Going to California
Some of you may know that I’ve been on the job market. The good news is that I’ve officially accepted a position at Caltech, starting in September. It’s a fantastic research environment, and they are building up in cosmology at the moment. Also I understand the weather is pretty nice, so I’m excited about the move.
The job itself requires a little explication: I’ll be a Senior Research Associate in Physics. According to Caltech’s classification system, this is a faculty job (“Caltech’s equivalent of a research full professor,” as they put it to me) but not actually a “professor” job. Basically I get to concentrate on doing research — no teaching required, although I’m allowed to volunteer — and can apply for grants and hire postdocs (and even serve on committees!) just like any other faculty member. The downside is that there is no tenure, although it’s not a term-limited job; I can in principle stay forever if the money holds out and they don’t want to fire me. In the meantime, I’ll have the freedom to work on some of the more ambitious cosmology ideas that have been percolating in the back of my mind for a while.
I have to express my gratitude to everyone who has been incredibly supportive during the entire process, from my close friends to strangers on the internet to famous scientists around the world to Marc Kamionkowski and the others who did such a good job recruiting me to Caltech. I’m sure I will miss Chicago at times, but the future looks really bright, and I can’t wait to get it started.
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