Postdoctoral researcher position in Space Physics☀️/Astrophysics🔭
🚀The Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw is seeking a motivated postdoctoral researcher to conduct research on the local interstellar medium surrounding the heliosphere. The successful candidate will participate in modeling possible interaction scenarios in the local interstellar medium and how these scenarios are reflected in the distribution of interstellar neutral atoms observable by dedicated instruments on the IBEX and IMAP missions. The researcher will join the team led by Paweł Swaczyna.
💸 We offer a gross salary of 13 263 PLN/month (subject to personal income tax and social security deductions).
🕒Period of employment: 12 months, with extension up to a total of 48 months, contingent upon satisfactory research progress.
🏢Place of work: Bartycka 18a, Warsaw, Poland.
📆 Start date: 1 November 2026 – 30 April 2027 (to be negotiated with the selected candidate).
📅 Application submission deadline: 17 October 2026
Paweł Swaczyna
🔊PAH-vew sfa-CHI-nah, IPA: /ˈpa.vɛw sfaˈt͡ʂɨna/
I’m a space physicist and an Associate Professor at the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN). My research focuses on the heliosphere and the interstellar medium around the heliosphere using observations from space missions. I study neutral atoms flowing through the heliosphere to determine the physical conditions in the interstellar medium. The main source of the observations for my research is NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission. I’m involved in the preparation of the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission launching in 2025, equipped with a new generation of instruments enhancing the observation techniques for heliospheric studies.
I grew up in Ruda Śląska, an industrial city in Silesia in southern Poland. I moved to Warsaw to study physics at the University of Warsaw. During my master’s studies, I started working in the Laboratory for Solar System Physics and Astrophysics at CBK PAN. After completing my PhD in 2018, I moved to Princeton University, where I joined the Space Physics Group. In May 2023, I returned to CBK PAN under the NAWA Polish Returns Program.