About this job

The European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) is seeking a motivated physicist/engineer to join its data science team. EGO is a French-Italian consortium founded by INFN and CNRS to foster European collaboration in gravitational wave research. EGO is located in Cascina, near Pisa – Italy, and hosts and operates the gravitational wave detector Virgo, a 3 km-long laser interferometer (ITF). Virgo and the two LIGO ITFs in the US are the most large and sensitive gravitational-wave detecting instruments in the world: in 2017 their joint detection of a binary neutron star merger ushered the dawn of Multi-Messenger Astronomy. The Virgo detector involves the collaboration of about 25 laboratories with more than 300 scientists, engineers and technicians in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary and Spain.

Responsibilities

The selected candidate will work with the data science team and the Informatics Technology Department, in close relationship with the Directorate European Programs office, in the context of the EU funded citizen’s science program REINFORCE (Research Infrastructures FOR Citizens in Europe) aiming to minimize the knowledge gap between Large Research Infrastructures and Society through Citizen Science. It aims to engage and support citizens to cooperate with researchers and actively contribute in the development of new knowledge for the needs of science and society. In parallel s(he) will work for the EU funded AHEAD2 integrated action, aiming to integrate the high-energy astrophysics community into a coherently acting multi-messenger consortium including the gravitational waves (https://www.appec.org/news/looking-ahead-in-the-high-energy-universe).

She/he will collaborate with other EGO teams, Virgo; LIGO and KAGRA collaboration members. In particular:

• as part of the REINFORCE program, the successful candidate will contribute with technical know-how and understanding to the development of the project, providing support to individual initiatives as and where required. A particular focus will be on the sonification of glitch-classification data and integration into the Zooniverse citizen-science web portal.
• As part of the AHEAD2 program, the successful candidate will work on the planning, development and implementation of an upgrade of the existing Gravitational Wave Open Science Centre (GWOSC) website framework.

Profile

Essential required qualifications and experience:

• Informatics expert with a minimum 5-year academic title (master degree or equivalent);
• A background in Python package development;
• Knowledge of JavaScript development, (knowledge of Polyfill.js and Jquery libraries would also be beneficial).
• Experience with Django and Flask development.
• Knowledge of MySQL/MariaDB.
• Experience with Git and GitLab.
• Good knowledge of the English language (both written and spoken).

Desired qualifications and experience:

One or more of the following will be an asset:

• Experience with data-Sonification techniques and software.
• Experience with Conda package and environment.
• Experience with the Zooniverse citizen-science web portal.
• Knowledge of Italian and/or French.

The successful candidate will also have the ability to:

• work to deadlines;
• work within an international and multi-disciplinary environment;
• work both individually and as part of a team;
• write useful supporting documentation;
• prepare and plan ahead;
• and to regularly present findings to both small and large groups.

Prior experience of working on and reporting within an EU-funded programs and/or within a large research infrastructure would also be an asset.

General requirements:

• No criminal convictions
• Driving license

One-year (renewable for one year) contract.