Join us

Members of lightcurve.ai are a small team — postdocs, PhD students, junior research fellows, and scientific staff working on the Sun, stars, and exoplanets. Past members have gone on to positions at Caltech, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, and other leading research institutions.

Why work here

Research that gets published where it matters

Lightcurve publishes in Nature Astronomy, ApJ, ApJ Letters, PNAS, and Nature Physics. Our work appears in the mainstream press — the Indian Express, New Scientist, Vice, MIT Technology Review — and is cited by researchers at the world's leading astrophysics institutions.

What we look for

Physics background

Strong grounding in physics or applied mathematics or in related fields, with experience in numerical methods, statistical inference, or signal processing. Python fluency and comfort with large datasets. Machine learning experience is a plus but not required.

ML background

Demonstrated machine learning skills — deep learning, Bayesian methods, or probabilistic modelling — with a curiosity about scientific applications.

Open positions

Research

Research scholars

Short-term or long-term visits.

A few months to 3 yearsOn-site · Mumbai

We regularly host visiting scholars at all career stages. Projects span helioseismology, asteroseismology, exoplanet transit analysis, and geophysical inversion — typically requiring a background in physics or applied mathematics and comfort with scientific programming.

How to apply

Write to us directly

Email [email protected] with the following:

  • A short note on your interests and what you'd like to work on

  • Your CV or résumé

  • A research statement (for research positions)

Partner or collaborate

Want to partner or collaborate with us?

If you represent an institution, funding body, or research group interested in partnering with Lightcurve — on shared infrastructure, joint projects, or computing — see the Partners page for current relationships and how new ones come together.

See Partners →

Life at TIFR

A campus worth working on

TIFR's campus sits on the waterfront at Colaba in south Mumbai — one of the most stimulating scientific environments in Asia. The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics is home to researchers in observational, theoretical, and computational astrophysics.

On-campus accommodation is available for visiting researchers. The institute provides access to dedicated compute clusters and a well-stocked library. Mumbai is a city of extraordinary energy, culture, and food — and the campus is a calm ten-minute walk from it all.