PhD Studentships & How to Apply
PhD studentships are advertised each year on findaphd.com and, for PhD opportunities that start in September 2024, full details can be found here.
PhD studentships
We have up to 8 fully-funded PhD studentships available for entry in September 2024. These studentships are for 4 years and include full UK fees, a living allowance (this was £18,622 for 2023/24 full time study), and additional funding to cover research costs and national/international travel such as conferences. Students will undertake a PhD in STFC science (see project descriptions below), will do formal training in Data Intensive Science and will spend six months in an industrial placement.
The Centre covers a wide range of STFC science. For a September 2024 entry, we are offering the following PhD opportunities:
- Nanojets of Coronal Heating
principal supervisor: Dr Patrick Antolin, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/ANTOLIN
- Causality versus correlation: Using AI to extract the real drivers of complex space weather processes
principal supervisor: Dr Sarah Bentley, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/BENTLEY
- Using AI to predict coronal-loop kink instabilities by designing physics-informed neural networks
principal supervisor: Dr Gert Botha, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/BOTHA
- Comparing ground- and space-based datasets with data science and unsupervised AI/machine learning techniques
principal supervisor: Dr John Coxon, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/COXON
- Reconstructing and analysing space plasma data using machine learning
principal supervisor: Dr Charlotte Goetz, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/GOETZ
- High Performance On-Board Computer with AI and SDR Features for Small-Sized Satellites
principal supervisor: Dr Mojtaba Mansour Abadi, Advert reference: NUDATA24/MPEE/EE/MANSOURABADI
- In the presence of uncertainty: Exploring the use of Gaussian Processes to examine the Sun’s corona
principal supervisor: Dr Richard Morton, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/MORTON
- Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to forecast Earth’s Van Allen Radiation Belts
principal supervisor: Professor Jonathan Rae, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/RAE
- Sounds Dangerous: Using Sonification Techniques to Detect Precursors to Large Wave Activity in Space Plasmas
principal supervisor: Dr Daniel Ratliff, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/RATLIFF
- Optimizing AI to Forecast Dangerous Space Weather
principal supervisor: Dr Andy Smith, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/SMITH
- Using AI and Machine Learning to Understand the Terrestrial Impact of Extreme Currents in Near-Earth Space
principal supervisor: Dr Andy Smith, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/SMITHCOXON
- Mapping the global structure of nonlinear dynamics in Earth’s magnetosphere using machine learning
principal supervisor: Dr Julia Stawarz, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/STAWARZ
- Future Proof Space Traffic Management Data Systems
principal supervisor: Dr Matthew Townson, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/TOWNSON
- What lies beneath the surface of Mars? Advanced Numerical Modelling and Data Intensive Processing for Large and Complex Ground Penetrating Radar Data
principal supervisor: Dr Craig Warren, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MCE/WARREN
- Construction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) models of processes that govern space weather in Earth’s radiation belts to describe extreme events
principal supervisor: Professor Clare Watt, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/WATT
- AI for smart spacecraft control
principal supervisor: Professor Robert Wicks, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/WICKS
- Predicting the source regions of solar energetic particles using machine learning techniques
principal supervisor: Dr Stephanie Yardley, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/YARDLEY
- A Deep Learning Framework for Enhanced Predictive Modelling of Geomagnetic Activities
principal supervisor: Dr Qiuyi Yi, Advert reference: NUDATA24/EE/CIS/YI
- Efficient exploration of big data sets from space missions to improve stellar evolution models
principal supervisor: Dr Dominic Bowman, Advert reference: NUDATA01
- Dynamical Processes in Stellar Interiors
principal supervisor: Professor Tamara Rogers, Advert reference: NUDATA02
- A modern controlled study of supermassive black hole growth in the local Universe
principal supervisor: Dr David Rosario, Advert reference: NUDATA03
- Simulating the evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes
principal supervisor: Dr T Costa, Advert reference: NUDATA04
- Establishing how growing supermassive black holes influence galaxy evolution
principal supervisor: Dr Christopher Harrison, Advert reference: NUDATA05
- Confronting dark matter models with observation: Fuzzy Dark Matter and CDM in light of new data
principal supervisor: Dr G Rigopoulos and Prof NP Proukakis, Advert reference: NUDATA06
- Developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agents to weight the Largest Structures in the Universe
principal supervisor: Dr Markus Rau, Advert reference: NUDATA07
- High-Performance Bayesian Galaxy Density Field Inference for Big Data Cosmology
principal supervisor: Dr Markus Rau, Advert reference: NUDATA08
- A light in the dark: quantifying the impact of baryonic physics on cosmological data
principal supervisor: Dr Marika Asgari, Advert reference: NUDATA09
If you wish to discuss your application informally then please email Professor James McLaughlin (Northumbria: james.a.mclaughlin@northumbria.ac.uk ) or Professor Tamara Rogers (Newcastle: tamara.rogers@newcastle.ac.uk ). If you want to discuss a specific project, it is best to contact the specific supervisor (the findaphd.com hyperlinks will tell you the supervisor). We are happy to provide all applicants with guidance.
Recruitment Event (15.01.2024)
You will join a strong and supportive research team. To help better understand the aims of the CDT and to meet the PhD supervisors, we are hosting a day-long event on campus on Monday 15th January 2024.
At that event, there will be an opportunity to discuss your research ideas, meet potential PhD supervisors, as well as hear from speakers from a variety of backgrounds (academia, industry, government, charity) discussing both STFC and data science as well as their personal paths and backgrounds. UK travel and accommodation (if needed) will be covered, but funds are limited, so please register early. We can only cover travel and accommodation expenses within the UK (if you wish to attend from outside of the UK, you will be responsible for your own travel costs, but we can cover your internal travel expenses). Please register via https://forms.office.com/e/aGtS6fmM6x . If there are any problems or something unclear, then email Professor James McLaughlin ( james.a.mclaughlin@northumbria.ac.uk) and/or Professor Tamara Rogers (tamara.rogers@newcastle.ac.uk).
How to Apply
The NUdata CDT is offering multiple potential PhD projects this year (see list above). If you are interested in more than one of the offered projects, then you can say this in the cover letter of your application and then either [1] you can specifically indicate the other projects you are interested in, or [2] state you are happy to be considered for other projects in general. If you are shortlisted, we will then contact you to discuss these other projects. You are strongly encouraged to do this.
If you are interested in projects offered by both institutions, then please submit two separate applications – one to each University – in order to be considered for all your preferred projects. In other words, it is best to apply to each institution separately (so that your application is in that university’s system) but in your cover letter you can specify which specific projects you are interested in. For example, if you were interested in X projects with Northumbria-based supervisors and Y projects with Newcastle-based supervisors, you can submit once to Northumbria University and in your cover letter state you are interested in those X Northumbria-led projects, and then you could submit once to Newcastle University and in your cover letter state you are interested in those Y Newcastle-led projects.
- If you are interested in applying to projects with a Northumbria-University-based PhD supervisor, then please visit https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/ for further details of how to apply, entry requirements and the application form.
- If you are interested in applying to projects with a Newcastle-University-based PhD supervisor, then please visit https://applyto.newcastle.ac.uk/SignIn?returnUrl=/ for further details of how to apply, entry requirements and the application form.
You must include the relevant advert reference/studentship code in your application (e.g. NUDATA01 or NUDATA24/EE/MPEE/MORTON, etc). This will allow the relevant university to keep track of your application.
In addition, note that Newcastle University applicants should search for Astrophysics under Course Title / Course Code in the application portal and choose “PhD in Astrophysics”. The portal will ask for a personal statement and a proposal to be submitted. Note that we do not require a proposal (you can copy the text from the webpage or upload a blank pdf). For your personal statement include a covering letter, listing the projects that you would like to apply to in order of preference and detail how your experience is relevant to the selected project(s).
Also please add this code
- 8216F – PhD in Astrophysics
under the studentship/Partnership Reference. The portal will ask you for additional information such as your academic transcripts, CV and language certificates for non-native English speakers, which are all required.
If anything is unclear, feel free to contact Professor James McLaughlin (Northumbria: james.a.mclaughlin@northumbria.ac.uk ) or Professor Tamara Rogers (Newcastle: tamara.rogers@newcastle.ac.uk ). We are happy to provide all applicants with guidance.