Doctoral student in experimental physics (M/F)
PhD @French National Centre for Scientific Research posted 20 hours agoJob Description
General information
Job title: PhD student in experimental physics (M/F)
Reference: UMR7178-REGSOM-225
Number of positions: 1
Work location: STRASBOURG
Publication date: Friday, June 6, 2025
Type of contract: Fixed-term PhD student
Contract duration: 36 months
Thesis start date: October 1, 2025
Workload: Full
Remuneration: The remuneration is a minimum of €2,200.00 per month
Section(s) CN: 01 – Interactions, particles, nuclei from the laboratory to the cosmos
Description of the thesis subject
Thesis topic: Contributions to gravitational wave astronomy; towards better identification of more events
Thesis objectives:
Gravitational wave (GW) astronomy is a new observational field, launched a few years ago with the first GW observation in 2015. Two years later, the first observation of GW and electromagnetic signals (GRB, optical, radio) followed. Since then, this field has been evolving rapidly thanks to improved detectors and the collection of new data, with approximately 300 events observed by May 2025. Currently, the LIGO and Virgo detectors are jointly operated in the fourth observing campaign (O4), detecting GW events at a typical rate of a few events per week. The O4 campaign will stop in November to allow for detector upgrades, before resuming observations at the end of 2027 with improved detection capability.
The Virgo OGMA group is involved in the search for gravitational wave events arising from the coalescence and merger of binary systems of compact objects (black holes and/or neutron stars). It focuses its data analysis efforts on the development and deployment of the MBTA analysis pipeline. This includes real-time analyses to provide publicly released candidate events and the production of signal catalogs. The
proposed thesis work aims to contribute to the analysis of O4 data, improve the analysis for O5 data collection, and examine the first O5 results. The detection rate of O5 is expected to be at least three times higher than that of O4, opening new avenues for discovery and posing new challenges for data analysis.
The thesis work will be carried out in two main phases. First, a contribution to the offline analysis of the data collected during the O4 run in order to include the results in the catalogs. The second phase will involve preparing pipeline improvements for the O5 run and contributing to the analysis of the first data from this run. The focus will be on improving source classification and low-latency parameter estimation, key parameters for selecting appropriate events for MultiMessenger tracking. The inclusion of data from the Japanese KAGRA detector will also be discussed.
Work context
The thesis will be attached to the Doctoral School of Physics and Physical Chemistry of the University of Strasbourg (ED182).
The candidate (M/F) will be hosted at the Hubert Curien Multidisciplinary Institute in Strasbourg (Subatomic Research Department).
The Hubert Curien Multidisciplinary Institute (IPHC), a joint research unit under the joint supervision of the CNRS and the University of Strasbourg (UMR7178), is a multidisciplinary laboratory where research teams from different scientific cultures (ecology, physiology and ethology, chemistry and subatomic physics) develop very high-level programs based on scientific instrumentation. The IPHC is structured into 3 departments and has a total staff of 393 employees (M/F), including 257 permanent employees (119 researchers and lecturer-researchers and 138 engineers and technicians M/F), 46 employees on fixed-term contracts and 102 doctoral students M/F.
The doctoral student (M/F) will become a member of the Virgo collaboration which operates the Virgo gravitational wave detector, located near Pisa, Italy. As LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA share their data and share their analysis teams and publications, the doctoral student (M/F) will be fully integrated into this joint effort.
The candidate (M/F) must hold a master’s degree. He or she must demonstrate solid knowledge in general physics and data analysis. Knowledge of gravitational wave physics will be an asset, as will programming skills.
The candidate (M/F) must have a B2 level of written and spoken English according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, in order to contribute to the activities of the Virgo and LIGO collaborations.
The international, multidisciplinary and collaborative context of this project requires that the candidate (M/F) demonstrates strong motivation, curiosity to broaden their field of expertise, autonomy and the ability to work in a team with deadline constraints.
Applications must include a detailed CV, a cover letter, a summary of the master’s thesis as well as the Master 1 and 2 grades.
The doctoral student (M/F) will benefit from access to an administrative restaurant, partial coverage of transport tickets, a works council, the possibility of teleworking for part of the activities and training for adaptation to the workstation.
