Applying for Membership

Overview:

The School of Natural Sciences will have several openings for members for the academic year 2026-2027. The positions are at a postdoctoral or higher level in the areas of theoretical astrophysics, biology, cosmology, mathematical physics, quantum field theory, particle phenomenology, string theory and quantum gravity. Members are selected on their ability to conduct independent research and are free to work full-time on problems in which they are interested. The Institute program is closely integrated with the corresponding activities at Princeton University via joint seminars, lunches, and frequent informal contacts. In any given year, some of the members will collaborate with each other, with relevant Institute faculty members, with scientists at other Institutions, or with faculty at nearby Princeton, Rutgers or the Flatiron Institute and other universities in the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas.

We strongly encourage applications from mid-career scientists (5-10 years from PhD).

Description of Positions:

Postdoctoral Members: Appointments are typically for three years with full stipend support. We aim to provide Members with an environment where they can achieve their maximum scientific potential. For Members who are still in their scientifically formative years, this environment includes the mentoring needed to enable them to become future leaders. We offer competitive stipends, eligibility for on-campus housing, and other professional resources. 

Long-term (5 year) Members and Bahcall Fellows: All postdoctoral applicants are considered for a few memberships offered to candidates of exceptional promise and scientific maturity. Stipend is above postdoctoral level and is commensurate with qualifications. In addition to exceptional qualifications for pursuing his or her individual research, the successful candidate for a long-term membership should be interested in talking to, and possibly collaborating with, other postdoctoral members.

Visiting Professorships: Applicants should hold a faculty or equivalent position and should be within ten years of receiving their Ph.D. Support will be provided to spend a period between one term and one year at the Institute. Visiting Professors are expected to conduct their own research and to help make the research environment at the IAS stimulating to the other Members of the school.

Sabbaticals: A small number of senior scientists can usually be accommodated on sabbatical leave. Appointments range from a few months to a full academic year. Stipend support varies with the length of the visit and the amount of support being provided by the visitor's home institution, or by an outside fellowship.

Visitors: Appointments can be from a few weeks to a few months. Stipend support varies with the length of the visit and the amount of support being provided by the visitor's home institution, or by an outside fellowship.

The Simons Center for Systems Biology: Special Year on Modeling Fly Vision (2026-2027 Academic Year): see full description and information on how to apply at the end of this page.

Physics and Astrophysics applicants must apply through AcademicJobsOnline (click on this link for application). Required materials are: CV that includes a publications list, research statement (limited to three pages, include current and future research interests, and formatted with one-inch margins.), three separate PDF files of recent papers submitted to the arXiv or published in a journal, and three letters of recommendation. All materials should be uploaded directly through the AJO website. Visiting Professor and Sabbatical applications do not require reference letters.

Physics and Astrophysics applications must be received by November 15.

Biology applicants should not apply through AdacemicJobsOnline. All interested applicants to Biology should submit the following required materials: a CV, publications list, research statement and three letters of recommendation.  Please email these materials to Audrey Smerkanich at audrey@ias.edu. (Note that Visiting Professor and Sabbatical applications do not require reference letters.) There is no deadline for biology applications.

The Simons Center for Systems Biology
 

Special Year on Modeling Fly Vision

During the 2026-2027 academic year, the Simons Center for Systems Biology in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study will have a special program on Modeling Fly Vision co-organized by Misha Tsodyks (IAS) and Sebastian Seung (Princeton University).

New kinds of brain maps are driving a renaissance of visual neuroscience, starting with the fruit fly Drosophila. The fly connectome yielded as a corollary the first wiring diagram for an entire visual system. Transcriptomics is identifying the ion channels and synaptic receptors in fly visual neurons. Using such detailed information, it is now possible to model the fly visual system with unprecedented realism. Our program will address the perception of motion, color, polarization, form, and objects, as well as complex visually guided behaviors such as navigation and courtship. The program promises to have historic impact by helping to refound theoretical and computational neuroscience on the bedrock of twenty-first century brain maps.

Senior participants include Axel Borst (MPG), Dimitri Chklovskii (Flatiron), Carina Curto (Brown), and Dezhe Jin (Penn State). The program will benefit from interactions with experimental research on fly neural circuits and connectomics at Princeton and other universities in the New York metropolitan area.

We invite applications for membership in the special year program from researchers at all career levels.

Post-doctoral membership is for one year with the possibility of extension. Postdocs receive full stipend support and are free to select their own research topics.

Sabbatical membership can be from one term to the entire academic year, and is for researchers with faculty or equivalent independent positions. Partial stipend support may be available, depending on the amount of support being provided by the member’s home institution, or by an outside fellowship.

The deadline for applications is rolling. We will begin reviewing applications on January 15, 2026 and continue until the positions are filled. 

Applicants should submit:

• a CV that includes a list of publications,
• and a research statement explaining interest in the topic of the special year.
• Post-doctoral applicants should also request three letters of recommendation.

All materials should be emailed to Audrey Smerkanich at audrey@ias.edu. The subject line of the email should state “Special Year on Modeling Fly Vision.”