Postgraduate Opportunities and Training

Post-graduate Research Studentships

We are seeking graduate students to undertake research within our PhD and MSc by Research programmes.

STFC PhD studentships in astronomical instrumentation and space science: 

As part of the wider Durham Astronomy Research Cluster (DARC), we expect to take on STFC-funded students for a PhD degree in Astronomical Instrumentation. Students will undertake full-time (or part time) cutting edge research, in addition to our post-graduate lecture courses in their first year: Astronomy and Astrophysics and Astronomical Instrumentation. The STFC-funded PhD studentships cover course fees and living expenses for the duration of the studentship; the eligibility criteria for a fully funded STFC studentship is based on UK residency 3 years prior to the start of the studentship, unrestricted rights to remain in the UK and citizenship of a European Union member state. STFC provides further guidelines about information and eligibility rules for STFC studentships.

This booklet provides details of the funded PhD projects that are available for an October 2025 start, including those for Supervisors based in CfAI. Shortlisted candidates for STFC studentships will be invited for interviews. Note, we have a limited number of international fee quota per year.

EPSRC PhD studentships in instrumentation: 

CfAI also receives PhD studentships funded through EPSRC (on similar terms to the STFC funding) for instrumentation projects. We will have competitively awarded studentships on offer through this route for an October start. The list of potential projects is below.

Learning how we walk:

With 33 joints and 29 muscles our feet are incredibly complex, and despite having learnt to walk upright thousands of years ago, humanity still does not fully understand how we use our feet to balance. State-of-the-art gait analysis (the study of how we walk) instrumentation either treats the forces exerted by the foot on the floor as a single point (force plate) or measures the pressure exerted by different points of the foot (pressure mat/insoles). This limits the information that we can acquire on the foot-floor forces, which in turn limits our insight into how our feet interact with the floor to balance ourselves. Overcoming this this is vital to tackle the high incidence and impact of falls in our ageing society.

In your PhD, you will join our interdisciplinary team based in Durham, Newcastle and London to develop new instrumentation to revolutionise our understanding of how our feet enable us to balance and move around, impacting a diverse range of rehabilitation and sports applications. Whilst this PhD project focus on the instrumentation development and data analysis you will also as grow your expertise in movement biomechanics.

Contact: Robert Harris, Robert.j.harris@durham.ac.uk

High bandwidth optical communications between ground and space:

Free Space Optical Communications systems have the potential to revolutionise communications by providing high bandwidth, low-latency internet to anywhere on the globe, without the limitations of spectrum licensing. However to ensure robust connections, they must operate continuously when clear skies are available. This is a challenge due to the adverse effects of atmospheric turbulence which add wavefront distortions to the propagated laser beam, hence fades on the uplink and downlink beams.

Adaptive optics technologies are required to compensate for the atmospheric turbulence. Normally, this works by sensing the wavefront distortions caused by the atmospheric and compensating by applying correction to the beam. However, wavefront sensors make the system more complicated and are prone to errors in the strong turbulence encountered when aiming for 24/7 continuous operation.

In this project, we will develop fast iterative adaptive optics techniques to compensate the beam, such that the correction is quickly optimised by observing a suitable performance metric. Computer simulations will be performed to select suitable algorithms and correction hardware, then demonstrations performed in the laboratory.

Contact: Andrew Reeves, andrew.p.reeves@durham.ac.uk

Sensing the atmosphere with UAVs:

Astronomical observatories have to correct for it, life on Earth depends upon it, the Earth’s atmosphere is a dynamic system, changing over different timescales, distances and altitudes. Historically speaking, mapping out atmospheric conditions occurs at ground level with a variety of technologies, in the lower atmosphere along a line of sight, or vertically through one-way balloon based. None of these approaches allow us to create a three dimensional map of atmospheric composition.

In your PhD you will look to take advantages in UAV (‘drone’) technology, combined with astronomical instrumentation, to create a UAV-based system that will utilise direct sensing and remote sensing techniques to map out the three dimensional distribution of atmospheric gas and dust content. Crucially, the performance of the system will be quantified, providing a clear understanding of the sensitivity and accuracy of the UAV system. Working with international partners, the student will then look to fly the calibrated system instrumented testing ranges.

Contact: Anthony Brown, anthony.brown@durham.ac.uk

Scalable Satellite Sensor:

With the space industrial revolution rapidly driving down launch costs, there has been a surge in the number of artificial satellites launched into orbit. This rapid development of the space sector results in major challenges and risks if we do not maintain the space environment in a sustainable way.  Our access to space could be dramatically reduced in the next decade through populating orbital space with debris from high-speed collisions or other fragmentation events, or through malicious activity. To support a sustainable space sector requires independent and scalable monitoring of satellites, measuring real time dynamics and “pattern of life” behaviour.  Measuring the orbital dynamics includes monitoring satellites moving in non-Keplerian orbits during manoeuvres to avoid collisions, in-orbit servicing and debris removal, whilst “pattern of life” monitors and identifies changes in their physical properties or behaviour.

This proposal aims to develop and test the technology to detect and monitor the dynamics and physical structures of satellites in real time.  We will establish proof of principle for the technique and create the infrastructure needed for space sustainability research, commercial operators, and for the defense sector. The vision for this proposal is to develop a scalable technology needed to monitor and characterise objects in orbit (including active satellites, defunct satellites, debris, and rocket bodies).

The project will involve modelling of the space environment, assessment of current space monitoring capabilities, design and development of ground-based optical instrumentation, and sophisticated data analytics (astrometry, photometry, ray tracing and machine visions) to extract information from large volumes of data.

Contact: James Osborn, james.osborn@durham.ac.uk

International DDS PhD studentships: 

A very limited number of these studentships are available, which are open to students of any nationality and are fully funded; i.e., they pay for the course fees and also provide a stipend. Durham Doctoral Studentships (DDS) can be on any project and interested students should consult our group research web pages and contact a suitable staff member to discuss a suitable research project. Please see here for more details, eligibility, and application deadline for DDS scholarships.

Other PhD studentships: 

We also welcome applications from graduate students to our PhD programmes who are unable to secure (or are ineligible for) one of our fully funded studentships. 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. Please also click here, here, here, and here to search for possible funding sources.

MSc by Research: 

Each year we have a number of projects suitable for the degreee of MSc by Research. A list of potential supervisors and their research areas can be found here. Students will need to be able to finance both living expenses and course fees. Please use the contact information below to obtain further information.

Applications and deadlines: 

There is no formal deadline for applications but any complete applications (including reference letters) must be received in good time for the deadlines for individual programs. For STFC-funded positions, applications are coordinated through CEA, so please see their webpage for details of the deadlines. For DDS applications the University deadline is usually early January; however, you will have had to contact us before this deadline (typically a week) so that we can work with you on the case for your research project.

How to apply: 

The application process is through a centralised system and is the same for all funding schemes, including self-funding. Details of how to apply and the link to the application system are given here.

Interview dates: 

The dates of the interviews for the STFC-funded positions will be end February and early March. Please indicate your availability in the time frame mid-February to mid-March when you put in your application. Interviews for any other studentships will take place on ad hoc basis (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; see here for the details. However, note that these pre-sessional English programmes can last for many weeks and must be completed before you an start your research programme.

Contact:

For any other information contact:-

The CfAI PG course organiser,

Email: Robert.j.harris@durham.ac.uk

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

tel: (0191) 334 3745

email: physics.postgraduate@durham.ac.uk

For more information, covering everything from fees for overseas students to sport and museums, see the Durham University's graduate student web-pages and our own Physics Department page of information concerning postgraduate life at Durham.