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BritGrav 2026, April 9-10 in Cardiff

The 26th BritGrav meeting will be hosted by the Gravity Exploration Institute at the School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University.

The meeting will be held on the 9th and 10th of April 2026.

The aim of BritGrav is to bring together early-career researchers working on all aspects of gravitational physics, including astrophysics, cosmology, general relativity, quantum gravity, gravitational-wave data analysis and instrumentation.

Following the BritGrav tradition, the meeting will consist of short talks, with priority given to PhD students and postdocs. The meeting has no registration fee. Limited funding will be available from the IOP Gravitational Physics Group to support travel for PhD students based in the UK and Ireland. You may request travel support by emailing the organisers. See also the logistics page.

At the end of the meeting, a prize for the Best Student Talk, sponsored by the IOP Publishing Group, will be awarded.

Local organising committee: Fabio Antonini, Isobel-Romero Shaw, Parthapratim Mahapatra, Mukesh Singh, Beth Flanagan, Fani Dosoupolou, Ohkyung Kwon, Sama Al-Shammari, Ruaraidh Dumbreck, Meryl Kinnear

For any enquiries, please contact us:
Isobel Romero-Shaw: romero-shawi(at)cardiff.ac.uk
Fabio Antonini: antoninif(at)cardiff.ac.uk

BritGrav 26 is supported by the Institute of Physics and Cardiff University.

Conference Website

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CosmoVerse@Bilbao 2026, September 15-19

Our understanding of the Universe is at a turning point with the predictions of the standard cosmological model and the observations from different surveys are showing tensions in several key areas. The disagreement is expressed in the value of cosmic expansion as well as in the growth of large-scale structure in the Universe. New cosmological surveys, many of which are European, may expose tension in additional areas of the concordance model. The question of cosmological tensions can be confronted in a number of ways. Firstly, survey data needs to be further analyzed for potential systematic uncertainties or biases. Secondly, there have been numerous advances in approaches to data analysis and statistics, some of which provide less dependence on cosmological models to make cosmological parameter estimates. Lastly, there are a plethora of new proposals from fundamental physics which range from novel neutrino physics to dark energy proposals (and others) which may contribute to a solution to the cosmological tensions problem. These represent the three research themes through which cosmological tensions will either be alleviated or resolved.

Conference Website

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Experimental postdoc openings for LISA in Trento

Opening of 3 new postdoc positions (contratti di ricerca) at the Università di Trento (Italy) for experimental research aimed at consolidating the free-falling test mass system for LISA, with analysis, design, and, most importantly, laboratory measurement.

The appointments are for 2 years, extendable for an additional period of up to 3 years. the deadline for application is 18 February 2026. Applicants must have have a PhD — ideally experimental physics — now or receive the title in the next 6 months.

This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to LISA hardware in the final years before delivery for flight, and thus to have an impact on the observatory performance at the low frequencies relevant to super massive black hole science. in addition to laboratory measurements, especially small force tests, you will support our collaboration with ESA, industry, and international institute partners in building LISA, as part of the PI team for the “gravitational reference system” (GRS), the Italian (ASI) hardware contribution to the mission.

A more detailed description, and link to the online application process, can be found here.

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PhD Position at University of Auckland in New Zealand

The University of Auckland in New Zealand is seeking a highly motivated and skilled student with a strong background in physics, mathematics, statistics, computer science, or a related discipline to take on a three-year PhD project that will help us prepare for the next galactic supernova using deep learning.

Core-collapse supernovae are among the most energetic events in the Universe and are expected to produce rich gravitational-wave (GW) signals that encode information about extreme matter, rotation, and explosion mechanisms. Unlike compact binary mergers, these signals are poorly modelled and difficult to detect using traditional matched-filtering techniques. This PhD project aims to develop and apply modern deep learning methods to detect and characterise supernova GW signals in data from ground-based detectors such as LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA.

The successful candidate will design probabilistic deep learning models to learn physically meaningful signal representations and to perform Bayesian inference in the presence of realistic detector noise and transient glitches. The project will explore how learned latent spaces can be used for detection, parameter estimation, and model comparison, and how these approaches complement existing burst and excess-power searches used by the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Collaboration.

This research sits at the intersection of astrophysics, statistics, and artificial intelligence, and will involve close interaction with international GW data-analysis efforts. The student will gain experience in deep learning, Bayesian inference, high-performance computing, and gravitational-wave astronomy, with opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge searches for the first gravitational-wave detection of a core-collapse supernova.

Applicants should have a strong background in physics, mathematics, statistics, computer science, or a related discipline, with an interest in machine learning and astrophysical data analysis. Programming experience (e.g. Python, PyTorch/JAX) is desirable.

The PhD scholarship is available from March 2026 and provides an annual (tax-free) stipend of $35,000 NZD plus tuition fees for three years.

To apply for this scholarship, please send your CV, academic transcript, and a description of yourself to Dr Matt Edwards (matt.edwards(at)auckland.ac.nz).

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NASA, Partners Advance LISA Prototype Hardware

Engineers and scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, completed tests this month on a second early version of a key element of the upcoming LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission.

The LISA mission, a collaboration between ESA (the European Space Agency) and NASA, will use infrared lasers to detect gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of space-time. The tests involved the frequency reference system, delivered by BAE Systems, that will help control the lasers connecting LISA’s three spacecraft. The lasers must be finely tuned to make precise measurements — to within a trillionth of a meter, called a picometer.

Spacecraft components configured for testing rest on a table.
A prototype laser optical module for LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) rests on a table after testing at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in May 2025. Xiaozhen Xu, an engineer with Miller Engineering and Research Corp., works in the background. The smaller box to the right is the laser electronics module. Each of the three LISA spacecraft will have a laser system with a frequency reference component and six laser heads. Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts

Read the full story at

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/lisa/nasa-partners-advance-lisa-prototype-hardware/

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Post-doc position in Large Scale Structure Rubin/LSST survey and 3rd generation GW detectors in Sao Paulo

Applications are open for a postdoctoral position to work on multi-messenger science, with focus on the exploitation of data from the Vera Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) and 3rd generation GW observatories (Einstein Telescope/Cosmic Explorer). Combining galaxies, quasars and other sources detected with the LSST, with mergers of compact objects (black holes and neutron stars) detected by present and future facilities, represents a new frontier for connecting cosmology and fundamental physics. The synergies between maps of electromagnetic sources and gravitational wave sources offer new opportunities for probes of the universe at low and high redshifts, structure formation and the merger history traced by stellar-mass objects as well as galaxies, among other areas. Deadline on Feb 20, 2026.

The candidates should have a solid background in at least one of the two areas of this call (gravitational waves and/or cosmology).

The FAPESP postdoctoral fellowships pay an annual tax-free salary of 150,000 Brazilian reais as well as moving costs and 12,000 reais per year for research expenses. Postdocs will also receive additional funds for travel to conferences, to invite visitors, and to organize schools and workshops.

Candidates are recommended to apply before February 20th, 2026 by sending to
riccardo.sturani(at)unesp.br their Curriculum vitae with publication list and research project. In addition, they should arrange 3 researchers to send recommendation letters at the above email address. Any questions can be sent to the same email-address.

The successful candidate is expected to start the postdoc by October 2026, but otherwise the starting date is flexible.
Contact: Riccardo Sturani (riccardo.sturani(at)unesp.br)

Please find here full details.

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XVI Einstein Telescope Symposium, June 15-19 2026 in Aachen

The upcoming Symposium will take place in Aachen from June 15th at noon until June 19th early afternoon.

Hosted by the RWTH Aachen University, the event will be held at the central campus of the University in the heart of the city of Aachen.

Registrants can also participate in every session online via a two-way zoom connection. Zoom links for each session can be found as an attachment to the session in the Indico timetable.

Social events:

Early Career Researchers Meeting: Monday, 15.06.2026 Conference Dinner: Wednesday, 17.06.2026

Local Organizing Committee:

Markus Bachlechner, Charlotte Benning, Silke Christ, Ruth Jansen, Robert Joppe, Jan Kelleter, Stefan Krischer, Michael Kubocz, Tim Kuhlbusch, Niklas Nippe, Oliver Pooth, Achim Stahl

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

Symposium Website

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Deputy System Engineer – Scientific Instrumentation for Space Missions at AEI Hannover

The Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) is a world-leading center specializing in gravitational physics, gravitational-wave research, and precision laser interferometry. The institute has more than 400 employees across its Potsdam and Hannover locations. For our Hannover site, we are seeking a:

Deputy System Engineer – Scientific Instrumentation for Space Missions at AEI Hannover

The position is embedded in the “Laser Interferometry in Space” group, which has contributed significantly to missions such as LISA Pathfinder and GRACE-FO and is currently playing a leading role in ESA’s LISA mission. You will join a multidisciplinary and international team working at the forefront of spaceborne gravitational-wave detection.

Your Duties and Responsibilities

  • Support the LISA System Engineer in system engineering activities and progressively assume deputy responsibilities.
  • Coordinate system-level decisions and participate in internal and external technical meetings.
  • Contribute to system design, verification tasks, and technical documentation preparation.
  • Maintain accurate configuration control and documentation.
  • Plan and support Assembly, Integration and Test (AIT) activities.
  • Prepare requirements and procedures for safe hardware handling, shipment, and verification.
  • Operate and verify Ground Support Equipment and test facilities during subsystem and system testing.
  • Participate in verification campaigns at AEI and partner sites.
  • Support Product Assurance (PA) activities, including non-conformance tracking and inspections.
  • Contribute to design reviews, test readiness reviews, and acceptance reviews.
  • Support procurement processes and prepare technical specifications.
  • Collaborate closely with industrial partners, space agencies, and internal project teams.

Your Profile

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in engineering, physics, or a related field.
  • Experience in system engineering, testing, verification, or product assurance.
  • Familiarity with ECSS workflows, test automation, or electronics verification.
  • Hands-on experience with laboratory or test equipment is an advantage.
  • Strong communication skills in English (level C1 minimum); German is an asset but not required.
  • Organisational talent and the ability to manage multiple parallel tasks.
  • Structured and careful working style with strong documentation practices.

We Offer

  • An international, collaborative research environment.
  • Work at the forefront of spaceborne gravitational-wave detection.
  • Regular interaction with ESA, DLR, laboratories, and industrial partners.
  • Access to state-of-the-art laboratories and infrastructure.
  • Competitive salary according to the German TVöD Bund guidelines.
  • Initial 2-year contract with the possibility of extension.

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/245/deputy-system-engineer-scientific-instrumentation-for-space-missions/apply

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

The applications received will be considered from January 15th, 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/.

Pease find here details.

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Test Engineer at AEI 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). 

The applications received will be considered from January 15th, 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 find here details.

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Open PhD positions at KIT

At KIT, we have several PhD positions available in the field of particle and astroparticle physics (theory and experiment) within our KSETA graduate school. The closing date for applications is February 20, 2026. For more information, please visit our KSETA website.

During the application process, the desired topic(s) and supervisor(s) must be specified. A summary of our research activities within KSETA can be found here. Although ET is not explicitly mentioned in the overarching research activities of ET, there is nevertheless interesting work being done in this field of research, e.g. with regard to multi-messenger astronomy or cryogenic and vacuum technology (potential supervisors could be, e.g., Ralph Engel, Steffen Grohmann, Bernhard Holzapfel, Andreas Haungs). Dedicated topics related to ET can be discussed in detail and agreed upon with the desired supervisors. A motivation letter (no more than two pages long) outlining the candidate’s research interests is a vital part of the application.

The opening is targeted towards excellent international candidates, and there are mobility rules requiring that candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Germany for more than 12 months in the 36 months before the application deadline.

We would be grateful if you could bring this announcement to the attention of any promising candidates you may know.
Of course, the candidates are welcome to contact me and/or Ralph Engel in advance.

Please find here details.