The Observational Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics group at the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE, CSIC) invites applications for one PhD position to start as early as November 2023 and no later than January 2024.

We are looking for motivated and talented students, interested in studying the evolution of the Universe and the underlying cosmological model using large galaxy surveys. The group has broad expertise in several different aspects of observational cosmology, including galaxy clustering, galaxy formation, weak gravitational lensing, type Ia supernovae, baryonic acoustic oscillations, large cosmological simulations and the cosmic microwave background, and it is actively involved in a wide range of international collaborations, namely the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the Rubin Observatory LSST, the ESA Euclid mission, the Physics of the Accelerated Universe Survey (PAUS) and The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI).

The Institute of Space Sciences has been recently distinguished as one of the Maria de Maeztu institutions in Spain, a highly prominent excellence-in-research recognition. The group has wide access to local supercomputing facilities: the Marenostrum supercomputer (a Tier-0 system of the european PRACE network), the ICE computing cluster (with about 400 hyper-thread cores and 5TB RAM), the Port d’Informacio Cientifica and its HPC facility for big data sharing/distribution CosmoHUB, in addition to the computing resources available to the international collaborations mentioned above.

The successful candidate is expected to work primarily on the development of novel techniques for analyzing galaxy data, with the opportunity to contribute to the leading galaxy surveys in which our group is involved in, with a focus on studying the connection between galaxies and dark matter, the nature of dark energy and the standard cosmological model. The successful candidate will work under the supervision of Alex Alarcon and potentially one other member of the group, which includes senior researchers F. Castander, M. Crocce, P. Fosalba, L. Galbany and E. Gaztanaga.

Applicants are expected to have the academic credentials to enroll in the PhD program at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) during the 2023/2024 academic year. In most cases, this translates into having completed, or being close to complete, an MSc (Master) degree or equivalent (see UAB PhD in Physics program access requirements). The position is for three years in the first instance, with the possibility of one additional year extension, with salary and benefits in line with other PhD positions in Spanish institutions.

Interested candidates should submit a short CV and a copy of the relevant academic transcripts to alexalarcongonzalez@gmail.com and info@ice.csic.es, with the email subject COSMOPHD followed by the surname(s) of the applicant. We encourage candidates to contact us and submit their materials before June 30, 2023, but the position will remain open until filled. Questions regarding the position can be addressed to alexalarcongonzalez@gmail.com.

We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, and applications are particularly encouraged from traditionally under-represented groups in science, physics and astronomy. We are committed to a diverse, inclusive and supportive workplace that fosters collaborative scientific discovery and innovation.