRESST/UMBC
Mail Code 660.8, NASA/GSFC
Greenbelt, MD 20771, or
Via e-mail to [email protected]
For more information about the duties or the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, contact Dr. Julie McEnery ([email protected]). For information on UMBC and CRESST II, contact Dr. Don Engel ([email protected]).