CTA recruits postdocs and students year-round and welcomes inquiries from collaborators and visiting scientists. If you are applying or thinking about applying, the Opportunities page answers most questions; anything not covered there is routed to the right person in the cards below.
Applicant questions, fellowship sponsorship inquiries, the seasonal postdoc cycle. See the Opportunities page for details.
Scheduling a talk at the CTA Friday meeting, agenda items, badging coordination.
Public events, school visits, planetarium shows, STEMarts collaborations. See the Outreach page.
Nicole Lloyd-Ronning (Outreach Coordinator)
Interviews, official statements, and any news routed through LANL.
Current LANL staff and students are welcome at the weekly CTA meeting, 9:00 AM most Fridays in the CNLS Conference Room (03-1690-102). Upcoming items are on the Schedule & Events page.
To join the mailing list and Teams group, email one of the organizers: Alexander Kaltenborn, Makana Silva, or Wes Even.
Read the Postdoc tab on the Opportunities page. It covers the four appointment types (Research Associate, Named, Distinguished, Director's), eligibility, and the seasonal CTA call. If after reading you still need a person, write to CTA_recruitment@lanl.gov.
See the Graduate, Undergraduate, and High School tabs on the Opportunities page. The LANL Student Programs Office runs the formal application; CTA mentors take on students through that pipeline. Reaching out to a potential mentor on our Staff or Postdocs pages before applying often helps.
It depends on the appointment. Distinguished and Director's fellowships require a LANL technical-staff sponsor who nominates and submits the package on your behalf—reach out to a CTA scientist whose work overlaps with yours before the cycle starts. Research Associate appointments and Named fellowships do not require a pre-arranged sponsor; you apply through the LANL portal. Research Associate appointments are typically tied to a specific project, so contacting a relevant CTA scientist before applying is still a good idea.
No—LANL hires foreign nationals into postdoc and student roles. Citizenship affects the badging and clearance path, not eligibility. Some LANL programs tied to weapons or national-security work do have citizenship restrictions, but CTA's astrophysics research generally does not. If you are unsure how your background interacts with a specific call, email CTA_recruitment@lanl.gov and we can route the question.
Postdoc appointments are typically two years, with possible one-year extensions depending on funding. Named, Distinguished, and Director's fellowships are fully funded for two years. Research Associate appointments are funded by a specific project or LDRD line; the appointment length follows the funding.
The CTA-wide postdoc call is typically posted on the LANL postdoc portal in late fall and closes mid-winter. Named-fellowship deadlines vary by program—see the per-fellowship cards on the Opportunities Postdoc tab. When the call is live, the APPLY button in the header routes directly to it.
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