Astronova Postdoctoral Fellowship
The University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, with over 40 instrumentation faculty members, has provided major instruments for many space and ground based observatories, and are actively delivering or supporting the commissioning of many current missions and observatory upgrades, including: NSF/DOE's Vera C. Rubin Observatory, NASA’s Pioneer Mission Pandora, NASA’s Pioneer Mission Aspera, and the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile. University of Arizona’s instrumentation efforts are supported by access to extensive lab and engineering resources: clean rooms; large thermal vacuum chambers; detector labs; electronic shops; machine shops; optical fabrication, coating, and lithography facilities; and unique facilities provided by the UA Space Institute.
About the Astronova Fellowship
Launched in 2026, the Heising-Simons Foundation’s Astronomical Innovation (Astronova™) Fellowship supports exceptional postdoctoral scientists who are developing instrumentation to shape the future of astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and planetary science.
The Astronova™ Fellowship seeks to launch fellows into tenure-track faculty positions where they can continue their pioneering instrumentation research, as well as mentor and train the next generation of astronomical instrumentalists. The fellowship is also meant to uplift the field of instrumentation and increase its visibility, prestige, and the recognition of its contributions to scientific discovery.
| Main Field(s) | Main Technique(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Ramya Anche | ||
| Daniel Apai | Exoplanets & Astrobiology | Transits, Direct Detection |
| Chad Bender | Exoplanets | RV, Transits |
| Laird Close | Exoplanets | Direct Detection, AO |
| Ewan Douglas | ||
| Josh Eisner | ||
| Steve Ertel | Exoplanets | Interferometry |
| Olivier Guyon | Large Optics | Spectroscopy |
| Erika Hamden | Detectors, CGM, Star Formation | |
| Daewook Kim | Large Optics | |
| Jarron Leisenring | Detectors | |
| Jared Males | Exoplanets | Direct Detection, AO |
| Dan Marrone | ||
| Brittany Miles | ||
| David Sand | ||
| Carlos Vargas | ||
| Christopher Walker |