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Quantum Gravity and Cosmology 2026, February 9-13, Bologna

General Relativity (GR) perfectly describes a variety of phenomena in gravity at energy scales much less than the Planck mass. However, this theory calls for an ultraviolet (UV) completion at higher energies. 

Various approaches have been developed in this direction in the past decades, including (but not limited to) string theory, which naturally contains the limit of GR. The low-energy effective field theory (EFT) of GR can also have a UV completion which is formulated as a field theory, perturbatively including higher curvature operators or non- perturbatively with an asymptotically safe fixed point. Formulation of new methods, especially working for gravity in the non-perturbative regime, requires more exchanges between the scientific communities that used to be separated. We believe that cross-team discussions will lead to significant progress in understanding the self-consistency and potential phenomenological implications of UV complete descriptions of gravity.

The goal of the workshop is to bring together the experts working on different UV complete approaches to quantum gravity, from string theory to various perturbative and non-perturbative approaches. Given the promising opportunity to probe quantum gravity effects in the very early Universe with future CMB and gravitational wave experiments, we expect the in-depth discussions on predictions and self-consistency of low- energy effective theories on top of cosmological backgrounds.

The meeting will be mainly focused on the following directions:

  • Non-perturbative methods, in application to quantum gravity, such as string theory, amplitudes bootstrap, functional renormalisation group, loop quantum gravity, etc.
  • Quantum gravity effects in the early Universe: inflation, cosmological correlators, non-gaussianities, gravitational waves.
  • EFT of gravity in connection with cosmology and Black Holes.
  • other related topics.

Workshop Website

CosPA2026 and ACGRG13, July 6-10 2026, Christchurch, New Zealand

The International Symposium on Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics (CosPA2026) and the 13th Australasian Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation (ACGRG13) will be held jointly, bringing together two complementary scientific communities. CosPA2026 is part of an annual conference series organized in the Asia-Pacific region under the Asia Pacific Organization of Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics (APCosPA), while ACGRG13, convened by the Australasian Society for General Relativity and Gravitation, is a biennial forum for regional researchers in all areas gravitational physics from mathematical relativity to experimental gravitational wave detection.

Together, these meetings aim to unite theorists, experimentalists, and observers working across gravitation, particle physics, cosmology, astrophysics, and astroparticle physics. Participants will engage in discussions on the latest observations, theoretical developments, and emerging directions in these intersecting fields.

Key areas of focus include:

  • Classical and Quantum Theories of Gravity
  • Cosmology
  • Radio Astronomy
  • Gravitational Waves
  • Dark Matter
  • Neutrino Physics
  • Relativistic Astrophysics
  • Mathematical and Numerical Relativity

Conference Website

GW:UK @ Nottingham, January 15-16 2026

GW:UK@Nottingham is the first meeting of the GW:UK initiative (website). It will bring together researchers from across the UK involved in gravitational wave science to celebrate 10 years of gravitational wave discoveries (day 1) and to engage in community-building activities (day 2).

Due to the nature of this meeting, we will only offer in person participation. Some funding to cover accommodation and travel expenses for UK-based participants is available. There will be a number of slots available for contributed talks, including flash talks. We especially encourage early career researchers to apply for a slot.

To be considered for financial support and a contributed or flash talk, please complete your registration by 16 December.

Conference Website

42nd Pacific Coast Gravity Meeting – February 27-28, 2026 at UC Riverside

42nd Pacific Coast Gravity Meeting - February 27-28, 2026 at UC Riverside 
The 42nd Jim Isenberg Pacific Coast Gravity Meeting will be held on Friday, February 27, 2026 - Saturday, February 28, 2026 at the University of California, Riverside.

In the tradition of the Pacific Coast Gravity Meetings, students and postdocs are strongly encouraged to participate, and all areas of gravitational physics—classical and quantum, theory and experiment—are welcome. We would like this meeting to serve as a communication medium among all branches of gravitational physics. Because this is a regional APS meeting, many participants will be from the Western U.S., but all are welcome.

The meeting is free to attend. There is no registration fee. However, we are not able to provide financial assistance to speakers and participants. A prize sponsored by the APS Division of Gravitational Physics (DGRAV) will be awarded for the best student talk.

Registration

Please register using this registration form. For full consideration, your application should be received by 11:59 PM on February 18, 2025. Late applications will be considered at the discretion of the organizers.

The Pacific Coast Gravity Meeting has grown to the point where we can no longer promise to accommodate all requests to speak. Priority will be given to talks by graduate students and postdocs.

DGRAV Prize

A prize will be awarded for the best talk by a student at the meeting. If you are eligible (i.e., if you are a graduate or undergraduate student), please be sure to indicate that on the registration form. Detailed eligibility criteria can be found here.

Program

Below is the tenative schedule of program events. Assigned talk slots will be posted in late February 2026.

Thursday, February 26

   5:00 PM –     6:00 PM Welcome Reception,  University Lecture Hall (map)

   6:00 PM –     7:00 PM Frontiers of Cosmology Public Lecture,  University Lecture Hall (map)
Featuring APS President-Elect Brad Marston, with introductory remarks by 2017 Nobel Laureate Barry Barish

Friday, February 27

   9:00 AM – 10:30 AM Session I,  HUB 302 North (map)

10:30 AM – 11:00 AM Coffee Break

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Session II,  HUB 302 North (map)

12:30 PM –    2:00 PM Lunch

   2:00 PM –    3:30 PM Session III,  HUB 302 North (map)

   3:30 PM –    4:00 PM Coffee Break

   4:00 PM –    5:30 PM Session IV,  HUB 302 North (map)

Saturday, February 28

   9:00 AM – 10:30 AM Session V,  HUB 302 North (map)

10:30 AM – 11:00 AM Coffee Break

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Session VI,  HUB 302 North (map)

12:30 PM –    2:00 PM Lunch

   2:00 PM –    3:30 PM Session VII,  HUB 302 North (map)

   3:30 PM –    4:00 PM Coffee Break

   4:00 PM –    5:30 PM Session VIII,  HUB 302 North (map)

Logistics

Meeting Room

The conference will take place in the Highlander Union Building (HUB) in Room 302 North (see this campus map). Room 302 North is located on the third floor of the building (see this building map).

Conference Website

Symposium & Memorial for Professor Rainer Weiss, February 27–28, 2026

The MIT Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research would like to share with you plans for a symposium and memorial service honoring Professor Rainer Weiss, Nobel Laureate in Physics (2017) and longtime member of our faculty, whose visionary work made the discovery of gravitational waves possible.

Symposium: Friday, February 27, 2026 (all day) — A full day of scientific talks and reflections celebrating Rai’s pioneering contributions to physics and his profound influence on generations of researchers.

Memorial Service: Saturday, February 28, 2026 (morning) — A gathering of family, friends, and colleagues to honor his life and legacy.

We invite members of the scientific community, alumni, collaborators, and friends to join us in celebrating the life and work of Rai.

Both events will take place at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with further details—including venues and programs — to follow in the coming weeks.

We kindly ask you to indicate your intent to attend by using this form: Weiss Event Form.

Deepto Chakrabarty, MIT Physics Department Head

Robert A. Simcoe, Director, MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research

Gravitational Waves and Detection Technologies – PAS Rome Meeting 2026, March 16-17

Gravitational Waves and Detection Technologies - PAS Rome meeting 2026, jointly organized by the Polish Academy of Sciences, the University of Perugia and INFN Perugia, will take place in Rome from 16 March to 17 March 2026. This event aims to provide a platform for sharing recent advancements in the rapidly evolving field of gravitational-wave science, with a particular focus on detector science and experimental technologies.

The program will bring together researchers working on both theoretical and experimental aspects of gravitational waves, fostering exchange across different detector concepts, data analysis techniques and astrophysical applications. Talks will focus on the future of interferometric detectors, modern sensing technologies, signal processing methods and multi-messenger connections encouraging discussions that span physics, engineering and data science.

Invited speakers

prof. dr hab. Andrzej Królak, Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences

prof. dr hab. Tomasz Bulik, Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw

dott. Gianluca Gemme, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, VIRGO Collaboration spoke-person

Important dates

  • Opening abstract submission: Tue, 2 Sep 2025
  • Opening registration: Tue, 7 October 2025
  • Closing abstract submission: Fri, 5 Dec 2025 (extended to Fri, 19 Dec 2025)
  • Abstract acceptance notification: Mon, 5 Jan 2026
  • Closing registration (final): Mon, 9 Mar 2026

Meeting Website

Massive Black Hole Spin Workshop, April 21-24 2026, Edinburgh

Astrophysical black holes can be entirely described by just two properties: their mass and their spin. While masses of black holes have been extensively studied, black hole spin remains poorly understood. This is because spin is both much more difficult to observe and more complex to model. Nevertheless, spin is no less integral to the evolution of massive black holes over time, and the role they play in shaping their host galaxies.

This workshop is a chance to discuss the nature and evolution of massive black hole spin from both an observational and theoretical point of view. It aims to bring together the theoretical and observational communities to advance our collective understanding of black hole spin evolution. In this workshop we will focus on the evolution of the massive black hole spin distribution across cosmic time, as informed by analytic models, numerical simulations as well as multi-frequency and multi-messenger observations.  Theoretical sessions will cover simulations and analytic models, from accretion-disc scale phenomena via the impact of binaries and inspiral on massive black hole spin to a discussion on what we can learn from galaxy scale and cosmological simulations on the spin distribution of massive black holes. Observation-focused sessions will include gravitational waves, X-ray based and interferometry-based spin measurements, and those based on transient events. The goal of this workshop is to bring together theorists and observers to exchange state-of-the-art insights and guide future efforts to maximise the understanding of black hole spin across cosmic time.

Core questions include:

– When and where can we observe massive black hole spin?

– What can we learn about massive black hole spin from current theoretical and numerical efforts on different astrophysical scales?

– What observations do we need most to constrain models?

– Where should modelling efforts be focused to make the most of the existing and upcoming observational missions?

– What do we need to prepare to make the most of upcoming missions?

Confirmed invited speakers so far

  • Matthew Liska
  • Davide Gerosa
  • Filip Husko
  • Margherita Giustini

 ** Please note there is no attendance fee for this workshop**

If you are interested in attending this workshop, please register by clicking on the registration section of this page. We will confirm your registration if your abstract is accepted.

Registration is now open and will close on the 19th of January 2026.

Please be aware of this Travel Scam! 

If you received emails from travellerpoint(dot)org (or another travel company), please be careful. The email asks about arrival and departure dates to Edinburgh and offers a hotel booking form where they ask for credit card details.
Please, ignore the emails and do not reply nor click on any link given by them. You can also block the domain on your email client.
Our official emails are all from this website’s domain “@ed.ac.uk” (usually, sopa.events@ed.ac.uk). Please avoid giving private information to external sources. 

Workshop Website

From LISA Pathfinder to LISA: Celebrating 10 years of the LPF launch, December 3-4 2025 at CSIC Catalan Delegation

On 3 December 2015, the European Space Agency launched LISA Pathfinder, a pioneering mission designed to test the technologies required to open a new window onto the Universe: the detection of low-frequency gravitational waves from space. Over its operational lifetime, LISA Pathfinder surpassed expectations, demonstrating with unprecedented precision that free-falling test masses could be shielded from all external forces, and that their motion could be tracked with picometre accuracy.

Now, ten years later, we come together to celebrate the success of this extraordinary mission, which laid the foundations for LISA, ESA’s future space-based gravitational wave observatory. LISA Pathfinder not only proved the feasibility of revolutionary instrumentation — from drag-free control to micro-newton thrusters — but also paved the way for a completely new form of astronomy. This anniversary is an opportunity to look back on a milestone in space science, and to look ahead to the scientific revolutions that LISA will bring.

Workshop Website

SIGRAV International School 2026: Neutron Stars: Modelling and Detection, February 16-20 in Vietri sul Mare

This edition of the Italian Society of General Relativity and Gravitation (SIGRAV) International School is dedicated to the study of neutron stars as outstanding sources of gravitational and electromagnetic waves in the strong-field regime. The program is structured to promote scholarly interaction and collaboration, offering participants the opportunity to engage with leading experts in the field. Through a series of advanced lectures and discussions, the School aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of current developments in gravitational research and to equip attendees with the knowledge and tools necessary to advance their own scientific work in the study of gravity.

The School will take place in Vietri sul Mare (SA), Italy, 16-20 February 2026.

The program of the School comprises the following four courses:

  • B. Haskell (Milano Bicocca Univ., IT): Modelling of Neutron Stars as Gravitational Wave Sources
  • T. Hinderer (Utrecht Univ., NL) : Gravitational Signal from Late Inspiral and Merger of Neutron Stars
  • M.A. Papa (AEI, Hannover, DE) : Detection of Continuous Gravitational Waves
  • M. Ghirlanda (INAF, Brera, IT): Multimessenger Astrophysics with Neutron Stars

The School is intended for PhD students and young post-docs. In order to receive the certificate of participation, all lectures and seminars should be attended.

The Participation Fee (350 EUR for non-SIGRAV members, 300 EUR for SIGRAV members) guarantee the access to all courses and activities, including lunch and coffee breaks.

A reduced participation fee (50 EUR) is available for those which will be only able to attend the lectures remotely.

The room should be booked in the Lloyd’s Baia Hotel. Please, reserve your room by using the form available in the section “Practical Info – Accomodation and Transport”.

The deadline for registration and payment of the relative fee is 06 February 2025 (see Registration section).
A social excursion is planned for Wednesday, offering participants the opportunity to visit the Royal Palace of Caserta

School Website

Listening to the Cosmos: New Frontiers in Gravitational Wave Physics, Aug 24 – Sep 26, 2026, Firenze

The first detection of gravitational waves from the Ligo-Virgo-Kagra collaboration and the recent results of several pulsar timing arrays have opened the exploration of the gravitational wave Universe. Over the next decade, several other ground and space-based experiments will join this exploration and allow us to access a broad band of the gravitational wave spectrum. This new exploration comes with a series of challenges that can only be overcome through close collaboration between experimentalists and theorists. This workshop will bring together experts working on the experiments enabling this exploration, as well as particle physicists and cosmologists, to discuss the open challenges that this new exploration presents and highlight the synergies between these different communities. Application deadline: April 30th 2026.

Topics
Week 1 (24th – 30th August): Pulsar Timing Arrays
Week 2 (31st August – 6th September): Space-Based GW Detectors
Week 3 (7th – 13th September): Conference Week
Week 4 (14th – 20th September): Ground-Based GW Detectors
Week 5 (21st – 27th September): Ultra-High Frequency GW Detectors

Application:
To submit your application, please click the Apply button above and complete the registration form. The minimum stay is one week; however, participants are strongly encouraged to stay for several weeks to make the most of the program. The application deadline is April 30, 2026.

Accommodation :
Selected participants will have the opportunity to book accommodation through GGI, ensuring access to the best available rates at local hotels. A limited number of participants may receive support from GGI to cover local expenses. If you wish to be considered for such support, please indicate this in your application.

Organizers

Diego Blas — ICREA and IFAE Barcelona
Neil Cornish — Montana State University
Valeriya Korol — Max Planck Institute and University of Birmingham
Andrea Mitridate — DESY
Mauro Pieroni — Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, Madrid
Michele Redi — INFN Florence
Alberto Sesana — University of Milano Bicocca, INFN and INAF Milan

Local organizer
Michele Redi

Contact
andrea.mitridate(at)nanograv.org
michele.redi(at)fi.infn.it

Workshop Website