10 years of GW discovery

Monday 15 Sept 2025, 09:30 → 16:00 Europe/Brussels

Leslokaal 3.4 (Campus Sterre, Building S9)

An event to celebrate 10 years of the discovery of gravitational waves. We will have talks on the first discovery GW150914 and some of the most recent events announced by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration. All speakers are early career researchers (postdocs / senior PhD students). In addition to currently active researchers, we also include a few speakers who have left the field after an active career in GW science. With this in mind, we also have a panel discussion on career opportunities (in and outside of academia) in the afternoon. This may be of particular interest to postdocs and PhD students.

Speakers and panelists:

• Dr. Abhirup Ghosh: data scientist in Trade Republic Berlin after PhD and postdoc in GW data analysis (tests of general relativity); closely involved with the first GW tests of GR performed with GW150914.
• Dr. Laura van der Schaaf: instrumentation scientist at SRON (Space Research Organization Netherlands) Leiden after PhD in GW instrumentation (optics).
• Dr. Elisa Maggio: Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at AEI Potsdam with research focus on GW theory and data analysis (tests of general relativity, exotic compact objects); coordinator of Gravitational-Wave Early Career Scientists (GWECS) forum.
• Dr. Harsh Narola: postdoc at Utrecht University with research focus on GW data analysis (tests of general relativity, GW lensing, data analysis methods for 3G detector network).
• Giada Caneva: PhD student at IFAE Barcelona; soon moving as a postdoc to Niels Bohr Institute Copenhagen; research expertise on GW data analysis (tests of general relativity and black hole spectroscopy).

The event is open to all researchers in Belgium. However please make sure to register (deadline: 31 Aug 2025) in order that we have a proper head-count for coffee and lunch. 

Where do I need to be?  UGent Campus Sterre, Building S9, leslokaal 3.4 (google maps link)

• If you are walking or by public transport: Building S9 is on the far end of Campus Sterre, about 15 minutes walk from the main entrance of the campus, and about 25 minutes from Gent St. Pieters railway station. If you prefer not walking, from Gent St. Pieters railway station, you can also take one of the DeLijn buses 49/70/71/76/77 (which usually depart from perron 6) to "Gent Sterre".
• If you are by car: Please enter via the main entrance (google maps link), go to the Service Point near S21, and request for a "dagpass" (daypass) saying that you are visiting for an event. You can park in front of Building S9.

 

UGent_code-of-conduct-2024_EN.pdf

09:30 → 10:00 Coffee

10:00 → 12:00 Morning session

10:00 Reminiscing GW150914

Speaker: Abhirup Ghosh

10:30 LVK tests of GR

Speaker: Harsh Narola

11:00 New results from LVK: GW230814

Speaker: Elisa Maggio

11:30 New results from LVK: GW250114

Speaker: Giada Caneva

12:00 → 13:30 Lunch

13:30 → 15:00 Afternoon session

13:30 My career after a PhD in GW science

Speaker: Laura van der Schaaf

14:00 Panel discussion: Navigating through a career in and outside of academia

Moderator: Matthias Vereecken
Panelists: Abhirup Ghosh, Elisa Maggio, Laura van der Schaaf

15:00 → 15:30 Cake