The High Energy Physics Institute in Barcelona, Spain, (IFAE, http://www.ifae.es) is looking for candidates for one graduate student position to work on observational cosmology with large galaxy surveys. The institute is involved in DES, PAU, DESI, Euclid and LSST. The successful candidate is expected to work mostly on the Euclid and / or DESI projects, although involvement in another of the projects mentioned above is permitted, and even encouraged. The position is for four years, with salary and benefits in line with those in Spanish institutions.

Euclid is a mission for the European Space Agency (ESA) to address fundamental physics and cosmology questions on the nature and properties of dark energy, dark matter and gravity. The satellite is expected to be launched in 2022. IFAE led the development and construction of the Filter Wheel Assembly (FWA) of the Near Infrared SpectroPhotometer (NISP) Instrument, and our group is looking forward to analyzing the very rich dataset from the Euclid ESA mission . 

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), at Kitt Peak in Arizona (USA), had its first light in March 2020 and it will start its main science program in the Spring of 2021. After leading the development and construction of the 10 Guiding, Focusing and Alignment (GFA) cameras in the DESI focal plane, IFAE is now getting ready to exploit the unique science opportunities that the DESI galaxy and quasar survey will open.

The successful candidate will work under the supervision of Dr. Cristóbal Padilla (in Euclid) and / or Dr. Andreu Font-Ribera (in DESI). The starting date is flexible, and it could be as early as December 2020. Candidates must have the academic credentials to enroll in the PhDprogram at the Autonomous University of Barcelona during the 2020/2021 academic year. Typically, this translates into the need to have completed, or be about to complete, an MSc degree or equivalent.

The application package, consisting of a short CV and a copy of the relevant academic transcripts, must be sent to both Dr. Andreu Font-Ribera (afont@ifae.es) and Dr. Cristóbal Padilla (padilla@ifae.es) by October 20th, 2020. Also, the applicants must arrange for at least two letters of recommendation to arrive at the same email addresses by the same date. Any questions can be directed to any of the emails above.