PhD Studentships for 2024

CENTA Application Deadline: 10 January 2024 – further details on our CENTA page.

STFC Application deadline: 19 January 2024 – further details on our STFC page.

Start date: 23 September 2024

Overview

The School of Physics and Astronomy offer PhD projects for September 2024 entry. Astrophysics and Planetary Science PhDs are funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and UK Space Agency (UKSA). Earth Observation PhDs are funded by the Central England NERC Training Alliance (CENTA). Visit our PhD pages for links to all of these opportunities, and all should also be listed on FindAPhD.

Refer to the How to Apply section below before using the application button at the bottom of the page to apply

Astrophysics Projects

Professor Martin Barstow  White dwarfs, planetary debris and fundamental physics (word doc 314 kb) (.pdf 307 kb)  (.pdf307 kb) 

Dr Matt Burleigh Discovering and characterizing extra-solar planets with the Next Generation Transit Survey (word doc 184 kb)  (.pdf 199 kb)

Dr Michael Goad  Testing the standard model for accretion  (word doc 187 kb)  (.pdf 896 kb)

Dr Paul McMillan  The disturbances of the outer Milky Way (word doc 1,181 kb)  (.pdf 490 kb)

Professor Sergei Nayakshin  The outer bound of planet formation (word doc 519 kb)  (.pdf 214 kb)

Dr Rhaana Starling  Astrophysical transient searches with LOFAR (word doc 482 kb)  (.pdf 322 kb)

Professor Nial Tanvir  Probing the high redshift universe with gamma-ray bursts ( word doc 523 kb)  (.pdf 366 kb)

Planetary Science Projects

Dr Chrysa Avdellidou  Study of Broken up Primitive Asteroids to Understand early Solar System Evolution (word doc 2,257 kb)  (.pdf 546 kb)

Professor Leigh Fletcher  Exploring Giant Planet Atmospheres with JWST (word doc 1,207 kb) (.pdf 1,207 kb)

Professor Jonathan Nichols  Modelling the upper atmospheres of brown dwarfs and exoplanets  (word doc 39 kb) (.pdf 148 kb)

Dr Beatriz Sanchez-Cano   Characterization of the Space Weather and radiation environment at Mars and the impacts on exploration (word doc 311 kb)  (.pdf 268 kb)

Professor Ian Hutchinson Using Raman Spectroscopy to Assess the Habitability of Oxia Planum (UKSA-funded)

Space Instrumentation Projects

Dr Emily Jane Watkinson  Enabling Challenging Space Exploration: exploring 244Cm-based radioisotope power systems (word doc 782 kb)  (.pdf 401 kb)

Dr Adrian Martindale  X-ray Interferometry: Preparing for a revolution in astronomy (word doc 1,869 kb)  (.pdf 453 kb)

Earth Observation Projects

Dr Darren Ghent: High resolution thermal data for climate resilience in food security (word doc 93kb)   (.pdf 215 kb)

Dr Jeremy Harrison: Carbonyl sulfide (COS) as climate diagnostic: re-evaluating the infrared spectroscopy used for remote sensing of the Earth’s atmosphere (word doc 23kb)   (.pdf 173 kb)

Dr Robert Parker: Developing a Wildfire Digital Twin: Attributing causes of extreme fire events (word doc 339kb)   (.pdf 295 kb)

Dr Adam Povey: Monitoring aerosols and clouds from above and below (word doc 790kb)   (.pdf 287 kb)

Dr Tim Trent: Rebalancing the scales: using data-driven approaches for advancing water cycle representation in a globally resolved energy balance climate model (word doc 512kb)   (.pdf 729 kb)

Dr Josh Vande Hey: Mission to Understand Emissions: How can we assess air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from space today to shape the science and policies of tomorrow? (word doc 361kb)   (.pdf 370 kb)

Professor Tim Yeoman: Coordinated ground and space-based exploration of the cusp ionosphere. (word doc 335 kb)   (.pdf 490 kb)