Author: Marcus Mohring

The Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) at Northwestern University invites applications for a special endowed research position: the CIERA Board of Visitors Research Associate. The position was created in support of CIERA’s director, currently Prof. Vicky Kalogera. This is a 3-year term position with the possibility of longer-term renewal based on satisfactory performance and the availability of funding. The nominal starting date will be September 1, 2025, but a different start is negotiable depending on the applicant's availability. Application deadline: August 15th, 2025.

The Board of Visitors Research Associate will work closely with the director and will have broad responsibility for maintaining the research program of the Director of CIERA, working on proposals, and interacting with the Board of Visitors. The position is a PhD-level, research associate and science manager position. Named for the CIERA Board of Visitors, whose generous donations fund the role, the position is at a similar level to a postdoctoral associate. Depending on prior experience, the possibility of advancement to the research faculty track is available.

Overall Responsibility: The Research Associate will be responsible for scientific planning and progress tracking, proposal preparation, reporting, outreach, and student mentoring and training. Principal duties and responsibilities include:

Manage the Director’s research group activities, including leading group meetings and managing shared group resources.
Prepare materials for presentations, proposals, reports, and manuscripts with the director and other group members.
Scientific communication, including research presentations at national and international meetings, and public outreach.
Maintain and update documentation on the Director’s and group’s activities, such as publications, funding, and more.
Interface with other relevant groups and efforts at CIERA, other NU centers and departments, and the SkAI Institute, on behalf of the Director’s research group and projects.
Regularly interact with the CIERA BoV members about group and other research news.
Mentor students at different levels of their research studies.
Up to 20% research time, independent or in collaboration with the director’s group members.

This position will be part of the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) at Northwestern. Successful applicants will benefit from interaction with a broad interdisciplinary group of researchers and will be immersed in a diverse and dynamic intellectual environment (learn more about CIERA’s programs and activities). The BoV Research Associate will have access to three exclusive high-performance computer clusters, providing access to 6,924 compute cores. Additional HPC resources, including high-memory nodes, are available through Northwestern’s Quest cluster (see ciera.northwestern.edu/high-performance-computing for more information). A dedicated Computational Specialist is also on staff to assist CIERA researchers.

A PhD in Astronomy, Astrophysics, or Physics is required. Background in any of stellar structure and evolution, compact-object astrophysics, gravitational-wave sources and data analysis is highly desired. No formal research program management experience is required, but strong evidence for research excellence, multi-tasking, and organizational skills is highly desired. Must be able to handle a variety of tasks, to effectively solve problems, and to shift priorities as needed. The candidate must be self-motivated, energetic, and able to work independently, bring projects to conclusion, and have the interpersonal skills to work effectively with collaborators, students, administrators, and grant sponsors.

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We are offering a postdoctoral fellowship programme that allows researchers to conduct their own bottom-up research project over two years in Czechia, within the facilities of the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences or ELI Beamlines, depending on their chosen supervisor, under the Physics for Future (P4F) Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND. The call is expected to be open from August until 10 October 2025.

The fields of physics include astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology and high energy physics among others.

We expect to recruit 33 fellows in this second call. 

Requirements 

Research field: Physics  
Researcher profile: Recognised Researcher (R2) 
Education level: PhD (or equivalent) 
Languages: English  
The applicants must hold a PhD degree by the call deadline and have no more than 8 years of full-time equivalent (FTE) experience in research since their PhD award. The applicants are invited to apply through the P4F open call. The evaluation and selection process for admitted applications will involve a two-phase assessment, encompassing a written evaluation followed by an interview. 

What is included in a fellowship? 

Successful applicants will receive a 2-year employment contract. The monthly gross salary of the fellow will be approx. EUR 3256 if the fellow is not entitled to the Family allowance and EUR 3442 if the fellow demonstrates s/he is entitled to the Family allowance. 

The Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences is a prestigious public research institution specialising in fundamental and applied research across diverse fields. With a staff of over 700 scientific employees, the institute is a leading research organisation in Czechia and plays a vital role in advancing human understanding of physics and its applications worldwide. 

As an employer, FZU supports equal opportunities and diversity. This approach helps to foster a positive work culture and creates a supportive environment for all employees. The principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion are embedded in our policies and hiring practices, providing a solid foundation for fair selection processes.

Application Details

Interested candidates should submit their project proposal in English including all mandatory attachments via the application portal available from p4f.fzu.cz   
The call is expected to be open from August until 10 October 2025.

Contact:  Markéta Iffland (p4f(at)fzu.cz) ; https://p4f.fzu.cz/

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The Institut Courtois, inaugurated in 2022, is part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of the Université de Montréal and is funded by a generous donation from the Fondation Courtois. In its ambition to promote an environment of creativity and discovery that will lead to fundamental breakthroughs in materials sciences, the Institut Courtois seeks talented postdoctoral research Fellows who will impart leadership to accelerate materials research in one or more of its five main thrusts:

    Quantum materials
    Quantum photonics
    Materials for energy and the environment
    Development of molecular materials
    AI for material science and material science for AI

With the ability to develop an independent research activity, we encourage ambitious research proposals that involve co-mentorship by at least two regular members of the Institute.  This year, the program is funded by the  Fonds de l’avant-garde scientifique Courtois de la Faculté des arts et des sciences and the Institut Courtois.

Objectives:

• Attract top-tier researchers for postdoctoral positions at Institut Courtois, enabling them to carry out innovative, high-impact exploratory research in the field of materials;
• Foster the development of interdisciplinary research projects (chemistry, physics, computer science);
• Contribute to the Institute’s worldwide recognition.

Calendar :

• Call opens on: April 17th, 2025
• Submission deadline : September 23rd, 2025 11:59PM  EDT
• Results: December 2025
• Start date: From January 2026, at the lastest September 2026

Amount, duration and additional information:

• 63 800$ CAD in salary (+ Benefits valued at 76 000$ CAD)
• Up to 30 000$/yr in travel and research funds
• Duration : 3 years

Eligibility requirements

• The candidate must be enrolled or planning to enroll in a postdoctoral program at the Université de Montréal;
• The candidate must be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or hold a valid work permit for the duration of the postdoctoral training, or be in the process of obtaining one for the relevant period.
• The candidate has obtained his or her doctoral degree within the last five* years before the start of the proposed funding for the competition, or plans to obtain it before the start of Institut Courtois funding;
• The candidate’s research program must be an original program proposed by the candidate and related to the expertise and interests of Institut Courtois members.

We encourage the candidate to communicate and exchange with members of Institut Courtois prior to submitting his or her application. The successful candidate will be paired with a member of Institut Courtois. The postdoctoral supervisor must be a regular Institut Courtois researcher.

*People who justify career breaks and special circumstances in their application (e.g. maternity, illness, etc.) may have obtained their doctorate less than six years before starting their postdoctoral training.

Application requirements

• A research project (maximum 6 pages) including :
  • high-level description of the research problem,
  • the objectives,
  • a literature review,
  • methodology,
  • a justification of how the project fits in with the Institute’s research priorities,
  • a justification of the chosen supervisor,
• Budget and budget justification (maximum 1 page);
• Bibliographical references (maximum 1 page);
• Official doctoral transcripts (specify grading scale for non-Canadian universities);
• CV, including publications;
• 3 letters of recommendation (sent directly to us at institut-courtois@umontreal.ca)
• A support letter from the chosen Institut Courtois supervisor (co-signed if there are co-supervisors).

The application should be single-spaced, using Times new 12 point font, 1 inch margins. It is suggested to consult the Heilmeier Catechism, to write the research project. (https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/heilmeier-catechism)

Applications can be submitted in English or French by e-mail to institut-Courtois@umontreal.ca, naming the file as follows: SURNAME_name_FellowpostdocIC 2025

Institut Courtois is committed to the pursuit of excellence by maximizing the diversity of talent through the widening participation of traditionally under-represented minorities, encouraging applications from all ethnic backgrounds, nationalities, sexual orientations and social conditions.

Evaluation criteria :

• Excellence of the candidate:
  • Academic excellence;
  • Scientific publications and presentations;
  • Leadership in the local, national, and international scientific community.
• Excellence of the proposed research project:
  • Originality and innovation of the proposed project;
  • Feasibility of the proposed project.
• Integration with the Courtois Institute:
  • Alignment with thematic areas of the Institut Courtois;
  • Collaboration with members of the Institut Courtois;
  • Use of Institut Courtois infrastructure and resources.

The evaluation grid will be available shortly.

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