APS Research/Employment Opportunities

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Supervisor:Alexandros Chasapis

Job:Undergraduate Researcher听

Job Description:听Explore heating / acceleration of the solar wind via plasma waves as Parker Solar Probe 鈥渢ouches the Sun鈥.

Preferred Qualifications:听Intro. Python coding (ASTR 2600 or equivalent)听and clear written communication听

Start Date:5/15/2025

End Date:8/15/2025

Hours/Week: 40

Paid work, Independent Study credit, either, or Other: Paid Work

Contact: David.Malaspina@colorado.edu

Deadline Application:听1/10/2025

If interested, please send resume to: David.Malaspina@colorado.edu


Supervisor:Alexandros Chasapis

Job:Undergraduate Researcher听

Job Description:听Explore solar wind magnetic structures and plasma turbulence near Earth's magnetosphere using MMS spacecraft data听

Preferred Qualifications:听Intro. Python coding (ASTR 2600 or equivalent)听and clear written communication

Start Date:1/15/2025

End Date:8/15/2025

Hours/Week: 15 During semester, 40 during summer

Paid work, Independent Study credit, either, or Other: Paid Work

Contact: alexandros.chasapis@lasp.colorado.edu

Deadline Application:听12/20/2024

If interested, please send resume to: alexandros.chasapis@lasp.colorado.edu


Supervisor:Shah Bahauddin

Job:Undergraduate Student Researcher

Job Description:听We are seeking a motivated undergraduate summer researcher to apply machine learning techniques to heliophysics observational data and perform advanced data analysis. The intern will work on tasks such as developing and training machine learning models, analyzing solar image and spectra datasets, and extracting meaningful insights to support ongoing research. This role will involve coding in Python and extensive data analysis. The position offers hands-on experience at the intersection of data science and space physics.

Preferred Qualifications:听Python, Basic coding proficiency, general math and statistics (high school/freshmen level).

Start Date:6/1/2025

End Date:8/31/2025

Hours/Week: 20

Paid work, Independent Study credit, either, or Other: Paid Work

Contact: Shah.Bahauddin@lasp.colorado.edu

Deadline Application:听1/31/2025

If interested, please send resume to: Shah.Bahauddin@lasp.colorado.edu


Supervisor:Serena Criscuoli

Job:Undergraduate Research experience

Job Description:听Machine learning analysis of Balmer lines spectra acquired with the DKIST.

Preferred Qualifications:听Python coding. Previous experience with machine learning analysis tools is desirable.听

Start Date:2/1/2025

End Date:TBD

Hours/Week: 10/15

Paid work, Independent Study credit, either, or Other: Support to travel to visit DKIST (Maui) might be available

Contact: scriscuo@nso.edu

Deadline Application:听1/1/2025

If interested, please send resume to: scriscuo@nso.edu


Supervisor:Robby Mendoza

Job:Command Controller

Job Description:听Students in the command controller position will participate in mission operations for several active space missions, including multiple NASA satellites! Responsibilities include prelaunch environmental testing, building command sets for uplink to the spacecraft, real-time anomaly resolution, lifecycle telemetry trending, long term operations analysis and planning, and more. Successful candidates can continue their employment through grad school if they choose.

Preferred Qualifications:听No experience is necessary - any major is welcome to apply! Some programming background is useful, but students will be taught everything they need to know during their training summer. Students must have a 3.0+ GPA and at least 4 semesters remaining in their undergraduate degree.

Start Date:5/13/2025

End Date:TBD

Hours/Week: 40 during summer, 20 during school year

Paid work, Independent Study credit, either, or Other: Paid Work

Contact: raymond.mendoza@lasp.colorado.edu

Deadline Application:听1/13/2025


Information on how to apply will be posted with the official job ad in January. Prior to that date, feel free to contact Adrienne Pickerill (adrienne.pickerill@lasp.colorado.edu) or Robby Mendoza (raymond.mendoza@lasp.colorado.edu) with any questions.


Supervisor:Xiangning Chu

Job:Research Associate II

Job Description:听In this project, we will develop a number of machine learning based models to study the space environment, including the killer electrons and electromagnetic waves in the Earth鈥檚 radiation belt, the geomagnetic indices, and geomagnetically induced currents on the ground.听

Preferred Qualifications:听Python coding (ASTR 2600 or equivalent)
Clear written communication
Excitement for Machine learning

Start Date:1/13/2025

End Date:1/13/2026

Hours/Week: 10-15 hrs /week Spring 2025; 40 hrs/week summer 2025

Paid work, Independent Study credit, either, or Other: Paid Work

Contact: xiangning.chu@lasp.colorado.edu

Deadline Application:听1/10/2025

If interested, please send resume to: xiangning.chu@lasp.colorado.edu

Skills Acquired:听
Comprehensive data analysis (Van Allen Probes)
Experienced with Python projects
Machine learning model development


Supervisor:Ed Thiemann

Job:Undergraduate Researcher

Job Description:听2 possible topics:
Help advance the understanding of planetary evolution by analyzing measurements of Earth鈥檚 Hydrogen exosphere. Project will start by investigating the latitudinal structure of new measurements of Earth鈥檚 inner (<4 RE) geocorona by GOES.
Help advance the understanding of heating in the Mars upper atmosphere. Project will start by investigating why simulations can鈥檛 reproduce strong UV heating observed at dawn by MAVEN.

Preferred Qualifications:听Sophomore level or higher student majoring in Physics or APS. Needs to be proficient in a programming language.

Start Date:1/20/2025

End Date:8/15/2025

Hours/Week: >12 hrs/week during the school year, 40 hrs/week during the summer.听

Paid work, Independent Study credit, either, or Other: Paid Work

Contact: thiemann@lasp.colorado.edu

Deadline Application:听12/30/2024

If interested, please send resume to: xiangning.chu@lasp.colorado.edu


Supervisor:Kevin Reardon

Job:Undergraduate Researcher

Job Description:听The purpose of this opportunity is to characterize high-resolution images of the solar atmosphere obtained with the Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) in order to quantify their quality (and even think of the multiple ways to define "quality"). This will involve both manually examining images, calculating numerical quality metrics, and employing machine-learning methods to automate the evaluation of future images. This job will involve learning about the solar atmosphere, its appearance at different wavelengths, and image reconstruction techniques.

Preferred Qualifications:听some programming experience; sophomores or juniors preferred

Start Date:1/20/2025

End Date:5/16/2025

Hours/Week: 10

Paid work, Independent Study credit, either, or Other: Paid Work, Independent Study Credit

Contact: kreardon@nso.edu

Deadline Application:听1/6/2025

If interested, please send resume to: kreardon@nso.edu


Supervisor:Fran Bagenal and the MOP group

Job:Juno at Jupiter

Job Description:听Plotting up data from Juno mission as the spacecraft traversed the disk of plasma produced as gases spewed out by Io are ionized and transported out from Jupiter. At the same time, HST and JWST have taken lots of observations of Io. So we may be able to trace activity on Io with variations in the plasma disc.

Preferred Qualifications:听Some Python skills - simple plotting and data manipulation.

Start Date:1/15/2025

End Date:TBD

Hours/Week: 5-20

Paid work, Independent Study credit, either, or Other: Paid Work, Independent Study Credit

Contact: bagenal@colorado.edu

Deadline Application:听1/10/2025

UROP proposal encouraged. Send a CV and short statement about what interests you.

If interested, please send resume to: bagenal@colorado.edu


Supervisor:Dave Brain

Job:MAVEN data analysis

Job Description:听Analyze magnetic field and charged particle data from Mars (& maybe Venus / Earth). The specific topic is negotiable, but probably related to the Martian magnetosphere, atmospheric escape, cool plasma physics, or crustal magnetic fields.

Preferred Qualifications:听Some comfort with programming

Start Date:1/27/2025

End Date:TBD

Hours/Week: 10-12 is typical

Paid work, Independent Study credit, either, or Other: Paid Work, Independent Study Credit

Contact: david.brain@colorado.edu

Deadline Application:听1/10/2025

Also send a 1-2 paragraph statement to david.brain@colorado.edu.


Supervisor:Dave Brain

Job:Retention of Habitable Atmospheres in Planetary Systems

Job Description:听Our effort is addressing the question: "What kind of planet orbiting what kind of star is able to hold on to its atmosphere?鈥. Your task could include computer modeling, analysis of published results, analysis of spacecraft data, or construction of a webpage that interpolates model results.

Preferred Qualifications:听Some comfort with programming

Start Date:1/27/2025

End Date:TBD

Hours/Week: 10-12 is typical

Paid work, Independent Study credit, either, or Other: Paid Work, Independent Study Credit

Contact: david.brain@colorado.edu

Deadline Application:听1/10/2025

Also send a 1-2 paragraph statement to david.brain@colorado.edu.