2025 PhD studentships in ARC

There will be an information session about the 2025 PhD projects taking place in January 2025. Details to follow soon. 

We expect to have a number of fully funded PhD studentships, the majority of which are only available for students fulfilling UK national requirements (either UK nationals, or have been in the UK for the last 3 years for a purpose which is not full-time education). Self-funding students or students with their own international funding grants are also very welcome to apply:

• Information and application forms to study for a PhD at Queen's University are available at this website.
• It is essential that you read and follow the application instructions to fill in the University form for applications to ARC.
• For PhDs, we will normally consider applicants holding, or expecting to obtain in 2024, a UK MSci (or equivalent) degree in physics, astronomy or a related discipline with 2.1 or higher classification (or international equivalent).
• If you are unsure about any part of the process, contact the prospective supervisors of the project areas you are applying for, or e.demooij@qub.ac.uk for advice on the application procedure.

Please note that Queen's University will not accept applications that do not follow the required procedures.

Contact details for all staff are available here.

Research projects for 2025:

• Observations of Solar Flares in Lyman-Alpha Emission (Dr Ryan Milligan)

• Supernovae: theoretical modelling of light curves and spectra (Prof. Stuart Sim)

• A Dirac R-matrix approach to the determination of opacities (Prof. Connor Ballance)

• Modelling of neutron star mergers: Fundamental atomic structure, electron-impact excitation and recombination calculations in support of collisional-radiative modelling and radiative transport (Prof. Connor Ballance, Prof. Catherine Ramsbottom and Prof. Stuart Sim)

• Into the Rubinverse: Exploring the Solar System with the First Data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (Dr. Meg Schwamb)

• Investigating exoplanet systems with the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect (Dr. Ernst de Mooij)
  
  
• Rapid astrophysical explosions from neutron star and black hole interactions (Dr. Matt Nicholl)

Other International student finance information and scholarships

International self-funded students should consult these pages and links for tuition fees. For International students with their own funding, including EU student without (pre-)settled status or indefinite leave to remain, we require an annual fee of £25,600 (24/25 fee). This annual fee applies to both PhD and MPhil programs. Note that you will also need living expenses of around £15,000 per year. Queries about this can be send to postgrad.admissions@qub.ac.uk.

Please check our International Scholarships page for opportunities.

Application instructions

• Applications for post-graduate studies must be made via the QUB applications portal.
• All applications received by Friday February 7th 2025 will receive full consideration for astrophysics PhD positions (interviews will commence shortly after that date). However, applications received later will continue to be considered where suitable projects are still available.
• You can apply for any number of the research themes advertised for 2025 within one application. Follow these guidelines:
  • The projects you want to apply for should be added in preference order under the "Research Title" field. 
  • You should also include the projects on the one-page "Personal Statement" within the application portal web-page and specify why you are interested in them.
  • To add the Supervisor names, choose 'other' and then type in the Supervisor names in preference order of project. 
• There are funding options listed on the application procedure:
  • 'I will fund the course with my own personal funds/personal loan': This would mean you are willing to pay everything yourself and is not advisable unless you have very significant personal funds you are willing to use during a 3-year PhD.
  • 'I wish to be considered for funding administered by Queen's': In this case you will be applying for funding from the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy DfE, this option should be selected for UK domiciled students. Please note that you would also be considered for STFC funding when selecting this option. This includes the cost of approved fees and maintenance support, which is £19,237 in 2024/25. Eligibility for a full DfE studentship requires you to have been resident in the United Kingdom for a three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course. You must hold or expect to gain an upper second-class honours degree. Due to this, international students should only indicate they want to be considered for 'STFC' (use the 'other' box option on the application). 
    If you have any queries about eligibility, please contact admissions@qub.ac.uk.

If you need further advice, either email the prospective supervisors or for general queries, email e.demooij@qub.ac.uk.