Studentships/PhD Opportunities for 2013
We have 6 full-time quota studentships funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council as well as earmarked studentships funded by STFC, EPSRC, the University and industry.
PhD opportunities cover a wide range of disciplines. Projects are divided into four categories based on the department disciplines and the range of backgrounds expected from applicants:
Planetary and Space Physics projects
PS1. Study of cometary dust particle fragmentation with Rosetta
PS2. Asteroid Thermal emission
PS3. Venus Polar Vortex
PS4. Thermal measurements on comets and asteroids - understanding spacecraft sensor performance.
PS5: CASE studentships in the Centre for Electronic Imaging
Cosmochemistry and Planetary Geology projects
C1. Planetary noble gases and their carrier in Meteorites
C2. Crustal variations on the planet Mercury
C3. Bio-signatures in hydrothermal systems on Mars
C4. Novel luminescent sensors for detecting organic compounds in extraterrestrial samples
C5. Fluorescent detection of potential biomarkers in Mars analogues
C6. The abundance and isotopic composition of water in Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite (HED) meteorites and implications for the volatile inventory of the Moon system
C7. Is the Earth made from enstatite chondrites?
C8. Cometary samples – The key to understanding oxygen cosmochemistry
C9. Exploration of early solar nebula processing by laboratory studies of unequilibrated ordinary chondrites
C10. Origin and Evolution of Prebiotic Organic Matter in Meteorites
Astronomy projects
A1. Exoplanets
A2. 10,000 pulsating stars
A3. The stellar content of the Galaxy
A4. The evolution of ice and dust across star-forming epochs
A5. Sub-mm spectroscopy of gas and dust in interstellar regions
A6. Quantum and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of interstellar ice chemistry
A7. Pushing the limits in deep infrared sky surveys
A8. Star formation in our filamentary Galaxy
Physics projects
P1. Novel strategies for plasma-based etching
P2. Testing the computational power of discord
P3. Electron attachment to Stark-selected biomolecular isomers and clusters
P4. Electron attachment to small water-pyridine clusters
For general postgraduate admission enquiries in the Department of Physical Sciences or if you would like to apply then please send an up to date CV including names of referees, list of individual courses taken and grades obtained, plus any other relevant information that you think may support your case for consideration, together with an indication of which project(s) interest you, to:
simon.green - for cosmochemistry and planetary geology projects and planetary and space physics projects
physAstro-PGtutor - for astronomy or physics projects
or by post to:
Department of Physical Sciences,
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
U.K.
For enquiries about specific projects: lead contacts are identified in the project lists.
For further details of postgraduate research at The Open University: see the Research School web site, where you can download the Research degrees Prospectus and formal application forms.
For further information about applying for PhD opportunities please go to MPhil and PhD applications.
Updated 09/01/2013