IAU Webinar Series · 29–30 October 2026

Gravitational-Wave Astrophysics & Multimessenger Astronomy

Two global sessions bringing together early-career researchers across gravitational-wave astrophysics — from compact-object populations and pulsar timing to LISA, strong lensing and multimessenger science.

Division D · Commission D1 20 min talk + 5 min discussion Online · global time zones

Webinar sign-up See the programme

2global sessions

12research talks

25 minper speaker including discussion

Freeregistration via Google Form

Programme

Pick your session. Switch your time zone.

Speaker names open a short talk preview followed by a concise professional bio.

Session 1

Australia, Japan & North America

Thursday 29 October in North America · overnight 29–30 October UTC · Friday 30 October in Europe, Australia and Japan

00:00–00:20 · 30 Oct

Monica Colpi

Introduction to the IAU and its commission D1

Introduction

00:20–00:45 · 30 Oct

Amanda Farah

Physical Insights From the Two-Dimensional Compact Binary Mass Spectrum

Talk + Q&A

00:45–01:10 · 30 Oct

Sylvia Biscoveanu

Probing binary formation and evolution using black hole spins

Talk + Q&A

01:10–01:35 · 30 Oct

Aditya Vijaykumar

Binary black holes in dense stellar environments: current results and future prospects

Talk + Q&A

01:35–01:45 · 30 Oct

Break

10 min

01:45–02:10 · 30 Oct

Kelly Gourdji

Revisiting GW170817 at milliarcsecond scale: high-precision constraints on jet geometry and H0

Talk + Q&A

02:10–02:35 · 30 Oct

Ryosuke Sugimoto

Demonstration of a Back-Linked Fabry-Pérot Interferometer for Space Based Gravitational Wave Detector

Talk + Q&A

02:35–03:00 · 30 Oct

Ling (Lilli) Sun

From black hole spins to gravitational waves: astrophysical probes of ultralight bosons

Talk + Q&A

03:00–03:05 · 30 Oct

Closing remarks

Closing

Session 2

India & Europe

Friday 30 October 2026

11:00–11:20 · 30 Oct

Monica Colpi

Introduction to the IAU and its commission D1

Introduction

11:20–11:45 · 30 Oct

Venkata Sai Saketh Muddu

Tidal response and the nature of compact objects

Talk + Q&A

11:45–12:10 · 30 Oct

Ankur Barsode

Detecting strong gravitational lensing of gravitational waves

Talk + Q&A

12:10–12:35 · 30 Oct

Lorenzo Speri

When a Small Black Hole Meets a Giant: Hunting Extreme Mass-Ratio Inspirals with LISA

Talk + Q&A

12:35–12:45 · 30 Oct

Break

10 min

12:45–13:10 · 30 Oct

Mélanie Habouzit

Tracing the origins of massive black holes

Talk + Q&A

13:10–13:35 · 30 Oct

Xiao Xue

Probing ultralight dark matter with pulsar timing

Talk + Q&A

13:35–14:00 · 30 Oct

Aleksandra Olejak

What binary black holes tell us about black hole formation and the putative mass gap

Talk + Q&A

14:00–14:05 · 30 Oct

Closing remarks

Closing

Why attend

Big questions. Short talks. Live discussion.

A compact programme for researchers who want current science without a day-long conference commitment.

GW spectrum

Ground, space and pulsar timing

Move across frequency bands and detector concepts without changing conference tracks.

Current science

From populations to fundamental physics

Compact objects, lensing, black-hole physics, cosmology and multimessenger connections.

Global community

Connect across time zones

Hear from researchers working across gravitational-wave and multimessenger astronomy, with time-zone options built into the programme.

Ground-space-PTA gravitational-wave astronomy, multimessenger astrophysics, young scientists and global collaboration

Community

Meet the people joining

See the researchers and students who have registered for the webinar. Only names and affiliations are displayed.

View participants

Attendees

Participant list

Browse the current attendee list by name or affiliation.

Webinar registration

Join the webinar

Registration is free and handled through a Google Form. This registers you for the webinar only; it is not an application for IAU membership or Commission D1 membership.

Webinar sign-up

Ground-based, space-based, pulsar timing and multimessenger observatories

IAU Junior Membership

Stay involved beyond the webinar

If you are early in your research career and working in astronomy or astrophysics, consider joining the IAU and Commission D1. Junior Membership is a route into the wider international astronomy community and Commission activities.

IAU membership and webinar registration are separate. Joining the webinar does not apply for IAU membership, and IAU membership does not register you for the webinar.

IAU Junior Membership

Early-career community

Join Commission D1

Eligible IAU Junior Members can join Commission D1 and take part in its gravitational-wave astrophysics community.

Event flyer

Prefer the one-page overview?

Open the original flyer for a quick overview of the webinar.

View flyer