Career Opportunities

WIPAC is responsible to the National Science Foundation and the IceCube Collaboration for the maintenance and operation of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.  Currently, WIPAC faculty and students are involved in IceCube, the Askaryan Radio Array (ARA), the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) experiment, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the CHIPS experiment, and DM-Ice.  WIPAC is committed to increasing diversity in our field and encourages women and underrepresented populations in particular to apply.

Open Positions

Administrative Specialist

This position will provide administrative support for WIPAC in Madison, WI. As part of the administrative team, the hired individual will assist with tracking budgets, preparing financial reports, and purchasing goods and services. In addition, the work will include assisting with payroll, providing administrative support to WIPAC leadership, and working on special projects as assigned. More information and application instructions can be found following this link. Apply by April 1, 2024.

Research Systems Administrator

The cyberinfrastructure team at the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC) is seeking a Linux system administrator to join our software and operations team, which supports the operations of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a particle detector located at the geographic South Pole. The successful candidate will work on operating system deployment, configuration management, and monitoring of these systems. In particular, automated operating system deployment and configuration management with Puppet will be a strong focus. There will also be opportunities to work with large-scale cluster storage (Ceph) as well as high-throughput and grid computing systems (HTCondor and the Open Science Grid). More information and application instructions can be found following this link. Apply by March 24, 2024.

Postdoctoral Researchers

Opportunities exist for postdocs to contribute in several areas, for instance, the search for cosmic neutrinos, studies of high-energy atmospheric neutrinos, searches for dark matter, the study of the composition and arrival direction distribution of cosmic rays, and the search for neutrinos associated with gamma-ray bursts and supernova explosions. WIPAC postdocs are expected to pursue rigorous independent research.

WIPAC supports research on ARA, HAWC, DM-Ice, and CTA. Collaboration is possible with these projects as well as with IceCube.

The center offers two named postdoctoral fellowships, the John Bahcall and the Balzan fellowships. They are awarded for three or five-year terms, with each fellow receiving a stipend and an independent research. For more information about these positions and a list of current and past fellows, see the Fellows page.

Candidates must be within the first three years of earning a PhD in particle astrophysics, high-energy physics, or a related area, and have strong programming and data analysis skills. Application is initiated by sending a CV to postdoc@wipac.wisc.edu.

Current Postdoc Openings

WIPAC is currently hiring several postdoctoral scholars to work on multimessenger and particle astrophysics. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to carry out an active research program in one or more of a variety of topics, such as, but not limited to, neutrino astronomy with IceCube, neutrino oscillation physics with the IceCube Upgrade, and gamma-ray astronomy with HAWC or CTA. Applicants with previous experience in particle astrophysics observations, theory, or instrumentation are especially encouraged to apply.

All applicants will be considered for WIPAC’s John Bahcall Fellowship. The application deadline is December 20, 2023. For further information and specific application instructions, please visit https://hr.wisc.edu/postdoc-and-research-intern-vacancies/.

Students

At UW–Madison, undergraduate and graduate students are involved in many aspects of design, testing, and analysis of WIPAC projects.

If you are a current UW–Madison student interested in working with WIPAC, contact a faculty member about student research positions.

Graduate Students

All WIPAC students are part of the Department of Physics. For general information about applying to UW–Madison, visit the graduate student admissions site maintained by the Department of Physics. If you are a current UW–Madison graduate student interested in working with WIPAC, contact a faculty member in your area of research.

Undergraduate Students

WIPAC and IceCube have a long history of involving undergraduates in research. Students have participated as part of the National Science Foundation “REU” program, or Research Experiences for Undergraduates. WIPAC REU experiences are listed under “Astronomical Sciences” and you can apply directly at the UW–Madison REU site. Applications are due in early February for project placement the following summer.

If you are a current UW–Madison undergraduate student, contact a faculty member or researcher whose research aligns with your interests. WIPAC also hires undergraduate students in non-science areas, such as human resources, video production, graphic design, public education, and reception. Open positions are listed on the UW Student Job Center, but if you have a special interest in working for WIPAC, send an email of interest to hr@wipac.wisc.edu

International Students

WIPAC hosts international students, typically graduate students. International student visits are granted on an individual basis, with invitation from a WIPAC faculty member. See the visitor page for more information.

 

 

In pursuit of collaboration and discovery, WIPAC is committed to promoting an inclusive work environment, in which the benefits of a diverse staff are valued and the unique contributions of every individual are acknowledged equally.  WIPAC and UW–Madison are family-friendly workplaces and offer services to assist families, including dual-career couples and single parents, in their employment transition. Please visit https://provost.wisc.edu/dual-career.htm for more information.