Clay Fellowship

2025 Clay Postdoctoral Fellowship

August 2024

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) is a joint institution with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and the Harvard College Observatory (HCO). The CfA is a diverse astrophysical institution where more than 800 staff and students are engaged in a broad program of research and education in astronomy, astrophysics, and earth, planetary and space sciences. The CfA is at the international forefront of the scientific exploration of the universe. Our research covers theoretical astrophysics, observational ground and space-based astronomy, engineering and technology development, and education. The research objectives of the CfA are carried out primarily with support from the federal government, the Smithsonian Institution, Harvard, and philanthropy. At the CfA, the next generation of scientific leaders are being trained and mentored through a broad range of postdoctoral positions and fellowships as well as graduate and undergraduate student programs.

The mission of the Clay Postdoctoral Fellowship program at SAO is to foster innovative astrophysics research by providing independent researchers full access to the facilities, research staff, and resources of the CfA. A list of past Clay Postdoctoral Fellows is available on the CfA website.

Applications are now open for the 2025 Clay Postdoctoral Fellowship

Successful candidates will be outstanding researchers with demonstrated promise in theory, observation, instrumentation, engineering, and/or laboratory or experimental astrophysics. Open to all qualified applicants who are English-speaking citizens from any nation.

Eligible candidates must be within 4 years or less of equivalent full-time post-PhD research experience at time of the fellowship start date of September 1, 2025. Time taken for family leave, carer duties, illness, or other career gaps does not count towards the 4 years of post-PhD full-time equivalent research (FTER) and should be noted in the CV.

About the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA)

The CfA is known for its leadership in theoretical, observational and laboratory astrophysics, and for its observational programs across the electromagnetic spectrum. The CfA also includes highly successful instrument development teams and facility operations expertise. Fellows are encouraged to use the combined resources and facilities of the CfA’s two collaborating observatories – the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory.

Through the CfA’s operational agreements with its partners, Fellows can propose for CfA-allocated observing time on the MMT in Arizona, the Magellan Telescopes in Chile, and the Submillimeter Array in Hawai’i. Fellows participate in ground- and space-based observing programs including but not limited to the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Event Horizon Telescope, the TEMPO satellite instrument for pollution monitoring, the Parker Solar Probe, the James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, Kepler K2, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array. The CfA is a founding member of the Giant Magellan Telescope project and operates a world-class engineering program that develops leading ground and space telescope instrumentation. The CfA has emerging programs in artificial intelligence and data science. The CfA also offers a number of specialized laboratories and numerous research initiatives open to Fellows that focus on a particular research area (for example in black holes, theoretical astrophysics, and the origins of life), where interdisciplinary, cross-institutional collaborative research is the central organizing principle.

Currently led by Director Lisa Kewley, the CfA provides a dynamic range of weekly luncheons, colloquia, journal clubs, daily coffees, and divisional events. The CfA also supports many other formal and informal opportunities for the exchange of ideas and professional development in a diverse scientific community. Fellows have access to institution-wide funding for organizing workshops, conferences, and visitor programs.

The CfA is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a vibrant community in the Boston metropolitan area, known for excellent universities, colleges, and public schools, world renowned medical facilities and teaching hospitals, a dynamic technology hub, a lively art scene, passionate sports fans, and diverse cultures. Cambridge is also a two to three hour drive to downhill skiing and hiking in the White, Green or Berkshire mountains, and many Atlantic Ocean beaches and craggy coastlines are nearby, as are downhill and cross-country skiing, cycling, and hiking in the White, Green and Berkshire mountains.

About the Clay Postdoctoral Fellowship

Clay Fellows have complete research independence and have access to the full range of expertise and facilities at the CfA. The Clay Fellowship offers the following benefits and opportunities:

• Four year appointment with the fourth year contingent on satisfactory progress
• Stipend of $82,500 with an annual cost-of-living adjustment
• Research budget of $18,000 for each year
• Funding for health and dental benefits for the Fellow and dependents (if applicable), at no cost to the Fellow
• One-time relocation allowance
• Opportunities to develop instrumentation in collaboration with experienced technical and engineering staff
• Eligibility to propose as a Principal Investigator for external support
• Funding opportunities for workshops and topical discussions, and to host scientific visitors through a newly created workshop and visitor program
• Frequent opportunities to establish mentoring relationships with world-renowned CfA researchers in nearly every facet of astronomy and astrophysics
• Opportunities to gain experience co-advising graduate students, as well as undergraduate students
• Opportunities to develop, engage, and participate in a wide range of education and outreach activities, in collaboration with colleagues at the CfA, in the greater Boston area, and within the Smithsonian Institution while leveraging the expertise and resources of the Science Education Department
• Delivering the Clay Fellowship Prize Colloquium (typically scheduled in the Fellow’s second year)

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Fellowships do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, gender stereotyping, pregnancy, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, parental status, or marital status of any applicant. 

• Only online applications submitted through https://solaa.si.edu/solaa/#/explorePrograms will be considered (Program name: CfA Prize Postdoctoral Fellowships).
• Applications open on August 30, 2024 and are due by 5pm (Boston, MA) on October 21, 2024.
• References should not be submitted unless contacted by the Fellowship Coordinator. References will be contacted by November 8, 2024 to submit letters to the Fellowship Coordinator by November 18, 2024 (5pm, Boston). References will only be requested for a subset of applicants.
• Selection will be made by December 15, 2024.

Application materials to be uploaded as PDFs:

• Curriculum vitae, including ORCID identifier and up to three keywords from the Unified Astronomy Thesaurus
• List of publications
• Research Overview, including two sections: “Summary of Previous and Current Research” and “Research Proposal” limited to FIVE pages total, including tables and figures. References should be placed at the end and do not count towards the page limit. Research proposal must include relevance to Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

Do not include anything else (reprints, preprints, cover letter, cover sheets, etc.)

Please direct questions to the Fellowship Coordinator: ecr-coordinator@cfa.harvard.edu.