Two positions to fill and the deadline is 22 January 2025, 12:00 (noon) CET. Membership is open to experts in scientific areas complementary to the core science of the mission (gravitational waves, see examples in the AO document) working in ESA member states.
Please find here full details.
The Institute of Theoretical Physics at Charles University, Prague, invites applications for a postdoctoral position in general relativity and modified theories of gravity within Dr. Ivan Kolar’s research group. This position is funded by the Charles University PRIMUS grant “Spacetimes and Fields in Higher-Derivative Theories” (PRIMUS/23/SCI/005).
Research areas include higher-derivative gravity, exact solutions (e.g., black holes), spacetime symmetries, and algebraic classification.
Applicants should hold a Ph.D. in theoretical or mathematical physics with a strong background in general relativity. Familiarity with computational tools such as xAct/Mathematica is advantageous.
Expected Start Date: March 01, 2025, or negotiable
Duration of Contract: 2 years
Application Submission Deadline: January 10, 2025 at 23:59 CET
Documents Required for the Application:
-structured CV
-education credentials, proof of academic degrees, and ranks
-list of scientific and publication activity
-motivation letter
-two letters of recommendation
See the attached link for more details on the position and application instructions.
Contact: Kolar, Ivan (positions(at)matfyz.cuni.cz)
Please find here details.
Centre for Strings, Gravitation and Cosmology (CSGC) - a research centre instituted as part of Institute of Excellence (IoE) initiative of the Government of India at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), Chennai, India is organizing the
2nd School on Black Holes and Gravitational Waves
Feb 10 (Mon) - Feb 14 (Fri), 2025
The proposed school is intended to introduce beginning Ph.D. students and Postdoctoral fellows to research themes of current interest in Black hole physics and Gravitational waves. The lectures will be complemented by tutorial sessions that will help provide hands-on experience to the participants in employing the tools and techniques discussed in the lectures directly in their research work. Topics that will be the focus of the lectures are:
We invite the interested researchers to register for the school before Nov 30, 2024. For registration details and other relevant information, please follow the links on the top of the page.
Scientific Organising Committee:
Local Organising Committee:
Subhodeep Sarkar, Syed Naqvi, Dawood Kothawala & Chandra Kant Mishra (IIT Madras)
The 21st conference in the series "Recent Developments in Gravity" (NEB) is co-organized by the "Hellenic Society for Relativity, Gravitation and Cosmology" (HSRGC) and the Research Laboratory "Mathematical Physics and Computational Statistics" of the Ionian University. It will take place in Corfu, in September 1-4, 2025. The conference is hosted by the Ionian University in Corfu Town.
The topics of the conference are:
Gravitational Waves
Relativistic Astrophysics
Alternative Theories of Gravity
Mathematical Relativity
Cosmology
Quantum Gravity
Plenary Speakers are:
Leor Barack (University of Southampton)
Sebastiano Bernuzzi (University of Jena)
Fabrizio Canfora (San Sebastian University)
Katerina Chatziioannou (California Institute of Technology)
Peter Dunsby (University of Cape Town)
Lavinia Heisenberg (Zurich, ETH)
Vladimir Karas (Astronomical Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences)
Claudia De Rham (Imperial College London)
Alicia Sintes (Balearic Islands University)
Constantinos Skordis (Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences)
Nikolaos Stergioulas (University of Thessaloniki)
You will find the Registration information in this link.
The "Astrophysical and Cosmological Relativity" (ACR) department at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute, AEI) in Potsdam Science Park announces the opening of several Ph.D. students and postdoctoral appointments in gravitational-wave theory, source modeling, and science interpretation. Successful candidates will join the GWSky project, which an ERC Synergy Grant has recently funded. We are particularly interested in hiring creative and highly motivated candidates who can work collaboratively and independently in a vibrant, welcoming, and synergistic group. The deadline for full consideration is December 6, 2024.
The ERC-funded project called “Making sense of the unexpected in the gravitational-wave sky (GWSky)” is led by PIs Alessandra Buonanno, head of the ACR department, Enrico Barausse (SISSA, Trieste, Italy), Zvi Bern (University of California, Los Angeles, US), and Maarten van de Meent (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark). Given the synergistic aspect of the GWSky project, we anticipate that for a few postdoctoral scholars, there will be the opportunity to spend two years at the AEI and the subsequent two years in another node. One of the supervisors of the Ph.D. students at the AEI may be located in another node.
The aim of the GWSky project is to use gravitational-wave measurements by existing and future observatories on the Earth and in space as precision laboratories for fundamental physics, cosmology, and astrophysics. This includes the current LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detectors, as well as the future ground-based observatories Cosmic Explorer and Einstein Telescope, and the space-based detector LISA. By leveraging the PIs and their groups’ expertise, the GWSky project aims to develop a groundbreaking framework capable of solving the highly nonlinear equations by Einstein’s General theory of Relativity, creating waveform models with unprecedented accuracy, and translating these results into practical tools for interpreting the data.
As a consequence, we are looking at candidates in the following research areas: post-Minkowskian formalism, scattering amplitudes, gravitational self-force, post-Newtonian theory, effective-one-body formalism, numerical-relativity surrogate models, methods to accelerate waveform generation, numerical-relativity simulations in General Relativity and alternative theories of gravity, environmental effects for binary systems, tests of General Relativity, gravitational-wave data analysis and machine learning.
To apply, please submit your application via our job portal
for the postdoctoral positions here.
for the PhD positions here.
You will be asked to upload a cover letter, curriculum vitae, list of publications and a statement of past and future research activities of not more than 3 pages. Ph.D. applicants will also be asked to upload their university transcripts and Master thesis (if applicable). Applicants will need to indicate the names of three referees for recommendation letters. Please Register an account with our job portal and fill in the contact information for the referees well before the deadline, so that reference letters can be received in time. Referees will receive an email with instructions on how to upload their letters. In case of technical problems with the application form, please contact jobs(at)aei.mpg.de.
The four nodes of GWSky will have positions in a variety of subdisciplines that feed into precision theoretical studies of gravitational waves. Those interested in potential positions at other nodes may follow the links:
Candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. The deadline for full consideration, including receipt of reference letters, is December 6, 2024. The anticipated start date of the positions is Fall 2025. Applications will be considered until all positions are filled.
The salary and social benefits (e.g., health insurance) are based on the collective labor agreement “TVöD Bund” for the German public sector, usually at pay grade E13 (if the qualifications according to TVöD are met). In case an offer is made, a projection of the gross and net salary based on the TVöD regulations will be prepared.
The Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, or national origin. The Max Planck Society is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in its workforce and, therefore, encourages applications from such qualified individuals. The AEI and the Max Planck Society welcome persons with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas who embrace and value diversity and inclusion (Code of Conduct). The institute promotes a healthy work-life balance by offering all employees a family support service, cooperation with a nearby international kindergarten, and an in-house parent-child office and nursing room.
For further information, please contact acr-jobs(at)aei.mpg.de.
Please find here full details.
The aim of this workshop is to bring together participants from computational mathematics and gravitational wave astronomy to tackle computational challenges in leveraging data-driven methods in key areas of gravitational wave data analysis in order to maximize the science output of the ongoing and upcoming observations. The areas of focus will be: (i) noise classification and detection, (ii) waveform modeling and uncertainty quantification, and (iii) source parameter and astrophysical population Bayesian inference.
The participants will develop and apply new mathematical and computational techniques including: (i) neural network classifiers for distinguishing signals from instrumental noise, (ii) generative machine learning models for simulating realizations of non-Gaussian and non-stationary stochastic processes, (iii) surrogate models including uncertainty quantification, (iv) stochastic sampling, neural posterior estimation leveraging deep neural networks with normalizing flows or diffusion models, and (v) hierarchical Bayesian inference with non-parametric models such as Gaussian processes and simulation-based / approximate Bayesian approaches.
NASA has revealed the first look at a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational waves — ripples in space-time caused by merging black holes and other cosmic sources.
The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission is led by ESA (European Space Agency) in partnership with NASA to detect gravitational waves by using lasers to measure precise distances — down to picometers, or trillionths of a meter — between a trio of spacecraft distributed in a vast configuration larger than the Sun. Each side of the triangular array will measure nearly 1.6 million miles, or 2.5 million kilometers.
“Twin telescopes aboard each spacecraft will both transmit and receive infrared laser beams to track their companions, and NASA is supplying all six of them to the LISA mission,” said Ryan DeRosa, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The prototype, called the Engineering Development Unit Telescope, will guide us as we work toward building the flight hardware.”
The Engineering Development Unit Telescope, which was manufactured and assembled by L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York, arrived at Goddard in May. The primary mirror is coated in gold to better reflect the infrared lasers and to reduce heat loss from a surface exposed to cold space since the telescope will operate best when close to room temperature.
The prototype is made entirely from an amber-colored glass-ceramic called Zerodur, manufactured by Schott in Mainz, Germany. The material is widely used for telescope mirrors and other applications requiring high precision because its shape changes very little over a wide range of temperatures.
The LISA mission is slated to launch in the mid-2030s.
Download additional images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
By Francis Reddy
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli
301-286-1940
claire.andreoli(at)nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Further Information: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/lisa/nasa-reveals-prototype-telescope-for-gravitational-wave-observatory
Caltech’s Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) seeks a highly motivated and skilled Senior Vacuum Engineer to join its Cosmic Explorer Beamtube Experiment (CEBEX) team at the Richland, Washington observatory site. LIGO Laboratory is a major National Science Foundation facility dedicated to observing the newly discovered gravitational-wave universe. Jointly operated by the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, LIGO operates the world’s leading gravitational observatories near Richland, WA and Baton Rouge, LA, as well as campus R&D centers in Pasadena, CA and Cambridge, MA.
To learn more about LIGO Laboratory, please visit LIGO.caltech.edu. The Laboratory’s mission supports the young science of gravitational-wave physics and astronomy and includes observatory operations, analysis and dissemination of astrophysical observations, detector science and technology R&D, gravitational-wave astrophysics, and education and public outreach.
LIGO now also leads the effort to expand humanity’s gravitational wave horizon with a next-generation observatory, Cosmic Explorer (CE). Slated for construction in the 2030’s, CE will be ten times the size and reach of LIGO, able to gather signals from the edge of the observable universe.
The selected applicant will join an elite team charged with conceiving, designing, building, and testing advanced technology for the CE vacuum systems, destined to be the largest ultrahigh vacuum systems ever built. We will exercise and develop this technology in a new, purpose-built UHV research facility, the Cosmic Explorer Beamtube Experiment (CEBEX) Laboratory, located at LIGO Hanford.
Current Washington and Louisiana LIGO installations occupy 4 km scale, 10 million-liter UHV systems operating at one trillionth of atmospheric pressure (10-9 millibar), making them the two largest contiguous UHV volumes ever constructed. To further expand sensitivity, a new observatory will be constructed: Cosmic Explorer (CE). This observatory will require beamtubes 10x longer, up to 40 km in length. This will multiply CE’s detectable source range by ten, increasing the accessible volume of space thousandfold. However, UHV structures of this size and volume have never been attempted.
As a key member of the Cosmic Explorer Beamtube Experiment (CEBEX) team, the selectee will contribute to the modeling, trade study, design, fabrication, installation, bakeout and characterization of engineering prototypes and technology demonstrators for CE beamtubes up to 40 km in length. Tests will include industrial fabrication and qualification of a planned 1.2-meter diameter, 120-meter-long demonstration tube, to be erected in the new purpose-built CEBEX laboratory at the LIGO Hanford Observatory (LHO). In parallel, the chosen candidate will take a lead role in forging results of these investigations into a conceptual reference design, construction plan, and parametric cost estimate for CE. These will form the core of our future CE Observatory construction proposal.
This is a Campus Critical position. An employee designated as campus critical is expected to be aware of the campus emergency management plan and to report to Campus as soon as possible in the event of an emergency to assist in campus wide response and recovery efforts.
Essential Job Duties
Basic Qualifications
Preferred Qualifications
Required Documents
Please find here full details.
Invitation to the RAS specialist discussion meeting on “Gravitational wave analysis in the era of machine learning”. The meeting will take place at the Geological Society in London on the 10th of January.
You can find the event page with more information here: https://ras.ac.uk/events-and-meetings/ras-meetings/gravitational-wave-analysis-era-machine-learning.
The meeting will be based on panel-led discussions focusing on the use of machine learning in gravitational wave science. We will focus on topics such as the interpretability of ML-derived results, the robustness of ML models to uncertainties, and the integration of ML algorithms into existing and future GW search and analysis pipelines.
If you would like to present a poster or sparkler talk, please submit your abstract in the form below. You can also use the form to register your interest in the meeting and to receive updates.
Expression of interest form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZJPvdWzLABkpXHv0VcUyr5XzNUhg_OV4P0j-vBXKU-8R3sA/viewform
Registration for the meeting will be via the RAS meeting event page and will open in mid-December.
“EFTs, Gravity, and Fluid Dynamics: Progress, Challenges, and Emerging Opportunities Workshop” is an event sponsored by the Physics Department of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and The Gravity Theory Trust, taking place in Urbana, Illinois on December 16 – 18, 2024 in room 190 of the Engineering Sciences Building.
The purpose of this workshop is to bring together experts in Effective Field Theory (EFT), gravity, and fluid dynamics to foster interdisciplinary collaborations.
Sample topics interfacing EFTs, gravity, and fluid dynamics include:
New insights in gravitational thermodynamics and gravitational EFTs.
Causality constraints on gravitational and hydrodynamic EFTs.
The fluid-gravity correspondence.
Mathematical aspects of well-posed formulations of non-ideal fluid dynamics in general relativity.
There is no registration fee but registration is required. The deadline for registration is October 31, 2024.