Contact: barausse[AT]sissa.itLocation: Trieste (Italy)
The gravitational-wave physics group at SISSA (Trieste, Italy) invites applications for PhD positions in gravitational-wave theory, source modeling, science interpretation and data analysis, to start in the fall of 2025.
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 ERC-funded project called “Making sense of the unexpected in the gravitational-wave sky (GWSky)” is led by PIs Enrico Barausse (SISSA, Trieste, Italy), Zvi Bern (University of California, Los Angeles, US), Alessandra Buonanno (Albert Einstein Institute, Potsdam) and Maarten van de Meent (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark).
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 team’s expertise, the GWSky project aims to develop a groundbreaking framework capable of solving the highly nonlinear equations of 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, at SISSA we are looking at candidates in the following research areas: 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; waveform modeling.
Applications should be sent to *both* https://pica.cineca.it/sissa/phd-gwsky-2025/ and https://pica.cineca.it/sissa/phd-app-01-2025/
Please also see https://www.sissa.it/sites/default/files/2024-03/SISSA_IstruzioniCompilazioneDomandaPICA%20-%20ENGL_0.pdf for instructions. The hard deadline for applications is March 4 at 1300 Italian time.