Postdoc Researcher, Visiting

Universities Space Research Association • Huntsville, AL

5d • Onsite

About The Position

USRA and the Science and Technology Institute are seeking a full-time Postdoc Researcher to work in our Huntsville, AL office. The applicant will develop and adapt the Scarlet source deblending software package for use with JWST Integral Field Unit (IFU) spectrographs (NIRSpec IFU and MIRI MRS), perform validation simulations, and produce open-source science demonstrations for the astronomical community.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities: 

Port and modernize the prototype spectral Scarlet pipeline to the current Scarlet codebase for compatibility with JWST IFU data formats
Integrate q3dfit for wavelength-dependent PSF modeling and deconvolution
Design and run suites of synthetic data simulations (~10,000 blended scenes) to quantify deblending performance for NIRSpec and MIRI data cubes
Apply Scarlet to archival JWST data across multiple science cases (quasar host galaxies, substellar companions, high-redshift galaxy clusters, SN1987A, etc)
Write documentation, tutorials, and community-facing science demonstrations
Contribute to open-source development and testing infrastructure on GitHub

Requirements

• PhD in Astronomy, Astrophysics, Physics, or a related field
• Strong understanding of observational astronomy, particularly IFU spectroscopy and photometry
• Familiarity with PSF modeling and convolution in the context of astronomical imaging
• Experience writing and maintaining scientific software in a collaborative environment
• Ability to design and interpret simulation-based validation studies
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for producing documentation and publications
• Proficiency in Python; experience with C/C++ extensions is a plus
• Familiarity with astronomical software ecosystems: JWST pipeline, q3dfit, jdaviz, WebbPSF, GALSIM, or similar
• Experience with version control (Git/GitHub) and open-source software development practices
• Familiarity with non-negative matrix factorization or related optimization methods is desirable

Nice To Haves

• Candidates with at least 5 years of experience performing this type of work are highly preferred.
• Prior experience with IFU spectroscopy data reduction and analysis (NIRSpec, MIRI MRS, or comparable instruments) is strongly preferred.
• Experience with source deblending, spectral decomposition, or matrix factorization methods is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Port and modernize the prototype spectral Scarlet pipeline to the current Scarlet codebase for compatibility with JWST IFU data formats
• Integrate q3dfit for wavelength-dependent PSF modeling and deconvolution
• Design and run suites of synthetic data simulations (~10,000 blended scenes) to quantify deblending performance for NIRSpec and MIRI data cubes
• Apply Scarlet to archival JWST data across multiple science cases (quasar host galaxies, substellar companions, high-redshift galaxy clusters, SN1987A, etc)
• Write documentation, tutorials, and community-facing science demonstrations
• Contribute to open-source development and testing infrastructure on GitHub

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 251-500 employees