Postdoctoral Opportunities


There are many different opportunities that support the different Postdoctoral Fellows in Theoretical Astrophysics at Caltech!

All the postdocs working in Theoretical Astrophysics at Caltech are associated with the Division of Physics, Math, & Astronomy (PMA), the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, and the Theoretical AstroPhysics Including Relativity (TAPIR) groups. Advertisements for Available Postdoctoral fellowships, including the Burke Prize Fellowships in Theoretical Astrophysics, can be found here and here. Note that applicants to the Burke Prize fellows may also be considered for our joint Caltech-Carngie Postdoctoral Prize Fellowship program with the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena.

Postdocs interested in working/collaborating with our group can and do come from any areas of physics or astrophysics, but may be interested, for example, in any of the following range of topics:

  • Galaxy formation and large-scale structure 
  • Star formation and the structure of the interstellar medium
  • Super-massive black hole formation and evolution, ‘feedback’ from AGN
  • Planet formation and/or proto-stellar/planetary disk structure
  • Numerical/computational methods: particularly for hydrodynamics or radiation transport
  • Astrophysical fluid dynamics, plasma physics, dust-gas dynamics


Our postdocs also have the chance to interact with the exceptional observers as well as theorists at Caltech Astronomy and Physics, and our colleagues at the Carnegie Observatories, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and NASA IPAC

If you’re interested in working here, we also encourage you to propose Caltech as a host institution for applications to external fellowships – such as the NASA (Hubbleor NSF.

Caltech is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, Minorities, Veterans, and Disabled Persons are encouraged to apply.

© Philip Hopkins 2015