Joint Physics Tenure-Track Faculty Position with the CCA of the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute

POSTED ON: December 7, 2020

The Physics Department at The Cooper Union Albert Nerken School of Engineering and the Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) of the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute has developed a new joint Physics Tenure-Track Faculty position. 

The Simons Foundation is a private foundation established in 1994 in New York City by Jim and Marilyn Simons. The foundation pursues its mission through its grant-making division, comprising programs in Mathematics & Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Education & Outreach and autism research, and through its internal research division, the Flatiron Institute. Directed by Dr. David Spergel, the mission at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics is to create new computational methods, tools and frameworks that allow scientists to analyze big astronomical datasets and to understand complex, multi-scale physics in astrophysical systems ranging in scales from planets to the Universe.

The position is a 50-50 joint appointment between the two institutions, with appointee spending half of their efforts at the Simons Foundation and The Cooper Union offices in New York City. At The Cooper Union, the position is a tenure-track full-time faculty position in physics and will be engaged in accordance to Cooper’s relevant policies and procedures. At CCA, the position will be at the Associate Research Scientist level, in accordance with the Foundation’s relevant policies and procedures. 

It is expected that, subject to satisfactory progress in research, the Associate Research Scientist appointment at CCA will last for the duration of three years; afterwards, the joint appointment will end and the person in this position will continue with their faculty appointment at The Cooper Union.

To learn more about how to apply, visit The Cooper Union’s employment opportunities website.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.