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.

68 Comments

68 thoughts on “Going to California”

  1. Congratulations Sean. I’m a JPLer (and hence, associated with Caltech), and really love it out here. I recently met Clifford and it’s good to add more CVers out here!

  2. Congrats!!! 🙂

    <phantom-planet>
    californiaaaaaaaaaa,
    californiaaaaaaaaaa,
    here we cooooooooooooooooome!

    </phantom-planet>

  3. Also I understand the weather is pretty nice, so I’m excited about the move.

    Weather? What weather? As an added bonus, you can see the air you’re breathing.

  4. Thanks, everybody! I am looking forward to sunshine and fabulousness while unlocking the secrets of the universe.

  5. Congratualtions, the new position sounds wonderful and I amsure you will find the weather more to your (or any humans)liking.

  6. Sean! That is fantastic! Congrats! And good luck. It may be diffrent out there, but I definately missed Chicago when I left (but I get to go back every few weeks, so that has helped!).

  7. Many congrats, Sean. Caltech will never be the same… and Chicago (the city, the institution, the department) will be much the worse without you. So glad I won’t be sticking around to see the decline! (to those few fans I have left after months of not blogging who are waiting to hear where I’m going… just a bit longer, and all will be revealed)

  8. Congrats, Sean! As others have said, what is Chicago’s loss is CalTech’s gain (and yours). Jeff & I will have to catch up with you before you leave Chicago.

    Watch out, SoCal, Sean’s back!

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