Institution: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research
Thiruvananthapuram, India (IISER-TVM)
Deadline: October 1, 2012
Salary: Rs. 22,000 – Rs. 24,000 per month plus 20% House Rent Allowance
Contact: Archana Pai (archana (at) iisertvm.ac.in)

17 – 21 December 2012, BITS Campus, Goa

The BITS-IUCAA Workshop on Gravitational-Wave Data Analysis is intended for students, young researchers and teachers who are motivated to pursue future studies in Gravitational-Wave Astronomy. A series of lectures and hands-on training sessions are aimed to initiate the participants to current research problems on Gravitational-Wave Astronomy.

The United States’ LIGO Laboratory and India’s Indian Initiative in Gravitational Observations (IndIGO) are jointly working on a plan to create a world-class gravitational wave detector in India. India will contribute $250 million (with $150 million to be spent during India’s 12th five-year plan, commencing April 1, 2012) toward implementation of this project in India. The United States will provide the interferometer components to be placed in the host facility in India. The placement of this detector in India will greatly enhance a wide network of detectors in the United States, Europe, and Japan to test fundamental physics in the form of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and to study some of the most unusual astronomical objects in our universe – black holes, neutron stars, and supernovas – and possibly shed light on the Big Bang.

July 11 - 13, 2012
Raman Research Institute, Bangalore

The ASTROD5 meeting aims to bring together researchers from diverse subfields of physics, astrophysics and solar-system exploration, having in common an interest in cosmology, gravitation, fundamental physics, and solar-system physics. Theoretical as well as experimental aspects will be explored. The focus of the conference will be both on technology and science. Several sessions will be devoted to innovative ideas for space-based experiments.

The science funding agencies in India and USA are currently evaluating the feasibility of constructing a joint Indo-US gravitational-wave (GW) observatory in India, called LIGO-India.

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) project operates three GW detectors at two sites in USA. Currently these observatories are being upgraded to their advanced configurations (called Advanced LIGO). The proposed LIGO-India project aims to build one Advanced LIGO detector in India using the components intended for the second detector at the Hanford site in Washington state.

A new analysis of faculty salaries at public universities worldwide — designed to make comparisons possible by focusing on purchasing power, not pure salaries — finds that Canada offers the best faculty pay among 28 countries analyzed.

The European Gravitational Observatory, through the VESF-EGO Scientific Forum, yearly organizes a school on Gravitational Waves dedicated to young physicists and engineers. The 2012 school is focused on Advanced Gravitational-Wave Detectors and will take place at the EGO site in Cascina, Italy from June 18 to 22, 2012.

The GEO600 project in Hannover, Germany aims at the direct detection of gravitational waves by means of a laser interferometer of 600 m armlength. This instrument is among the most sensitive gravitational-wave detectors ever constructed. Considering the rise of IndIGO and the imminent possibility of LIGO-India, the commissioning team at GEO600 would like to host one or two undergraduate students for research projects during the summer of 2012.

By 2020, India could be one of the countries, including the US and Italy, to play a major role in under- standing Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, said Kip Thorne, professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology, speaking at the International Conference of Gravitation and Cosmology 2011 at Benaulim on Thursday...

"To go from having islands of excellence to being a major world player in science, India must solve such problems as a dearth of teachers and a divide between research and teaching... "

Physics Today article by Toni Feder.