Jobs and Studentships
PhD studentships
The PPPA group considers applications for STFC PhD studentships from the start of the academic year. In general studentships are allocated by Easter. If you expect to obtain a first or upper second class degree in single or dual honours physics please feel free to contact us. Please note that STFC studentships are only available to British residents, and we do not have very many funding avenues for foreign nationals. We regret this, but STFC rules are not under our control!
STFC-funded PhD studentships are available only to students who graduate with a First or Upper Second class degree in a relevant discipline. All other things being equal, a candidate with an MPhys or MSci degree will be preferred to a BSc, but all other things are usually not equal and candidates expecting to obtain a good BSc degree are encouraged to apply. A postgraduate MSc degree is considered by STFC to be equivalent to an increase of one grade in your first degree, so students with a lower second class degree followed by an MSc are eligible.
Information about the PhD research available with the PPPA group can be found here. For informal enquiries, please contact our postgraduate admissions coordinator, Dr Stathes Paganis, or fill out the department's online enquiry form. To make a formal application, visit the University's research degree application page where you can either apply online or download the forms to apply by post. If you are looking for a PhD in particle physics, you might also wish to try Oxford University's web page.
MPhil by research
The department does not have a taught MSc course in particle physics or astrophysics. However, we do occasionally accept students to do an MPhil by research, which includes some taught courses but is dominated by a short research project written up as a Master's thesis. Usually, this route is taken by overseas students who have some personal funding but not the guaranteed three years required for a PhD degree. MPhil registrations can be upgraded to PhD, subject to satisfactory performance, if more funding becomes available.Summer studentships
If you are an undergraduate student in your penultimate year (i.e. third year of an MPhys/MSci or second year of a BSc), the Nuffield Foundation has an Undergraduate Research Bursary Scheme which will pay you to spend up to 10 weeks in your summer vacation working with a research group. (Funding typically amounts to 160 pounds per week.)
This funding is competitive, but in the past we have been very successful, and we have two students this summer. We need to apply on your behalf (the application is for a named student with a named supervisor) in early February, so if you are interested in this scheme please contact Dr Susan Cartwright by Christmas of your third (MPhys) or second (BSc) year. You need to be expecting a first or upper second class degree to have much chance of success in the application, as the scheme is intended to support students who are considering a research career.