Three PhD Positions in Computational Astrophysics

Job in Zürich, 8081, Zurich, Kanton Zürich, Switzerland

Listing for: University of Zurich

Full Time position
Listed on 2026-10-19

Job specializations:

Science
Data Scientist, Research Scientist

Salary/Wage Range or Industry Benchmark: 90000 - 110000 CHF Yearly CHF 90000.00 110000.00 YEAR

Position: Three PhD Positions in Computational Astrophysics 80 %
Location: Zürich

The University of Zurich, Switzerland's largest university, offers a range of attractive positions in various subject areas and professional fields. With around 10,000 employees and currently 12 professional apprenticeship streams the University offers an inspiring working environment on cutting-edge research and top-class education. Put your talent and skills to work with us. Find out more about UZH as an employer!

Your responsibilities

The research covers three broad, overlapping areas:

Flagship simulations:
Develop and run the next-generation Euclid Flagship simulation with PKDGRAV3 on GPU-accelerated supercomputers. This includes extending the code to identify dark matter halos and their substructure on the fly, and working with our partners to turn the simulation into mock galaxy catalogues for Euclid.
Emulators:
Build the next generation of the Euclid Emulator: machine-learning models, trained on large suites of simulations, that predict cosmological statistics in milliseconds. The goal is to extend the emulator from the matter distribution to galaxy clustering and lensing statistics.
Baryonification and multi-probe cosmology:
Model how gas and stars alter the matter distribution predicted by N-body simulations, and develop a pipeline that produces consistent synthetic sky maps (weak lensing, galaxy clustering, X-ray and Sunyaev–Zel'dovich) for Euclid and complementary surveys.

This is a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of astrophysics and advanced computational methods.

Your profile

Applicants are expected to hold a master's degree (or equivalent) in physics, astronomy or a related field by the starting date.

Candidates with a strong interest in high-performance computing, machine learning or numerical astrophysics are especially encouraged to apply. Programming experience is an asset.