Applications are invited for two postdoctoral positions at the Department of Physics of the University of Trento. The appointment will be for 2 years starting very soon, at the beginning of 2024 (ideally by February/March), and may be extended subject to availability of new sources of funding. The position is supported by the UniTrento Internal Call for Research 2023 grant DARKTRACK (PI: Sunny Vagnozzi).

The successful candidates will work with Sunny Vagnozzi on developing novel strategies to search for and test screened dark energy (DE), on the one hand using terrestrial (direct detection) experiments (which will itself require improving the understanding of Solar screened DE production), and on the other hand studying the impact of screened DE on black hole dynamics, in particular through rotational superradiance. While candidates in the above fields are of particular interest and will receive preferential consideration, applications from exceptional candidates in neighboring fields (e.g. cosmology) are welcome and will be given serious consideration. Candidates with expertise on the effect of new physics on stellar evolution, and/or on black hole superradiance, are especially encouraged to apply.

Two positions are available, depending on whether or not the candidate holds a PhD at the time of the application

* call 185/2023: https://lavoraconnoi.unitn.it/en/research-contracts/department-physics-call-selections-awarding-no-1-research-fellowship-decree-no-185-2023 (for candidates already holding a PhD)

* call 186/2023: https://lavoraconnoi.unitn.it/en/research-contracts/department-physics-call-selections-awarding-no-1-research-fellowship-decree-no-186-2023 (for candidates yet to obtain their PhD)

The applicant should ensure they apply to the position appropriate to their qualifications, as failure to do so will result in the recruitment offices disqualifying their applications (to be completely sure, note that the call for those yet to obtain a PhD explicitly requires an MSc degree in Art. 2 – Requirements). Please refer to the official call documents, available at the bottom of the above links (section “Bando”) both in English (right column) and Italian (left column), for the required documents (CV and publications list, note that letters are not required) and application procedures. To apply, follow the “Online application” link in the above links, which redirects to https://webapps.unitn.it/Apply/it/Web/Home/inc-ric (Italian) or https://webapps.unitn.it/Apply/en/Web/Home/inc-ric (English) – from there, select either call 185/2023 or 186/2023 as appropriate.

Salary: gross annual salary of 26750.00€ for candidates already holding a PhD at the time of the application, or 23190.00€ for those yet to obtain their PhD. These correspond to net monthly salaries of 1969.00€ and 1706.00€ respectively, the former extremely high for Italian standards, and both more than sufficient for living in Trento. The positions come with a generous travel budget, which can be further increased by joining INFN upon arrival.

Deadline for applications: January 10, 2024, 12:00 pm CET.

Timeline: the applications will be assessed by a committee consisting of Sunny Vagnozzi and other 2-3 faculty members of the Department of Physics. We aim to make a very swift decision, possibly already by January 12. The envisaged starting date can be as early as February 1, 2024. Although later starting dates can be negotiated, a starting date as early as possible is preferred due to funding timeline constraints.

Further information: please see this earlier related expression of interest https://inspirehep.net/jobs/2715052 for more details on the project, the group, and the city. If you need further information, please contact sunny [dot] vagnozzi [at] unitn [dot] it. If you do, please use the subject line “Application DARKTRACK postdoc your_name your_surname”.

The University of Trento is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome and encourage applications from all suitably qualified candidates, particularly from groups that are underrepresented at the University and in the field of physics.