PhD and MSc Postgraduate Studentships in Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology and Instrumentation beginning October 2025

Durham University is a world-leading centre for astronomy research. We have world-class groups working in a wide range of fields covering Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology (CEA), Theoretical and Computational Cosmology (ICC), and Astronomical Instrumentation (CfAI), with all three groups located to a large extent within the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics.

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Project booklet: The 2025 PhD project booklet provides details of potential PhD projects that are available for an October 2025 start. The projects should be regarded as possible research topics. For any general enquiries please contact the astronomy postgraduate admissions chairs in the first instance.

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Astronomy Research in Durham: CEA, ICC and CfAI

Astronomy and Cosmology research involving observations, theory and instrumentation is undertaken by students, postdocs and staff spread over three centres/institutes - but with strong collaborative links and close interactions: CEA, ICC and CfAI, with specific information regarding the research carried out given on their respective research pages (CEA, ICC and CfAI). The astrophysics staff includes roughly 35 academic faculty, 45 post-docs, 60 research students and a dozen support staff. Students have desktop/laptop access to a large local network of high-performance UNIX workstations/servers, as well as COSMA.

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Post-graduate Research Studentships

We are seeking graduate students to undertake research within our PhD and MSc by research programmes, with the University regulations on the thesis/dissertation outlined here. We particularly encourage applications from members of the community that are under-represented in physics. Below we outline the main funding opportunities. Please note that they may follow different application procedures and deadlines.

STFC studentships: We expect to take on several STFC-funded students for a PhD degree, in addition to further students either self-funded or with funding from different sources. Students will generally undertake full-time cutting edge astronomical research, in addition to our postgraduate lecture courses in their first year: Astronomy and Astrophysics and Astronomical Instrumentation. More details on the application procedure are outlined below. Eligibility criteria can be found here. The STFC-funded PhD studentships cover course fees and living expenses for the duration of the studentship (typically 3.5 years in Durham). Given the large size of the astronomy group at Durham, each year we restrict the number of astronomy staff who offer STFC-funded PhD projects to about a dozen. Please check the PG booklet for the latest update.

International DDS/CSC PhD studentships: Typically one fully funded Durham Doctoral Studentship (DDS) and one fully funded Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) positions are offered. They pay for the course fees and also provide a 3.5 year stipend. The DDS studentships are open to students of any nationality. Both studentships can be on any project, including all projects listed in the 2025 PhD project booklet. Interested students should consult our group research web pages as well and contact a suitable staff member to discuss possible research projects.

Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund: The IOP and leading physicist Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell launched the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund to encourage greater diversity in physics. It is a scholarship fund to support full or part-time graduates who wish to study towards a doctorate in physics and are from groups that are currently under-represented in physics. As host university, Durham can put forward a maximum of two students for the Fund. To be considered, candidates need to have applied and be nominated by a staff member by the internal physics deadline. Hence the recommendation is to submit their application by early December 2024 to receive full consideration.

Other studentships: We welcome applications from graduate students who are unable to secure (or are ineligible for) one of our fully funded studentships to either our PhD or MSc research programmes. See our group research web pages for a more comprehensive look at our research portfolio. Students without studentship funding will need to be able to finance both living expenses and course fees. In some cases funding can be obtained from scientific and government agencies in countries outside of the UK.

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Post-graduate Research Application Process

Project booklet: This booklet provides details of possible funded PhD projects that are available for an October 2025 start, together with some that are available but no funding yet associated with them. Shortlisted candidates for funded studentships will be invited for interviews; see below for the interview dates this year. We also encourage applications from candidates wanting to work with supervisors not necessarily listed in the booklet. Please consult our group research web pages and contact staff that you would be interested in working with.

Deadlines: There is no formal deadline for applications but any complete applications (including reference letters) received before January 6th 2025 will receive the fullest consideration for places beginning in October 2025. We recommend you to indicate several projects for which you wish to be considered, or your general area of interest (simulations, observations, instrumentation), to help us identify potential supervisors. Your application is not expected to include an original research proposal, but rather to indicate which of the described projects you wish to pursue. In practice, these descriptions provide a starting point for each project; the ongoing direction of your research will adapt naturally over the course of study.

For STFC-funded positions we strongly recommend submitting applications by January 6th 2025 to allow us to shortlist candidates for the interview days (see below for the dates).

For DDS/CSC applications, the department of Physics nomination deadline is likely early January 2025 (exact date TBC). However, you should contact a potential supervisor well in advance. Hence we recommend CSC/DDS applications to be submitted by early December 2024 to receive full consideration.

For the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund, the department of Physics nomination deadline is likely early January 2025 (exact date TBC). As an application needs support from the host institution who is responsible for submitting the application form, we recommend candidates interested in applying to Durham to contact us no later than early December 2024 to ensure full consideration.

How to apply: Details of how to apply are given here. Note that CSC/DDS applications require evidence of English language ability. To be considered for a place on our programme we require you to complete an online application form, where you should upload a CV, a cover letter, the research project you are interested in, and contact details for two referees, that we will contact on your behalf upon receiving your application. Useful guidance on how to fill it out is available here.

Interview dates: The dates of the interviews for the STFC-funded positions will be between mid/end February and early/mid March, likely through a combination of in person and virtual means. Please indicate your availability in the time frame from February 15th to March 15th 2025 when you put in your application. Interviews for any other studentships will take place as necessary.

English language requirements: For non-UK students, please note that you will need to meet our English language requirements; the details are given here. For those students who do not meet these requirements it is possible to undertake an English language course with us on a pre-sessional programme. However, note that these pre-sessional English programmes can last for many weeks and must be completed before you start your research programme.

For any generic physics post-graduate information contact:

The Postgraduate Administrator,
Department of Physics,
Durham University,
South Road,
Durham DH1 3LE


tel: +44 - 191 334 3745


email: physics.postgraduate@durham.ac.uk

For more postgraduate information, covering everything from fees for overseas students to sport, museums and Durham University experiences, see Durham University's PG student webpages and the Durham student blog. Additional relevant information concerning postgraduate life at Durham is available on the Physics Department PG webpages.

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Last Modified: 25th July 2024