Open Position: Postdoctoral Research position in Observational Cosmology at IFAE
Opening Date: May 29, 2026
Closing Date: June 14, 2026
Ref: IFAE2026/27_COSMOLOGY_Postdoc
About IFAE
The Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) is a public consortium of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB, a public university) whose main objective is to carry out research and to contribute to the development of high energy physics from a theoretical, experimental and technological point of view. IFAE has the status of a “University Institute" attached to the UAB and its premises are within the campus of the University.
About The Observational Cosmology Group
The IFAE Cosmology group is presently formed by 5 faculty, 7 post-docs and 10 students and is a full member of the Euclid Consortium and the Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC) of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) at the Vera Rubin Observatory, as well as the Dark Energy Survey (DES), and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). The group plays leading roles in the analysis of all the surveys it participates. The ERC-funded COSMO-LYA research group, led by Andreu Font-Ribera, is using innovative techniques and new data from DESI to address some of the open questions in fundamental physics.
Job profile and tasks
The successful candidate will join the COSMO-LYA project and the Observational Cosmology group at IFAE, and will become a member of the DESI and LSST DESC collaborations. The main goal will be to develop and validate new methodologies to go beyond the state-of-the-art in data analysis of galaxy and quasar surveys, and apply them to the third data release of DESI (DR3), expected in 2026, and the first data release of LSST (DR1), expected in 2027. The candidate is expected to do international travel and stays for research purposes in addition to collaboration meetings and conferences.
The Successful Candidate Will Be Expected To Have
* A PhD in Physics or a related discipline.
* Experience in data analysis of cosmological surveys.
* Experience in scientific programming, including experience working with High Performance Computing facilities.
Evaluation criteria
The evaluation criteria and their weighting for the submitted applications will be the following:
* Research experience – 40
* Leadership and communication skills – 20
* Programming and computing skills – 20
* Research vision and motivation – 20
Offered contract
* Indefinite contract ACT Actividades Científico-Técnicas (2 years).
* The position will correspond to Senior Postdoctoral within the professional categories of the IFAE.
* Full-time contract (40h/week).
* Salary will be proportional to experience and qualifications within the corresponding category range.
* The selected candidates are expected to join the IFAE as soon as possible.
* Opportunity to gain experience learning first-hand. Personal growth, innovation, and learning every day. Work with interesting experimental science. Travelling to scientific infrastructure.
Application and Selection process
Applications should be submitted to afont@ifae.es and rrhh@ifae.es stating the job reference IFAE2026/27_COSMOLOGY_Postdoc as the subject of the message. The mail should include an up-to-date CV, a letter of interest and arrange for two letters of reference sent to the above e-mail addresses. You may contact Dr. Andreu Font Ribera (afont@ifae.es) for any questions related to this job opening. Sending CVs to the above addresses implies consent to the IFAE’s legal warning on data privacy. The application must contain a personal identification number (DNI, NIE or passport) in order to proceed to the verification of absence of conflict of interest required by Recovery and Resilience Mechanism of the Spanish Government.
IFAE is committed to equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion. With the aim of promoting a real gender balance in the institution, women will be especially encouraged to submit their candidacy in the calls. IFAE reaffirms its commitment to the integration of people with disabilities and underrepresented groups in the scientific field and in accordance with article 59 of the EBEP to reserve seven percent of places so that at least two percent of the total staff are people with disabilities.
A Selection Committee will evaluate the received applications. If more than one candidate seems equally suitable for the position, the Selection Committee will arrange an on-line interview with each one of them as part of the Selection process. In compliance with article 121 of the Spanish Public Sector Legal Regime Act, staff with a pre-existing relationship with the Consortium administration will have priority in the awarding of the position.
Funding Statement
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