California Institute of Technology

Potential fellows can directly contact Prof. Mansi M. Kasliwal at mansi@astro.caltech.edu if they have any questions.

The Caltech and IPAC research community is deeply engaged in various major topics of research related to VRO and astrophysical survey science. Caltech’s Babamul event broker (PI Graham) has been selected for full access to the VRO alert stream. For example:

- Galactic Transients and Variables (Hillenbrand, Prince): e.g. FU Orionis outbursts & young star variability, novae, compact white dwarf binaries, AM CVn systems, microlensing events

- Solar System research (Helou, Prince): Asteroid searches using novel algorithms for a commensal survey like LSST; ZTF data to find fast-moving small asteroids (<100m) & study that population; Twilight Survey has found 5 new Atiras and the first inside-Venus-orbit object. TNO (Brown) are a natural VRO topic

- Extragalactic Transients (Djorgovski, Graham, Kasliwal, Kulkarni): e.g. Supernovae, Active Galactic Nuclei, Tidal Disruption Flares, Calcium-rich transients. Graham is a member of the AGN science collaboration. Kasliwal is a member of the TVS science collaboration.

- Multi-Messenger Astronomy (Kasliwal): Active panchromatic searches for electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave events, as well as for neutrinos - Weak Lensing and Galaxy Evolution (Chary, Dore, Bock, Rhodes): Using data from VRO, Euclid, and in combination to pursue better constraints on weak lensing; high-accuracy photometry to reveal line flux contributions and estimate redshifts and star formation rates

- Theory (Fuller, Phinney): work focuses on connecting observational data with the astrophysical processes underlying SNe, GRBs, FRBs, gravitational waves, compact binaries, stellar variables, asteroseismology, etc

- Wide-Field Survey calibration, Informatics and Statistics (Graham, Masci). Graham is member of the Informatics and Statistics Science Collaboration (ISSC), ISSC representative on the Commissioning Liaison Committee, and ISSC representative on the International In-Kind Contribution Evaluation Committee

- Kasliwal serves on the VRO SAC and VRO SCOC committees

- Helou is Caltech Institutional Rep to LSSTC Board, serves on Enabling Science Committee and Governance & Nominations Committee; member of Solar System Science Collaboration.

- Caltech operates the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) -- the premier data and science precursor to the Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) -- and serves its data products through IPAC. LSSTC Postdoctoral Fellows hosted at Caltech would have access to ZTF data and to the expertise of the team that built and runs ZTF, including near-daily discussions of operations issues, advanced analysis techniques, and fresh scientific results. The ZTF partnership involves several mid-size and large institutions plus a number of individual associates at small institutions, providing many worldwide networking opportunities.

Caltech Human Resources organizes onboarding for new postdocs. The LSSTC Fellow or Fellows would have offices in Cahill, a building designed to facilitate casual interactions. The LSSTC Fellows would join the existing NASA or Prize Fellows at Caltech, and benefit from the established support system and modes of interaction, such as a weekly Postdoc Lunch funded by astronomy department faculty, in addition to normal department functions such as Theory-Observer pizza lunches, Monday Tea Talks, Wednesday colloquia, Friday theory seminars and Friday PM Socials. LSSTC Fellows will be sure to find like-minded colleagues among the ~50 postdocs, and mentors among the faculty and staff working in VRO-relevant areas. Caltech Astronomy and IPAC embrace the Caltech statements and actions on Inclusion & Diversity: http://diversity.caltech.edu

There is an active group of ~50 postdoctoral fellows in the Cahill building for astronomy and astrophysics at Caltech. Here is a list of current postdoctoral fellows: https://www.astro.caltech.edu/people/postdoctoral-scholars Here is a list of some prize postdoctoral fellows in the past and where they are now: https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/people/prize_postdocs.html

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