NASA Postdoctoral Program - Observational Extragalactic Astronomy

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA's missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology. This specific opportunity focuses on multi-wavelength investigations probing various aspects of galaxy evolution. Observations are currently being made through awarded time on space and ground-based facilities, with observational planning under way for future use of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). Recent scientific programs aimed at galaxy evolution include investigations of isolated versus cluster galaxies of various morphological types, spectroscopic analysis of stellar populations and star formation histories, and structural analysis of spatial light distributions. Key research questions include the formation history of isolated early type galaxies, constraints that cluster membership imposes on chemical evolution, and how low-mass galaxies survive a cluster environment. The postdoctoral researcher will carry out independent scientific research related to these topics, working with imaging and spectroscopic data across multiple wavelengths.