About this role
Postdoctoral Researcher
Position Type: Other Academic
Department: LSUAM Science - PA - Astronomy - General (Matthew Penny (00061277))
Work Location: 0261 J.W. Nicholson Hall
Pay Grade: Other Academic
Job Description:
Title: Postdoctoral Researcher to work on Gravitational Microlensing, Exoplanet Transits, or Galactic Structure using data from the Roman Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey
Applicants are sought for a postdoctoral researcher position at Louisiana State University to work on data from the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey (GBTDS). Roman launched in August 2026 and the GBTDS will begin taking data in February 2027.
The researcher will work within Professor Matthew Penny's group and as part of the Roman GBTDS Project Infrastructure Team (RGES PIT) and/or the Transiting Exoplanets in the Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey (TrEXS) collaboration. The topics of most interest to the group are:
- Detection and modeling of exoplanets in Roman microlensing events
- Transiting planet detection and false positive rejection in the Roman GBTDS and ground-based searches of globular clusters
- Exoplanet demographics with microlensing and/or transits
- Measurement of microlensing parallax for free-floating and bound exoplanets with Roman and other ground- and space-based observatories
- Modeling the Milky Way’s bulge and disk using Roman & Euclid data and Population Synthesis Galactic models such as SynthPop
- Detection of black holes through high-resolution imaging and point spread function characterization with HST, JWST, Euclid & Roman or ground-based adaptive optics instruments Prior experience in gravitational microlensing is not required.
LSU hosts 7 actively funded Roman grants in various scientific areas tied to the GBTDS, spread across 4 Principal Investigators. The researcher would join a vigorous and collaborative community of researchers all exploring the massive Roman data set for the first time.
The researcher is expected to regularly publish papers, present at conferences and collaboration meetings, and assist the preparation of proposals. Additional duties include assisting in the supervision of graduate and undergraduate students. And ongoing training and professional development, supporting rigor, reproducibility, and advancement of research and scholarship.
Appointments for remote work in the United States are possible, but preference will be given to applicants to work on site at LSU. The researcher may be required to travel nationally and internationally.
Minimum Qualifications: Ph.D. in physics, astronomy, or a related field. Experience coding in at least one programming language.
Preferred Qualifications: Experience using high-performance or high-throughput computing.
Posting Date: October 23, 2026
Closing Date: April 12, 2027
Background Check: An offer of employment is contingent on a satisfactory pre-employment background check.
Benefits: LSU offers outstanding benefits to eligible employees and their dependents including health, life, dental, and vision insurance; flexible spending accounts; retirement options; various leave options; paid holidays; wellness benefits; tuition exemption for qualified positions; training and development opportunities; employee discounts; and more!
Essential Position: N
LSU is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All candidates must have valid U.S. work authorization at the time of hire and maintain that valid work authorization throughout employment.