Postdoc in Black Holes and Strong Gravity for Simons Collabor

About this position

SimonsC-BHSG Postdoctoral Positions

• The Simons Collaboration on Black Holes and Strong Gravity
• (SimonsC-BHSG), directed out of the Department of Physics at the
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, invites applications for
• Postdoctoral Research Fellowship positions in fields relevant to the
• collaboration. The Simons Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Black
• Holes and Strong Gravity are two-year awards, with a possible
• extension for a third year. The positions include funding for travel
• among the collaboration’s institutions, and the applicant can propose
• to be based at the institution of any of the 12 Co-PIs, or a
• combination of them over the term of the fellowshi03p. The anticipated
• start date is August 2027; earlier start dates may be negotiated where
• appropriate.

• SimonsC-BHSG is a multidisciplinary and multinational collaboration
• exploring the nonlinear and dynamical nature of strong gravity and
• black holes in and beyond Albert Einstein’s theory of general
• relativity through gravitational observations. The collaboration
• brings together mathematicians, physicists, numerical experts, and
• data analysts to work on the following themes:

• The mathematical study of singularities and the stability of rapidly rotating black holes in general relativity.

• The analytical and numerical study of the potential breakdown of effective field theory methods outside black holes.

• The analytical and numerical modeling of binary black hole dynamics and the gravitational waves emitted during inspiral, merger, and ringdown, using perturbative methods (post-Newtonian and black hole perturbation theory) and nonperturbative numerical methods.

• The connection between light-ring and ringdown physics within and beyond general relativity, in light of current and future gravitational and electromagnetic observations.

• The development of new methods and tests to extract signatures of strong gravity predicted by general relativity and beyond-Einstein theories from gravitational-wave observations.

• The mitigation of systematic errors in gravitational-wave inference arising from inaccurate modeling of gravitational waves, astrophysical environments, or detector noise.

• The development of Bayesian data analysis techniques for parameter estimation and model selection in nonstationary and non-Gaussian noise, using traditional and AI-based methods.

• The collaboration’s major goal is to reveal deep insights about our
• cosmos at the intersection of strong gravity in general relativity,
• strong gravity beyond Einstein, and gravitational observations.

• The Principal Investigators and Co-Principal Investigators
• participating in SimonsC-BHSG are Nicolás Yunes, University of
• Illinois Urbana-Champaign (nyunes@illinois.edu), Emanuele Berti, Johns
• Hopkins University (berti@jhu.edu), Vitor Cardoso, Niels Bohr
• Institute (vitor.cardoso@nbi.ku.dk), Katy Clough, Queen Mary,
• University of London (k.clough@qmul.ac.uk), Neil Cornish, Montana
• State University (ncornish@montana.edu), Mihalis Dafermos, Princeton
• University (dafermos@math.princeton.edu), Jonathan Gair, the Max
• Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Albert Einstein Institute
• (jgair@aei.mpg.de), Daniel Holz, the University of Chicago (holz@uchicago.edu),
• Gary Horowitz, the University of California Santa Barbara (horowitz@ucsb.edu),
• Luis Lehner, Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics in Canada (llehner@perimeterinstitute.ca),
• Alex Lupsasca, Vanderbilt University (alexandru.v.lupsasca@vanderbilt.edu),
• and Matias Zaldarriaga, the Institute for Advanced Study (matiasz@ias.edu).
• Applications made in response to this advertisement will be considered
• by the entire collaboration.

• Applicants must hold a Ph.D. in physics or mathematics earned within
• ten years of the position’s start date. Although the appointments will
• be through the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois
• Urbana-Champaign, fellows may be based at one of the participating
• PIs’ institutions. Fellows are expected to travel among the
• collaboration’s institutions to work with other members of the
• network.

Applications should include:

• A curriculum vitae, including a publication list.

• A research statement of no more than three pages describing the applicant’s research interests and plans. The statement should identify the proposed host institution for each of the first two years, the collaboration members with whom the applicant would like to work, and the projects they propose to pursue together.

• Three letters of recommendation, submitted directly by the referees.

• We encourage applicants to consult the AAS guidelines for postdoctoral
• application materials when preparing their CVs and research
• statements.

• Applications must be submitted through the University of Illinois
• Physics job openings page by December 1, 2026. Late applications may
• be considered at the discretion of the search committee. Please direct
• questions to Deanna Frye at ddebord@illinois.edu.

• This position is intended to be eligible for benefits. This includes
• health, dental, vision, life insurance, a retirement plan, paid time
• off, and tuition waivers for employees and dependents.

• The University of Illinois must also comply with applicable federal
• export control laws and regulations and, as such, reserves the right
• to employ restricted party screening procedures for applicants.

• The University of Illinois System is an equal opportunity employer,
• including but not limited to disability and/or veteran status, and
• complies with all applicable state and federal employment mandates.
• Please visit Required Employment Notices and Posters to view our
• non-discrimination statement and find additional information about
• required background checks, sexual harassment/misconduct disclosures,
• and employment eligibility review through E-Verify.