PhD Studentships

The Astrophysics Group offers a limited number of fully funded PhD studentships for research projects in astrophysics, leading to a PhD degree from the University of Bristol. Funding sources include, but are not limited to, STFC and the University. Depending on the source of funding, the duration of the studentship ranges from 3.5 to 4 years.

We encourage applications from any suitably-qualified students (usually with a first class or upper second class degree in Physics or a related subject) from the UK or overseas. Our normal recruiting cycle for funded PhD places runs from October through January each academic year. Please check this website during that time for updates on which projects are available. Applications for funded studentships received outside this window will generally not be considered, unless specifically advertised as available.

While the number of funded studentships is necessarily limited, the Astrophysics group may also consider applications from well-qualified self-funded students. If you have a specific area of interest, and it aligns with the research undertaken by a member of staff, please feel free to contact that staff member directly to express your interest. Speculative applications without a clear research topic are unfortunately rarely successful.

We are committed to diversity and inclusivity and providing a supportive environment for our students, and we welcome students from any background who are enthusiastic about research in astrophysics. For all of our PhD studentships, please follow the application process described below.

Available PhD projects

PhD students carry out independent research under the direction of a member of academic staff in one of the group's areas of research interest, and the degree is awarded on the basis of examination of a thesis.

PhD projects are offered based on the interests and expertise of our academics. The projects listed below are available for the coming academic year.

How do giant impacts affect compositional variation in planets? (Supervisor: Zoë Leinhardt)

Amongst the thousands of planets that are now known some show surprisingly high densities. A few of these planets may be similar to the planet Mercury, but there is surprising variation amongst some more volatile-rich planets as well. During the late stages of planet formation planets can undergo collisions with each other – giant impacts – that could result in substantial erosion. We will simulate giant impacts using a state-of-the-art smoothed particle hydrodynamics code that accounts for the realistic behaviour of planetary materials. You will use high performance computing clusters to carry out numerical simulations and study the results. In this project you will investigate atmospheric and volatile delivery and loss via giant impacts and examine how these affect compositional variation in the exoplanet population. This project will require good coding skills (e.g. Python or C/C++) or enthusiasm to learn them.

 

How to apply for a PhD

To apply for a PhD, please use our online application form, and select “Physics (PhD)” as the programme. At the top of your personal statement, please state clearly that you are applying for a PhD in astrophysics, and state which of the PhD projects above you are interested in (you may list as many as you like). Please use the following format:

I am interested in the following Astrophysics PhD projects:
  - Project number: project title
  - Project number: project title
  - etc
I would/would not like to be considered for other PhD projects if additional funding became available.

If you do not provide this information, your application may not receive full consideration. A research proposal is not required for an astrophysics application, so please upload a single page pdf with "Research proposal not required" to satisfy the submission tool. Anonymity is also not required for an astrophysics application.

Chinese Scholarships

There are additional studentships available for Chinese students, as detailed on the China Scholarship Council page. You must specify that you wish to apply for the China Scholarship Council — University of Bristol Joint Scholarships Programme in your application form. Please contact us before this deadline to discuss your application.