The Sun, Stars & Exoplanets is happy to welcome new applications for PhD research, with the themes below being currently sought after. We offer fully-funded and unfunded positions.
Fully-funded position means a student would typically receive a stipend of approximately £15,000 per year in addition to the cost of the tuition fees (approximately £4,000 per year).
Fully-funded positions are for all students, UK and overseas. Overseas students normally need to cover tuition fees of approximately £24,000 per year (meaning an extra £20,000 per year needs to be covered compared to a UK student). However, we are allowed to waive the overseas fees for a small number of excellent students. In addition, you can also cover parts of the overseas tuition fees with external funds. E.g., Bell–Burnell studentship, Fulbright fellowship.
Applications for fully-funded positions are due on 15 January.
You can apply by visiting the list of PhD opportunities in Physics & Astronomy and selecting the right project for you.
Alternatively you can apply by selecting PhD in Department of Physics and Astronomy in the University Application Portal. Then, in your application’s cover letter, mention clearly you are applying to the Sun, Stars & Exoplanets group.
Please contact us for further details.
Projects under offer
Hierarchically modelling stars and exoplanets
Dr Guy Davies
In 2026 ESA will launch the PLATO space mission to observe high-precision photometric time series data for hundreds of thousands of stars. Many of these stars will have detectable signatures of acoustic modes of oscillation (asteroseismic data) that tells us a wealth of information about the properties and internal structure of these stars. In addition, a significant number of these stars will have detected extrasolar planets. This data provides a unique opportunity to study well characterised exoplanet systems and their host stars.
The aim of this PhD project is to produce new insights into the population of Galactic stars and exoplanet demographics in the Galaxy by using the power of the PLATO asteroseismic dataset. These insights will provide constraints on the structure and evolution of the Milky Way and on planet formation and evolution mechanisms. Further still, there is the chance to study planet occurrence rates as a function of planet/star characteristics with a precision that is unimaginable with today's datasets.
During the project, we will use Bayesian Hierarchical Models to statistically infer properties of the stars and the stellar populations of the Milky Way and use neural network emulators of stellar evolution coupled with Hamiltonian Monte Carlo samplers to model tens of thousands of stars simultaneously. The successful PhD student will be able to play a role in the development and implementation of our models and to drive the science related to the study of the Milky Way and its exoplanet demographics.
Observations and methods to characterise small planets around Sun-like stars
Professor Amaury Triaud
Circumbinary exoplanets orbit around both stars at once, like Tatooine in StarWars. Such planets are rare, but important to better understand the processes behind planet formation and orbital evolution. The project is about collecting data and analysing it in search for circumbinary planets. At Birmingham we search for such signals using radial-velocities, and the transit method, which means we also regularly visit observatories outside the United Kingdom and as remote as the Atacama Desert and the Antarctic Plateau.
Observing the Sun as a star
Dr Annelies Mortier
The Sun is the only star we know for sure has no orbiting planets in the data - since we can remove them perfectly. That makes it the perfect star to study and eventually aid the search for small exoplanets orbiting other stars. This project will help with the deployment and then usage of a new polarising Solar Telescope to be connected to the brand-new HARPS3 spectrograph on La Palma. This will be a unique telescope-instrument combination and you will be among the first with data access. Data from the already running HARPS-N Solar Telescope will be used in complement and to test the new telescope.
Observations and methods to discover Earth-like exoplanets
Professor Amaury Triaud
Finding out whether biology has arisen elsewhere in the Universe has likely been a question as old as humanity itself. At Birmingham we are leading on answering that question thanks to our participation in the only set of telescopes currently able to identify new habitable rocky worlds where their atmosphere can then be probed for evidence of biological processes. We use the SPECULOOS network of telescopes across the world to do this work as well as a telescope located in Antarctica. We also analyse data obtained by NASA’s TESS satellite to complement our analyses.
Modelling Exoplanet Atmospheres to Understand their Diversity
Dr Anjali Piette
Exoplanets span a diverse range of conditions, from ultra-hot Jupiters to lava worlds. The atmospheres of these planets provide an exceptional window into their properties, and can reveal the atmospheric compositions, formation histories and even interior properties of these exciting worlds. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has already begun to provide a wealth of atmospheric observations in its first two years of science operations. However, new modelling efforts are needed to fully interpret these datasets. In this PhD project, the researcher will use atmospheric modelling techniques to explore the properties of exoplanet atmospheres and interpret atmospheric observations.
Asteroseismic probes of stellar activity cycles
Professor Bill Chaplin
Using data from the NASA Kepler and TESS missions, this project will use subtle changes to the properties of stellar oscillations to explore the stellar cycle properties of Sun-like stars and more evolved sub-giants. Helioseismic (solar oscillations) data collected by the Birmingham Solar-Oscillations Data (BiSON) will be used as a reference, the goal being to explore the extent to which the Sun is typical in terms of its activity when compared to other cool stars (and hence the influence it has on its local environment through that activity).
Application Process
Applications should be submitted in electronic form to the University Application Portal and must include:
- Deadline for receipt of application is January 15 for full consideration. (Late applications might be considered.)
- A cover letter briefly stating the research area(s) of interest. A concise description of the research areas is provided above.
- A Curriculum Vitae.
- University transcripts (scanned versions are acceptable).
- Applicants should also arrange for two reference letters to be submitted before the deadline.
Please contact us for further details.