Extragalactic astronomy

Cosmology and extragalactic astronomy at the OU focus on star-forming galaxies, active galaxies, and strong gravitational lensing, addressing fundamental questions about the evolution of galaxies and their dark matter haloes and AGN jets. We have a strong record of promoting the visibility of our research students in major international consortia. We lead several ongoing and next-generation surveys and missions, including Euclid, SPICA, LOFAR and the Athena X-ray Observatory. 

We also have leadership roles in many major international legacy surveys on ground-based and space-based observatories, including Herschel, LOFAR, JCMT, eMerlin, AKARI and other telescopes, as well as being members of the UK Large Synoptic Survey Telescope consortium, user-shareholders in the 11-metre Southern African Large Telescope, and co-Is on Planck. We are involved in planning for next-generation instruments and observatories. The research group is part of the Astronomy Discipline at the OU; Astronomy is one of four discipline areas in the department, supported by the Faculty laboratory and computing infrastructure. 

Entry requirements

Minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent). If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English.

Potential research projects

• Properties of extragalactic jets and their interactions with host galaxies
• Strong gravitational lensing and galaxy evolution
• Star formation and feedback in nearby galaxies 

Please also see further opportunities.

Potential supervisors

• Dr Judith Croston
• Dr Hugh Dickinson
• Professor Stephen Serjeant

Fees and funding

Some of our research students are funded via the UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Doctoral Training Partnership; others are self-funded.

For detailed information about fees and funding, visit Fees and studentships.

To see current funded studentship vacancies across all research areas, see Current studentships.

Links

• Astronomy Discipline
• School of Physical Sciences