New PhD studentships for research into astronomy and physics

The OU has just received its annual funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) for new PhD studentships to research astronomy and physics.

STFC has awarded the OU £260,835 to support this year’s cohort of PhD research for students who can’t self-fund, so that they can research the areas of astronomy, solar system science, particle physics, accelerator science and nuclear physics.

The new cohort will register in October 2023 and February 2024.

Commenting on these studentships, Professor Stephen Lewis, Head of School, Physical Sciences and Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the OU said:

“This funding provides wonderful opportunities to students who might not otherwise be able to afford to work on a dedicated research project for several years, helps to sustain a vibrant research community at The Open University and it adds new knowledge across the fields of planetary science and astronomy.

“For example, in our 2022 cohort of similar funding, we had students who researched processes on Mars and looked at giant star-forming clumps and at hydrogen below the frozen surface of Europa.”

A 2022 recipient of a studentship, Vinayak Shastri, said:

“Full-time research has enabled me to study active Martian atmosphere research alongside my OU supervisors and colleagues.

“I have been exposed to different facets of academia such as international collaboration and disseminating research, which has shown me diverse approaches to investigate water ice clouds on Mars, be it from modelling to observation from orbiters.”