The cosmology group of the Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille (CPPM) is looking to hire two PhD students (for 3 years each) to join the team led by Alice Pisani to work in the area of cosmology and large-scale structure. The research activity will focus on constraining cosmology with cosmic voids with data from current and upcoming large-scale structure surveys (Euclid, DESI, Rubin). Alice's team will include several postdocs and PhD students, and will collaborate with the vibrant community of PhD students, postdocs, engineers and researchers working at CPPM. The positions will be funded by the ERC awarded to Alice Pisani, as well as by the Aix-Marseille A*Midex initiative. The selected candidates are expected to start in the Fall of 2024 (but not later than October 1st 2024). The deadline to apply is January 15th 2024. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled but interviews will be scheduled shortly after the deadline.

The CPPM is a multi-disciplinary laboratory part of Aix-Marseille Université with top researchers in the areas of particle physics, astro-particle physics and cosmology. The CPPM features a strong cosmology group, the RENOIR group, with expertise on large-scale structure, cosmic voids and type-Ia supernovae cosmology, and strongly involved in the Euclid mission, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), the Vera Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (Rubin-LSST) and the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). Members of the CPPM include: Julian Bautista, Marie-Claude Cousinou, Stéphanie Escoffier, Fabrice Feinstein, Dominique Fouchez, William Gillard and Benjamin Racine. The CPPM (part of the IN2P3) has tight collaborations with other laboratories in the city: the Centre de Physique Théorique and the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille. Alice's group members will also have the possibility to collaborate with researchers working at institutions such as the Center for Computational Astrophysics of the Flatiron Institute in New York, the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University, and the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris.

The positions come with maternity/paternity leave, family supplement for children, French national medical/dental insurance, participation to public transport fees, pension contributions. For all children above three years old school is free in France. French lessons are also offered by the institution. We value diversity and are committed to equality of opportunity, we encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply.

The application should include a CV (including publication list either as a part of the CV or uploaded separately), a research statement (maximum 3 pages) and three letters of recommendation (to be submitted online by the reference writers on this site). A one page cover letter is optional.