Research

Postdoctoral Fellowships

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Frank Drake Postdoctoral Fellowship

Focusing on “Innovation in the Search for Life in the Universe.”

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Davie Postdoctoral Fellowship in Artificial Intelligence for Astronomy

Focusing on refining and expanding ML-driven pipelines for exoplanet discovery.

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William J. Welch Postdoctoral Fellowship

Focusing on "Engineering the Future of Cosmic Exploration."

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Mino Postdoctoral Fellowship

Decoding Habitability, Life's Origin and Nature, and the Coevolution of Life & Environment.

Timelines

November 20, 2025	Accepting applications.
January 16, 2026	Applications are due.
May 1, 2026	Candidates selected for interviews will be notified.

This research program offers an exceptional opportunity for talented early-career scientists worldwide to contribute significant advances in the following fields:

Origins of life and prebiotic chemistry
Biophysics and the nature of life
Planetary habitability and environmental limits on life
Coevolution of life and planetary environments across spatiotemporal scales
Modeling and theory of life-environment systems
Comparative studies of Earth, solar system worlds, and exoplanets
AI/ML applied to origins, nature of life, and habitability research

The successful candidate will advance (i) their field in novel ways using one, or a combination of the following approaches: advanced data analytics, novel instruments and technologies, laboratory research, fieldwork and expeditions, ground and space-based telescopes, theory, modeling, and experimentation; and (ii) the mission of the SETI Institute: to lead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and share that knowledge with the world.

Frank Drake Postdoctoral Fellowship

January 15, 2025	Accepting applications.
March 15, 2025	Applications are due.
April 15, 2025	Selected candidates for interviews are notified.
April 30, 2025	Fellowship offer made.
August 1, 2025*	Start of the Fellowship. * Adjustment can be made on the start date

The Frank Drake Postdoctoral Fellowship research program offers an exceptional opportunity for talented early career scientists to contribute significant advances in all the fields of the Drake Equation, including: Astronomy & Astrophysics, Astrobiology, Environmental Science, Geoscience, Life Science, Planetary Science, Planetary and Space Exploration, Cognitive Science focusing on intelligence and consciousness, Biosignature and Technosignature detection, Computing and Data Science, and Epistemology, the latter focusing on the framing of new paradigms and intellectual frameworks in the search for life in the universe.

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William J. Welch Postdoctoral Fellowship

November 13, 2024	Accepting applications.
December 20, 2024	Applications are due.
February 1, 2025	Candidates selected for interviews will be notified.
March 1, 2025	Fellowship offer(s) made.

The William J. Welch Postdoctoral Fellowship aims to support exceptional early-career scientists to develop and employ novel instrumentation to answer fundamental questions in astronomy and astrophysics, with a particular focus on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence or technosignatures. The proposed research program should broadly contribute to the mission of the SETI Institute, which is tolead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and share that knowledge with the world.

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Davie Postdoctoral Fellowship in Artificial Intelligence for Astronomy

January 15, 2025	Accepting applications.
March 15, 2025	Applications are due.
April 15, 2025	Selected candidates for interviews are notified.
April 30, 2025	Fellowship offer made.
August 1, 2025*	Start of the Fellowship. * Adjustment can be made on the start date

The SETI Institute is accepting applications for the Davie Postdoctoral Fellowship in Artificial Intelligence for Astronomy from researchers interested in refining and expanding ML-driven pipelines for exoplanet discovery. The incumbent Fellow will work with a rapidly growing team of highly talented, dynamic, and motivated scientists led by Dr. Vishal Gajjar, as well as the broader SETI Institute research ecosystem and Dr. Vikram Khaire at the IIT Tirupati in India. The successful candidate will enhance existing supervised CNN architectures and couple them with robust anomaly-detection techniques to uncover subtle or unconventional signals buried in the datasets. This position offers a unique opportunity to pioneer high-impact research within a collaborative team, integrating cutting-edge machine learning, astrophysical modeling, and interpretability strategies for next-generation exoplanet discoveries.

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