Faculty.Professor.Research Assistant - Full-Time

University of Pittsburgh•Pittsburgh, PA

10d

About The Position

The LINCC Frameworks Team at the University of Pittsburgh seeks a full-time Project Scientist at the rank of non-tenure-stream Research Assistant Professor. The successful candidate will lead the development, testing, and deployment of scalable analysis pipelines that support science using data from next-generation sky surveys, including the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) and the Schmidt Observatory System. The LINCC Frameworks team builds analysis frameworks to store, search, analyze, and annotate the volume and complexity of next-generation survey data. Working with software engineers, the Project Scientist will lead development in a focus area such as scalable spatial analysis, time-domain studies, minor planet observations, or photometric redshift measurements. The role also involves applying astronomical analyses with the software, collaborating with external researchers to design and implement analyses, and training and mentoring junior staff. The candidate will contribute to producing, critiquing, improving, and disseminating research results, and should be able to pursue their own research goals through the LINCC analysis frameworks. The team’s software engineers and research scientists develop example notebooks, facilitate testing for specific science use cases, and provide user support to ensure the products are scientifically useful. Applications should include a letter of application, a CV with lists of invited talks and grant, telescope, and computing-time applications, leadership and mentoring activities, a research statement, a publication list, and a brief statement of teaching and community-building interests and experience. Applications submitted through www.join.pitt.edu by December 15, 2026, will receive full consideration; applications will continue to be reviewed on a rolling basis. Three reference letters should be sent to Jeffrey Newman with the subject line “LINCC.” The position is part of the LINCC Frameworks program, which includes the University of Washington, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh.

Requirements

Ph.D. in astrophysics or a closely related field.
Strong computational background.
Background in astronomy.
Ability to work with early adopters of the software platforms.

Responsibilities

Lead development, testing, and deployment of scalable analysis pipelines for next-generation sky-survey data.
Lead development in a LINCC Frameworks focus area, such as scalable spatial analysis, time-domain studies, minor planet observations, or photometric redshift measurements.
Lead the development and application of astronomical analyses using the software.
Work with external researchers to design and implement their analyses.
Train and mentor junior staff.
Contribute to producing, critiquing, improving, and disseminating research results.
Pursue the candidate’s own research goals through the LINCC analysis frameworks.