Position Description

The Director of the Center for Theoretical Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, announces a competition for one PhD Fellow position within the Weave-UNISONO research project entitled “Lensing of Electromagnetic and Gravitational Waves”, funded by the National Science Centre (grant agreement no. UMO-2024/06/Y/ST2/00190), as part of the GeoPlanet Doctoral School.

Research will be conducted in collaboration with Dr Marius Oancea’s group at the University of Vienna.

The project focuses on the following research areas:

  • Drift effects near caustics: study of transverse motion of lens, observer, and source in strong gravitational lensing
  • Lensing of gravitational waves in strong fields: computation of lensed waveforms from sources in strong gravitational regions
  • Propagation effects of waves in curved spacetimes beyond the geometric optics approximation using the Wigner function formalism

The selected PhD Fellow will work on the doctoral project in CFT PAN within the GeoPlanet Doctoral School, including:

  • Developing software for ray tracing of gravitational waves in strong gravitational fields
  • Computing signals from binary black hole systems
  • Theoretical research on wave propagation in curved spacetimes

Requirements

  • Master’s degree in Physics, Astronomy, or a related field
  • Programming skills and experience with numerical computations
  • Independence and creativity in problem-solving
  • Knowledge of general relativity is an asset

Required Documents

  1. Academic CV with a list of achievements (publications, projects, conferences) including a GDPR consent clause
  2. Motivation letter
  3. Copy of the Master’s diploma or supervisor’s statement on the progress of the thesis
  4. Copies of documents confirming scientific or professional achievements, including proof of English proficiency, if available
  5. At least one recommendation letter from a researcher with a PhD, sent directly to rekrutacja@cft.edu.pl
  6. Application form for admission to the GeoPlanet Doctoral School (Attachment 1)

Applications should be sent electronically to rekrutacja@cft.edu.pl by 15 October 2025. Please include the reference number MK/16/2025 in the email subject.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview at the end of October 2025.

The stipend is awarded according to NCN Resolution No. 124/2022, in the amount of 5,200 PLN net/month (4035.66 PLN from the project budget and 1164.34 PLN from the CFT PAN budget), funded under the Weave-UNISONO project.

Competition results will be announced by 31 October 2025. Admission to the Doctoral School and commencement of the stipend are expected on 1 November 2025.

Information about the GeoPlanet Doctoral School: https://geoplanetschool.camk.edu.pl/doctoral-school/about-us/

Questions should be sent to: korzynski@cft.edu.pl