Applications for PhD places with an October 2025 start are now closed. The next call for applications, for an October 2026 start, will be announced in October 2025. Please check back then.

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Overview of Astronomy research areas

White dwarfs and the local stellar neighbourhoodLink opens in a new window

Key staff: Coppejans, Gänsicke, Pelisoli, Steeghs, Tremblay, Veras

Our main interest is the study of compact stellar remnants, both single and in interacting binaries. We pursue population studies using large surveys, precision studies with custom high-time resolution instruments as well as detailed theoretical modeling.

Extra-solar planetsLink opens in a new window

Key staff: Armstrong, Bayliss, Brogi, Brown, Cegla, Gandhi, Gänsicke, Pollacco, Strøm, Tremblay, Veras, West, Wilson, Wheatley

Our exoplanetary activities include observation, instrumentation and theory. We are actively engaged in detecting and characterising exoplanetary systems across the full spectrum of size (gas giant, ice giant, super-Earth, terrestrial, asteroidal, dust), time (formation & evolution, main-sequence, post-main-sequence) and host-star characteristics (M stars, G stars, white dwarfs, binaries). We study planetary atmospheres, composition, habitability and dynamics.

Circumstellar discsLink opens in a new window

Key staff: Kennedy, Meru, Nealon, Veras

We study the disks that orbit other stars like our Sun using theory and observation. Some of these disks are in the process of forming planets, and others are similar to the Solar System’s Asteroid and Kuiper belts. These disks reveal information about the origins of other planetary systems, and help place the Solar System in context.

Stellar populations across cosmic time

Key staff: Lyman, Stanway

Understanding where and when galaxies formed the majority of their stars is key to understanding the processes of galaxy assembling, stripping and merging which have shaped them into the complex systems we see today. There are various approaches to this: through direct observation of young distant galaxies, through unravelling the history of today's systems, or through comparison to stellar population synthesis models.

Explosive transients and multi-messenger astronomyLink opens in a new window

Key staff: Coppejans, Lyman, Stanway, Steeghs, Ulaczyk

We have an interest in exotic and energetic transients where we chase the transients themselves as well as the host galaxies they occur in. Of particular interest are short gamma-ray bursts, tidal disruption events and electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave sources. For the latter, the group is leading the deployment of the GOTO robotic telescope.

Space domain awarenessLink opens in a new window

Key staff: Chote, McCormac, Pollacco

We tackle issues relating to the safety and sustainability of satellite operations in the space domain. Research activities include:

• the timely acquisition of precise datasets to detect, track and/or characterise objects in orbit;
• the fusion of physical and human-based information for improved object tracking;
• the modelling and prediction of space weather, and the quantification of associated risk.