Contact: bkoebbe[AT]illinois.eduLocation: Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
The Illinois Relativity Group at the Department of Physics of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign invites applications for a postdoctoral research fellow position with a focus on extreme gravity. The fellowship is intended for work on cutting-edge topics in gravitational waves, including their modeling and use to extract (nuclear, particle, astro or other fundamental) physics from current and future signal from ground-based (such as advanced LIGO) or space-based detectors (such as LISA). The fellow will focus on compact binary gravitational-wave sources (of comparable mass or of extreme mass-ratios), when these sources are in complex astrophysical configurations, immersed in astrophysical or other particle environments, or affected by well-motivated and still-viable modifications to general relativity.
The successful candidate should have strengths in one or more of the following topics: extreme mass-ratio inspirals through self-force calculations or through other approximate methods, inspiral models in post-Newtonian theory, quasi-normal modeling with black hole perturbation theory, parameter estimation and Bayesian model selection through matched filtering of actual data and of (simulated) synthetic data, machine learning techniques as applied to gravitational wave data analysis. Moreover, the successful candidate must demonstrate research experience and creativity, breadth and depth of knowledge in extreme gravity, high productivity and high quality publications, and mastery of written and oral communication. A Ph.D in physics, astronomy, or a related discipline is required by the start of employment.
The successful candidate will join Professor Nico Yunes and his large research group (including 10 graduate students and 3 other postdoctoral researchers) in the study of extreme-gravity topics related to the above description. The successful candidate will also become a member of the Illinois Relativity Group, which, in addition to Professor Yunes, is also composed of Professor Stu Shapiro, Assistant Professor Helvi Witek, Research Professor Antonios Tsokaros, and their research groups. The successful candidate will also become a member of the Illinois Center for Advanced Studies of the Universe (ICASU), with access to its many resources and interactions with its many faculty members. In particular, the astrophysics, relativity and cosmology part of ICASU includes Professor Charles Gammie, Professor Gil Holder and Associate Professor Peter Adshead.
Use the following link to apply: https://my.physics.illinois.edu/submit/go.asp?id=1830
Interested candidates will submit an application which must include the following separate documents: curriculum vitae, list of publications, with a summary of total papers published, number of citations to papers and h-index as determined by the Inspire search engine, list of presentations given outside of the candidate’s research group, brief research statement (3-page limit, 1-inch margins, 12 pt font), three letters of recommendation. Please contact Brandy Koebbe bkoebbe[AT]illinois.edu if you have questions.
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