Beatrice Tinsley Postbac Research Assistantship 2026

The inaugural (2026) call of the Beatrice Tinsley Postbac Research Assistantship (TRA) is open — CASSA’s annual program of paid, full-time, year-long research positions for women who have completed their bachelor’s degree and intend to pursue graduate study. The graduate degree need not be in astronomy or astrophysics: any branch of physics, engineering, computer science or another related field is welcome — the year is designed to strengthen an application to whichever discipline the RA chooses. Two Tinsley RAs will be appointed for 1 September 2026 – 31 August 2027, based at the Center for Astronomy, Space Science and Astrophysics (CASSA) at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) and funded by the Sponsored Research Grant (SRG) of Dr Khan Muhammad Bin Asad.

This circular holds everything specific to the 2026 cycle — the two positions, eligibility, terms, and how to apply. For the program itself — why the TRA exists, who Beatrice Tinsley was, and how a Tinsley year runs — see the TRA program page.

The programs of 2026

In this cycle the two RAs work within three CASSA research programs: CHronOS, GATE and HALO. Each applicant applies to one of the three — choose the one that fits your background and interests. The two RAs may be appointed to the same program or to different ones, depending on where the strongest applications lie.

TRA (CHronOS)

CHronOS — Cosmic Hydrogen Observation and Simulation — aims to detect cosmic neutral hydrogen (H I) from the dark ages and the cosmic dawn, the first ~400 million years of the Universe, through the redshifted 21-cm signal (rest wavelength 21 cm, 1420 MHz), which can map the young Universe as a three-dimensional tomogram — the third dimension being time. No radio telescope has yet detected the cosmological signal; doing so is a central motivation for building the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), and demands that the instrument’s systematic effects and the Galactic and extragalactic foregrounds be understood with high precision. The program therefore combines all four aspects of the science — simulation, instrumentation, theory and observation (SITO). The Tinsley RA in CHronOS will:

1. Carry out original research toward at least one principal-author paper — modelling the 21-cm signal (e.g. with 21cmFAST on CASSA’s Timaeus HPC), building simulation pipelines that produce simulated radio observations, and characterising the instrumental systematic errors — such as primary-beam and polarization-leakage effects — that the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) must overcome to detect the signal, in synergy with PrimaBERA.
2. Develop and run Python-based simulation and analysis pipelines on the Timaeus HPC.
3. Present her work at CASSA colloquia and journal talks, and participate in the weekly research meetings of the program.

TRA (GATE)

GATE — Galaxies And Their Environments — studies galaxy clusters, the largest gravitationally bound structures in the Universe, together with the intracluster medium (ICM) and the galaxies within them, by combining radio and X-ray observations. The hot ICM holds most of a cluster’s ordinary matter and shines in X-rays, while diffuse radio emission — halos and mini-halos — traces the cluster’s relativistic particles and magnetic fields; the radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) inside clusters shape both. GATE’s current toolkit spans MIMIC, an X-ray pipeline that turns archival Chandra data into ICM maps and detects mini-halos, cold fronts and other edge structures; the RGC semi-supervised deep-learning classifier of radio-AGN morphologies; and GAZE, a Galaxy-Zoo-style web platform for annotating radio AGN and the ICM of their host clusters. The Tinsley RA in GATE will:

1. Carry out original research toward at least one principal-author paper — imaging diffuse radio halos and mini-halos of galaxy clusters with MeerKAT, mapping the ICM in archival Chandra X-ray data through MIMIC, or classifying radio-AGN morphologies with the RGC deep-learning pipeline and the GAZE annotation platform.
2. Develop and run Python-based radio/X-ray analysis and machine-learning pipelines on the Timaeus HPC.
3. Present her work at CASSA colloquia and journal talks, and participate in the weekly research meetings of the program.

TRA (HALO)

HALO — Health, Artificial Light and Observability — is CASSA’s interdisciplinary program on artificial light at night (ALN): quantifying light pollution in Bangladesh and studying its consequences both for human physiology and for the observability of the night sky. Funded as ARC-HALO and led by principal investigator Rafia Rokaiya Hossain (Department of Pharmacy, SPPH, IUB) with collaborators across IUB and the University of Groningen, the program pairs ground-based Sky Quality Meter (SQM-LE) sensors with SDGSAT-1 satellite imagery to build high-resolution maps of sky glow, and correlates that exposure with circadian markers — sleep patterns and melatonin/cortisol rhythms — through psycho-physiological surveys and wearable devices, toward an evidence base for policy on blue-rich LED lighting. The Tinsley RA in HALO will:

1. Carry out original research toward at least one principal-author paper — analysing SQM-LE and SDGSAT-1 light-pollution data and the survey and wearable datasets that connect ALN exposure to circadian health.
2. Develop and run Python-based data-analysis pipelines on the Timaeus HPC.
3. Present her work at CASSA colloquia and journal talks, and participate in the weekly research meetings of the program.

Because light-pollution research spans satellite remote sensing, GIS mapping and environmental health as much as astronomy, this position is open to a wider range of degrees than the other two: applicants from environmental science, geography, geology/earth sciences, GIS/remote sensing and related fields — and from the life sciences, pharmacy or public health with demonstrable coding/AI experience — are encouraged to apply alongside those from physics and engineering. See Eligibility below.

Deliverables

By the end of the assistantship, each Tinsley RA is expected to:

• Submit at least one paper to a peer-reviewed journal as one of the principal authors.
• Prepare for graduate school — shortlist programs, contact potential supervisors, and complete any required tests. The programs may be in any field she chooses: astronomy and astrophysics, any branch of physics, engineering, computer science or another related discipline.
• Apply to graduate programs toward the end of the RAship, with the paper and a year of research experience behind her.

Eligibility

1. Women only. The TRA exists to widen the participation of women in astronomy and astrophysics in Bangladesh.
2. Must have completed an honours (bachelor’s) degree in physics, mathematics, engineering, computer science or a relevant subject, with good grades — a minimum CGPA of 3.0 out of 4.0 (or equivalent). For the HALO position the door is wider, matching the interdisciplinary nature of light-pollution research: a degree in environmental science, geography, geology/earth sciences, GIS/remote sensing or a related field (for example urban planning) is equally welcome — and so is a degree in the life sciences, pharmacy or public health when paired with demonstrable coding or AI experience.
3. Must not hold any other job during the period of the assistantship — this is a full-time position.
4. Must work in person at CASSA on all weekdays; some work-from-home days are negotiable with the supervisor.
5. Must have a laptop running Unix (Linux or Mac), or one on which Ubuntu can be installed if selected.

Terms

• Positions: 2 — each within one of the three programs (CHronOS, GATE or HALO); the two RAs may end up in the same program or in different ones.
• Duration: 12 months, 1 September 2026 – 31 August 2027.
• Remuneration: 30,000 BDT per month.
• Referees: two referees who can comment on your research potential — contacted only if you are shortlisted, so get their permission in advance.
• Deadline: apply by 10 August 2026, 11:59 pm.

Selection

Applications are reviewed by the principal investigator of the supporting SRG and an external expert — a female Associate Member of CASSA, to be announced. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in the second half of August, and the selections announced before the end of the month; the assistantship begins on 1 September 2026.

How to apply

Use the Apply now button on this page to open the official application form. Have your certificate, transcript and CV ready as PDFs; the statements on your research experience, purpose and graduate-school plan are written directly in the form, within the stated word limits. Apply to one program only — CHronOS, GATE or HALO. After you submit, we email you a copy of your responses with a private link to review or edit them any time until the form closes.

For inquiries, write to [email protected].

CASSA is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from diverse backgrounds. This assistantship is restricted to women by the terms of its founding grant; for positions open to all, see the Opportunities page.