NRL X-ray Instrument and Mission Development
NRL seeks someone to develop X-ray instruments, study compact objects using existing missions, and contribute to new mission concepts.
This grant is no longer accepting proposals
NRC Research Associateship Programs has archived this opportunity.
Funder: NRC Research Associateship Programs
Due Dates: February 1, 2025 | May 1, 2025 | August 1, 2025 | November 1, 2025
Funding Amounts: $99,200 stipend plus $3,000 travel allowance; relocation assistance available; typical tenure 2-3 years.
Summary: Postdoctoral fellowship opportunity at Naval Research Laboratory to develop and operate X-ray instrumentation, conduct astrophysics research on compact objects, and contribute to mission concept development.
Key Information: Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents with a Ph.D. earned within the last 5 years; requires prior contact with research adviser; health insurance provided.
Description
The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) High Energy Space Environment Branch offers a postdoctoral research associateship focused on X-ray astronomy instrumentation and mission concept development. The program emphasizes X-ray timing and spectral studies of compact astrophysical sources such as neutron stars, black holes, and white dwarfs, with particular interest in X-ray pulsars and low-mass X-ray binaries.
Candidates will engage in building and operating laboratory instrumentation involving X-ray optics, detectors, and electronics. The research also includes applied topics like using X-ray pulsars for navigation and timekeeping. Collaboration with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is integral, utilizing modulated X-ray sources developed there to test NRL-built instruments.
Awardees will have opportunities to work with data from current space missions including NICER, Fermi, NuSTAR, and Swift, and contribute to new mission concepts ranging from small instruments on Department of Defense spacecraft to NASA probe-class missions such as STROBE-X.
