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Author: Marcus Mohring

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Call for EoI: Ramón y Cajal Fellowship Programme 2026 – Tenure-Track Position in Gravitational-Wave Physics at IFAE

The Institut de Física d'Altes Energies (IFAE) in Barcelona, a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence, invites expressions of interest from candidates wishing to apply to the Ramón y Cajal (RyC) 2026 Programme in the field of Gravitational-Wave (GW) Physics.

The RyC Programme aims to attract outstanding postdoctoral researchers to the Spanish science, technology, and innovation system through five-year contracts. In the 2026 call, RyC fellows will receive the resources needed to lead their own research programmes, thereby establishing a clear pathway towards permanent integration into the Spanish research system. Demonstrated potential to secure competitive research funding, particularly through European Research Council (ERC) grants, is considered an important asset for successful RyC applicants.

IFAE is seeking candidates with a demonstrated track record of research excellence and leadership in ground-based interferometric gravitational-wave detector technology. The successful candidate is expected to play a leading role in defining and developing IFAE’s experimental programme, contributing to the operation and upgrade of the LIGO and Virgo detectors and to the research and development roadmap for the Einstein Telescope.

At IFAE, RyC fellows are appointed under a tenure-track faculty scheme and receive additional strategic institutional research funding beyond that provided by the RyC Programme, as well as a salary supplement. Subject to a positive evaluation, the successful candidate will be offered a permanent research faculty position upon successful completion of the RyC fellowship.

RyC programme details
https://www.aei.gob.es/en/convocatorias-ryc

RyC application period: 10 November 2026 – 10 December 2026.
Interested candidates are encouraged to contact IFAE before the end of September 2026 to allow sufficient time for the evaluation of their potential RyC 2026 fellowship application. IFAE will act as the host institution in supporting the selected candidate’s application.

Please find here details.

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Test Engineer position at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hannover

The Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute, AEI) is a world-leading research center specializing in gravitational physics, gravitational-wave detection, and precision laser interferometry. With more than 400 employees across its Hannover and Potsdam locations, AEI plays a key role in several major international space missions. For our Hannover location, we are seeking a motivated:

Test Engineer

to support the verification of the LISA Signal Detection Processing Chain, the LISA Phasemeter and the Ground Support Equipment (GSE) used for testing. The LISA mission is a flagship ESA/NASA project designed to detect gravitational waves from space, offering a unique opportunity to contribute to one of the world’s most ambitious scientific endeavors.

Your Duties and Responsibilities
Execute functional and performance tests of the equipment under test according to ECSS standards.

  • Set up, operate, and validate test benches, measurement equipment, and GSE.
  • Maintain, calibrate, and verify AEI’s GSE and testing infrastructure.
  • Analyze test results, document findings, and support troubleshooting.
  • Prepare test procedures, verification documents, and test reports.
  • Collaborate with system engineering, electronics, software teams, and external partners.
  • Support integration and verification campaigns at AEI and partner facilities.
  • Ensure compliance with quality and product assurance procedures.

Your Profile

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in electrical engineering, physics, systems engineering, or a related technical field.
  • Excellent English skills (C1 level minimum); German is an asset but not required.
  • Hands-on experience with laboratory equipment and measurement systems.
  • Structured, detail-oriented working style and strong analytical skills.
  • Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a technical team.
  • Experience with data analysis tools (e.g., Python, MATLAB) is an advantage.
  • Familiarity with precision measurement systems or ECSS standards is beneficial but not required.
  • Motivation to contribute to a major international space mission.

We Offer

  • The opportunity to work on a globally leading space science project.
  • A dynamic, international research environment with highly skilled teams.
  • Hands-on experience with cutting-edge instrumentation and test facilities.
  • Professional development opportunities and room to grow into broader responsibilities.
  • Flexible and supportive working conditions within the Max Planck Society.

How to Apply
Are you interested? Then we look forward to receiving your online application (cover letter, CV, university certificates, letter of recommendation and other supporting documents) without a photo. Please upload your complete application documents combined into a single PDF on our applicant portal:https://jobs.aei.mpg.de/244/test-engineer/apply

Questions can be directed to the LISA Program Office (lisa-program-office(at)aei.mpg.de). 

Applications received will be considered starting September 1st, 2026.. The advertisement is valid until the position is filled.

Further information
The Max Planck Society is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability. 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. For more information about our institute, please visit https://www.aei.mpg.de/.

Please note our privacy policy: https://www.aei.mpg.de/515110/privacy-policy.

Please find here details.

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Postdoctoral position in deep-learning-based Newtonian-noise subtraction at ULiège

The STAR Institute at the University of Liège, Belgium invites applications for a postdoctoral researcher position to work with the OGrav group, starting on November 1, 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter.

The postdoctoral researcher will focus on deep-learning-based Newtonian Noise subtraction for the Einstein Telescope. The work will include the development, implementation, and in-situ tests of the method on the E-TEST prototype developed in Liège by Prof. Christophe Collette. The successful candidate will also collaborate with members of the Applied Geophysics (APGEO) group led by Prof. Frédéric Nguyen, and the Belgian gravitational-wave community (GraviBel/BelGrav).

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED / PROFILE

  • A PhD in science, engineering, applied sciences, or a related field;
  • Strong knowledge of machine-learning and deep-learning methods and practical experience with modern machine-learning tools;

Applicants must not have spent more than 24 months as residents of Belgium over the last 3 years.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

The selection procedure will be in accordance with the regulations of the University of Liège. Our institutional policy is based on diversity and equal opportunities. We select candidates on the basis of their qualities, regardless of age, sexual orientation, origin, beliefs, disability or nationality.

APPLICATIONS

Applications should be sent to maxime.fays(at)uliege.be, specifying the reference number of the post.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED

  • A motivation letter;
  • A complete curriculum vitae;
  • A complete publication list;
  • A short report on previous and current research activities;
  • Two letters of recommendation, to be sent directly to the above address.

RECRUITMENT CONDITIONS

The position is allocated for 2 years and may be extended to a third year in exceptional cases.

The position includes support for travel to collaboration meetings, workshops, and conferences, with an indicative travel budget of approximately EUR 3,000 per year. Recent comparable postdoctoral contracts at the University of Liège corresponded to a net salary of approximately EUR 2,900 per month, depending on personal circumstances and applicable tax and social security rules.

INFORMATION

Any information concerning the nature of the tasks can be obtained from Prof. Maxime Fays maxime.fays(at)uliege.be

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ACME workshop: The Transient Universe in the Rubin Era, November 2-6 2026, Orsay

The ACME workshop, The Transient Universe in the Rubin Era, which will take place 2–6 November 2026 at Institut Pascal, Paris-Saclay University, Orsay, France.

Please note that the abstract submission deadline is 31 July 2026.

The workshop will focus on upcoming observations by the Rubin Observatory and their connection to the multi-wavelength and multi-messenger Universe. In this context, several observatories will be presented, and both current results and future prospects for observing a wide variety of transient sources will be discussed. The workshop will also feature presentations on tools and infrastructure that facilitate coordinated observations of the transient sky.

Important dates

  • Abstract submission deadline: 31 July 2026
  • Registration deadline: 1 October 2026
  • Workshop dates: 2–6 November 2026

There is no registration fee.

For additional information, the scientific program, and registration, please visit the workshop website.

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Gravi-Gamma-Nu Workshop, September 30 – October 2 2026 in Milano

Sixth edition of the Gravi-Gamma-Nu workshop, scheduled for September 30 to October 2, 2026, at Milano Bicocca University in the Lombardy region of Italy.

This year’s workshop will be dedicated to covering the latest observational results from the new all sky surveys in the multimessenger context. The format of the workshop consists of invited and contributed talks.

Please note that registration is now open and will remain available until September 15, 2026: https://agenda.infn.it/event/50733/registrations/5769/

The workshop is limited to 100 participants, and there is no registration fee, so we encourage you to secure your spot as soon as possible. As in the past editions this workshop is a unique opportunity for PhD and early career researchers to connect with leading experts in the field.

For further information, including a list of confirmed invited speakers, please visit our website.

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Universe Unravelled: Cosmic Strings at 50, September 1-5, 2026 in Cambridge

In a seminal paper in 1976, Tom Kibble first proposed the notion of cosmic strings, and a rich legacy of research in the field has followed over the past fifty years. A central goal of this Universe Unravelled workshop will be to revisit unresolved questions about cosmic strings that underpin predictions for cosmological observables, ranging from gravitational wave signals to axion masses. The workshop is intended to prioritise discussion with ample time to develop collaborative directions that could advance these outstanding challenges. The workshop is intended to prioritise discussion with ample time to develop collaborative directions that could advance these outstanding challenges.

In broad outline, the programme will include the following topics:

  • Retrospective perspectives on cosmic strings: their legacy, observational signatures, and future prospects.
  • Cosmic strings dynamics and scaling network evolution: Nambu-Goto and field theory simulations, and their correspondence with analytic modelling, including loops and radiative backreaction.
  • Quantifying cosmic string observables: gravitational waves, dark-matter axions, the CMB, and other probes.
  • Exploring cosmic string phenomenology: superstring networks, GUT-scale and EW strings, and superconductivity.
  • Connections with other topological defects and recent developments.

Cambridge venue

The conference venue is the Centre for Mathematical Sciences, the award-winning buildings that have housed the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics since 2000. With its excellent facilities and good transport connections to international airports, the CMS has an excellent track record hosting international conferences.

Conference Website

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From Quantum Gravity to Cosmology, September 28 – October 2, 2026 in Kashiwa

This workshop will bring together researchers in quantum gravity and cosmology to discuss major open questions at the interface between the two fields. Although the CDM model has been remarkably successful, increasingly precise cosmological observations have also brought a number of challenges and tensions into sharper focus. At the same time, substantial progress in quantum gravity, particularly in its applications to cosmology, has opened new possibilities for investigating the quantum origin of the universe and for seeking a more fundamental understanding of both the successes and the possible limitations of the standard cosmological model.

Addressing these questions requires closer interaction between communities that often work with different concepts, methods, and perspectives. The workshop will therefore bring together researchers from a broad range of approaches to quantum gravity and cosmology. To make the discussions accessible across these different backgrounds, speakers will be encouraged to begin their talks with a broad introduction before moving on to more specialized results and open problems.

The program will also leave substantial time for discussion, with the aim of encouraging active participation, the exchange of ideas, and sustained scientific interaction. More broadly, the workshop seeks to strengthen connections between the quantum gravity and cosmology communities, foster new collaborations, and contribute to a deeper understanding of the fundamental physics underlying our models of the universe.

Confirmed Invited Speakers

  • Niayesh Afshordi — University of Waterloo; Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
  • Benjamin Bose — University of Edinburgh
  • Suddhasattwa Brahma — Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
  • Robert Brandenberger — McGill University
  • Clare Burrage — University of Nottingham
  • Bianca Dittrich — Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
  • Kristina Giesel — Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
  • Lavinia Heisenberg — Heidelberg University
  • Olaf Hohm — Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
  • Daniele Oriti — Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • Mairi Sakellariadou — King’s College London
  • Yuko Urakawa — KEK Theory Center
  • Victoria Venken — Kavli IPMU, The University of Tokyo
  • Francesca Vidotto — Institute for the Structure of Matter, Spanish National Research Council (IEM-CSIC)

Participation

Both in-person and remote participation will be possible.

Registration will remain open until 7 September 2026, and existing registrations may be modified until 13 September 2026, including for the purpose of submitting or updating an abstract.

Please note that abstract submissions for contributed talks and posters are open only to participants attending the workshop in person.

Contributed talks and poster session

The scientific program will include a limited number of contributed talks, as well as a poster session. Participants submitting an abstract for an oral presentation may also choose to have it considered for a poster if it is not selected for a talk.

Abstract submissions are open only to participants attending the workshop in person and must be made through the registration form.

Organizers

Scientific Organizing Committee

  • Robert Brandenberger — McGill University
  • Elisa Ferreira — Kavli IPMU
  • Oliver Friedrich — Ludwig-Maximillians-University Munich
  • Luca Marchetti — Kavli IPMU and OIST
  • Daniele Oriti — Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • Mairi Sakellariadou — King’s College London
  • Thomas Thiemann — Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
  • Jun’ichi Yokoyama — Kavli IPMU

Local Organizing Committee

  • Luca Marchetti (chair)  — Kavli IPMU and OIST
  • Elisa Ferreira — Kavli IPMU
  • Jun’ichi Yokoyama — Kavli IPMU

Workshop Website

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10th Roma International Conference on Astroparticle Physics, September 7-11 2026

RICAP-2026 will be the 10th edition of the RICAP Conference. The acronym stands for Roma International Conference on Astro-Particle physics. The Conference, entirely dedicated to the study of high energy cosmic rays, traditionally has been organized by the INFN Sections and Physics Departments of Roma Universities “La Sapienza”, “Tor Vergata” and “Roma Tre”.

The 10th edition of the Conference will be hosted by the Sapienza University of Roma. The aim of the Conference will be to present and discuss some of the most relevant theoretical and experimental results in the field of high energy cosmic radiations (gamma, neutrinos, charged cosmic rays). Special attention will be paid to the multi-messenger search for high energy cosmic rays sources, including gravitational wave searches. A special session will be dedicated to Dark Matter search and to low energy study of inherent neutrino properties. The Conference will give the opportunity to collect experimental results from presently operating experiments. Experiments in progress and future projects will be discussed, debating on different features and on sensitivities.

Conference Website

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5th Einstein Telescope Annual Meeting, November 23-27 2026 in Prague

The 5th Einstein Telescope Annual Meeting will take place in the beautiful historical city of Prague and it presents an important opportunity to discuss key aspects of the ET collaboration and design.

Hosted by FZU – Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the event will be held directly at FZU premises. The modern Adéla Kochanovská Hall will host the plenary session, and parallel sessions will be hosted in other lecture halls and seminar rooms at FZU (address point: Pod Vodárenskou věží 3, Praha 8). The location is in the northern part of Prague, very close to the subway station “Ládví” (red line C, 15 minutes to city centre).

The meeting is open to all members of the ET collaboration, beginning with the lunch on Monday, November 23, and concluding again with the lunch on Friday, November 27.

Participants can join all sessions online via Zoom. Zoom links will be provided as attachments in the session timetable.

Social events:

  • Welcome Cocktail: Monday, November 23
  • Early Career Researchers Meeting: Tuesday, November 24
  • Concert of Classical Music: Wednesday, November 25
  • Conference Dinner: Thursday, Novermber 26

The concert will most likely take place in the Church of Our Lady before Týn, directly at the Old Town Square, where also the grave of Tycho Brahe is located.

Local Organizing Committee: Michael Prouza, Asen Christov, Věra Ondřichová and Michaela Pokorná, all from FZU Prague.

We look forward to welcoming all participants, both in person and online, for a productive and engaging meeting!

The registration is not needed for online participants.

Meeting Website

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Postdoctoral position: Einstein Telescope noise-budget modelling at University of Hamburg

The position is part of project “Developing ET Noise Budget: Reliability, Accessibility and Completeness.” The project will develop reliable, documented, and publicly accessible ET noise budgets for detector-design decisions; expand models for effects such as control noise, scattered light, and Newtonian noise; and help build a robust open-source software framework based on pygwinc.

The role combines scientific modelling, Python software development, verification and review of detector-noise models, and close collaboration with European ET experts and partner projects.

We are seeking an experienced postdoctoral researcher with a PhD in physics or a related field, strong quantitative modelling and Python skills, and interest or experience in gravitational-wave detectors, interferometry, precision metrology, controls, or scientific software. Experience with Git-based development, testing, documentation, code review, pygwinc, FINESSE, IfoCAD, or related tools is particularly welcome.

Application deadline: 17 August 2026

Please finde here full advertisement and application details.