Category: Conferences

Gravitational wave astronomy is rapidly becoming a precision science.
With upcoming detectors on the ground and in space, we will be able to detect black holes at the edge of the observable universe and test general relativity in its most extreme regimes. However, as the measurements become more sensitive, so does the challenge of interpreting them. Small anomalies in the data could point to new physics—or just reflect environmental effects, modeling uncertainties, or instrumental noise. This workshop, part of the ERC synergy GWSky project, will bring together researchers working across theory, simulations, and observations to tackle this challenge, and build the tools and frameworks needed to make sense of future discoveries.
This workshop is by invitation only

Organizers

SOC
E. Barausse (SISSA, Italy); Z. Bern (UCLA, USA); A. Buonanno (AEI, Germany); M. van de Meent (NBI, Denmark)

Workshop Website

MAD Workshop is an excellent opportunity to connect with collegues involved in the development of advanced materials for gravitational wave detectors as well as with researchers from crystal growth community and industry who share a deep interest in the topic. Together we will discuss recent achievements and challenges in material research and outline prospects for future cooperation. We are confident that face-to-face workshops with a lot of space for personal interaction and individual meetings will contribute to achieving our common goals.

Where:

ENSSIB lecture hall, Université Lyon I
17 Bd du 11 Novembre 1918
Campus de la Doua, 69100 Villeurbanne (France)

General Info:

This is a hybrid event. Participants can join all sessions either in person or online via Zoom. Personal attendance is highly appreciated.

Zoom link will be provided to all registered participants. For the first time, a proceeding of the meeting will be proposed.

Beyond the sessions:

Crystal growth and coating laboratory tours featuring a variety of materials and techniques will be proposed the Monday morning.

The coffee breaks, two lunches and one social event dinner is included in the registration fees.

Presentations and Posters:

It is possible to submit an abstract for either a talk or a poster. Note that, depending on the topic and on the available time slot, we might ask you to convert your contribution to either a talk or a poster. Since the workshop is over 2 days, talks are the preferred format.

Registration:

Registration will open soon. Note that the registration is considered completed only when the payment has been fulfilled. In addition, if no payment has been received after the deadline, you will be automatically deregistered from in-person participation.

No payment fee is required for remote participation.

Important Deadlines

• Registration Open: 1st July
• Early Registration Close: 13th September
• Final Registration Close: 27th September
• Abstract Submission Open: 1st July
• Abstract Submission Close: 31st July
• Abstract Review Completed: 9th September

Local Organizing Committee:
Jerome Degallaix, Severin Nadji
MAD26(at)lma.in2p3.fr

Scientific Committee:

• Alex Amato – Maastricht University / Nikhef, Netherlands
• Iryna Buchovska – Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth (IKZ), Germany
• Mariana Fazio – University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
• Massimo Granata – Laboratoire des Matériaux Avancés (LMA), IP2I-CNRS, France
• Margot Hennig – The University of Glasgow, United Kingdom / Deutsches Zentrum für Astrophysik (DZA), Germany
• Luca Naticchioni – INFN Roma, Italy
• Andrew Spencer – The University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
• Flavio Travasso – Università di Camerino, Italy

Workshop Website

The 2nd New Horizons for Psi Workshop will be held in Beijing, China, from 24–28 August 2026, hosted by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics Asia-Pacific (ICTP-AP).

The New Horizons for Psi Workshop is an international conference series devoted to exploring fundamental fields in the vicinity of compact objects, and to understanding how these extreme gravitational environments can serve as powerful laboratories for fundamental physics. The growing interplay between black hole astrophysics, gravitational-wave observations, and particle physics has opened new opportunities to probe phenomena at the intersection of these fields. The workshop brings together researchers working on black holes, gravitational waves, and particle physics, fostering cross-disciplinary dialogue.

In addition to plenary talks, the program will include contributed talks, focused mini-workshop sessions, and a half-day excursion. Abstract submissions for contributed talks are due by 30 June 2026.

Invited Speakers

• Haipeng An (Tsinghua U)
• Enrico Barausse (SISSA)
• Xiaojun Bi (IHEP, CAS)
• Diego Blas (ICREA/IFAE)
• Kfir Blum (Weizmann Institute of Science)
• Richard Brito (IST)
• Vitor Cardoso (NBI/IST)
• Arianna Foschi (LESIA)
• Lam Hui* (Columbia U)
• Hyungjin Kim (IPhT)
• Eugene Lim (KCL)
• Andrea Maselli (GSSI)
• Hidetoshi Omiya (Kyoto U)
• Paolo Pani(Sapienza U of Rome) Gilad Perez (Weizmann Institute of Science) Jing Ren (IHEP, CAS) Nils Siemonsen (Princeton U) Thomas Spieksma (Oxford U)
• Volodymyr Takhistov (KEK & IPMU)
• Giovanni Tomaselli (IAS)
• Rodrigo Vicente (U of Amsterdam)
• Shaojiang Wang (ITP, CAS)
• Hong Zhang (Shandong U)
• Yue Zhao (Hong Kong U. Sci. Tech.)
• *=TBD

International Advisory Board

Gianfranco Bertone, Diego Blas, Richard Brito, Vitor Cardoso, Katy Clough, William East, Joseph Silk, Takahiro Tanaka, Yue-Liang Wu.

Local Organising Committee

Haipeng An, Yifan Chen, Xiaoyong Chu, Huaike Guo, Da Huang, Jing Liu, Teng Ma, Andrew Miller, Shi Pi, Jing Ren, Yong Tang, Yu Tian, Shaojiang Wang, Huan Yang, Jun Zhang (Chair), Yunlong Zhang, Yue Zhao.

REGISTRATIONS and ABSTRACT SUBMISSION ARE NOW OPEN

The registration and abstract submission deadline is 30 June, 2026.

Workshop Website