PhD studies

Interested in pursuing a PhD?

Take a look at some of our current projects.

If you are interested in undertaking a PhD project, we encourage potential students to contact staff in their fields of interest.

The majority of students will follow a three-year full-time route leading to the award of PhD. Studentships are generally funded by either the Science and Technology Facilities Council, or internally from our own research funds. We currently take in four to five new students per year.

Entry requirements

Successful applicants need to have gained a first class or upper second honours degree in an appropriate subject, e.g. physics, astronomy, mathematics.

Applications

Applications can be made by completing the online application form.

Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Kobayashi or by post to:

Professor S.Kobayashi
Astrophysics Research Institute
Liverpool John Moores University
IC2 Building, Liverpool Science Park
146 Brownlow Hill
Liverpool, L3 5RF
United Kingdom

PhD projects on offer

• Novae, and their potential as progenitors of Type Ia supernovae – contact Dr M Darnley
• Electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources – contact Prof I Steele or Dr Chris Copperwheat
• Cepheid variable stars in the nearby galaxy M 33 – contact Dr David Bersier
• The ever-changing Universe – contact Dr David Bersier
• The progenitors of Type-IIP supernovae – contact Dr Ben Davies or Prof Paolo Mazzali
• Using red giants and red supergiants to study the star forming history of galaxies – contact Dr Ben Davies or Dr Maria Bergemann (MPIA Heidelberg) (bergemann@mpia.de)
• Accretion and outflow from young stars: understanding the formation of jets, accretion disks, and planetary systems – contact Dr C Davis or Dr T Moore
• Understanding the variability of young stars – contact Dr C Davis or Dr T Moore
• The formation and evolution of globular clusters in cosmological simulations – contact Prof Nate Bastian or Dr Rob Crain
• Star and planet formation: nature vs nurture – contact Dr Steve Longmore
• The role of environment in galaxy evolution– contact Dr Ian McCarthy or Dr Andreea Font
• Preparing for Gaia: simulations of the Milky Way – contact Dr Andreea Font
• Using an "uncertainty principle" for star formation to understand galaxy formation – contact Dr Steve Longmore or Dr Diederik Kruijssen
• The role of nuclear bars in shaping of the central regions of spiral galaxies – contact Dr Witold Maciejewski
• Modelling of supernovae in the nebular phase – contact Prof P. A. Mazzali
• Properties of Type Ia supernovae and application to cosmology – contact Prof P. Mazzali, Prof P. James or Dr D. Bersier
• Superluminous supernovae: a first attempt to develop a physical model – contact Prof P. A. Mazzali
• Type Ib/c supernovae, host galaxies and gamma-ray bursts – contact Prof P. A. Mazzali, Prof P. James or Dr D. Bersier
• Understanding how galaxy clusters evolve – contact Prof Chris Collins or Dr Ivan Baldry
• Clusters in the era of eROSITA – contact Prof Chris Collins, Dr Ian McCarthy or Dr Ivan Baldry
• The nature of gamma-ray bursts – contact Prof S. Kobayashi, Prof I. Steele, Prof P. Mazzali or Prof C. Mundell
• Relativistic phenomena around black holes – contact Prof S. Kobayashi
• Progenitors of fast extragalactic radio transients – contact Prof S. Kobayashi or Dr A. Pe'er
• Observational studies of supernovae – contact Dr David Bersier
• Type Ia supernova progenitor diversity with MUSE – contact Prof Phil James
• Projects in compuational and theoretical galaxy formation – contact Dr Ian McCarthy, Dr Andreea Font or Dr Rob Crain