Overview of the CDT
This project is being offered as part of the STFC Centre for Doctoral Training in Data Intensive Science, called NUdata, which is a collaboration between Northumbria and Newcastle Universities, STFC, and a portfolio of over 40 industrial partners, including SMEs, large/multinational companies, Government and not-for profit organisations, and international humanitarian organisations. Please visit https://research.northumbria.ac.uk/nudata/ for full information.
About the Project
The 21st century has transformed cosmology from a speculative field into a precision science driven by big data from galaxy surveys. From 2023, the Euclid space mission will map the distribution of galaxies covering a third of the sky and 10 billion years of cosmic history. The Euclid satellite will identify billions of galaxies, estimate their distances and determine their shapes to perform measurements of galaxy clustering and weak lensing.
Complex statistics quantifying the clustering of galaxies in space and time are needed to answer fundamental questions about the early universe, dark energy and dark matter.
As a PhD student, you will develop and apply state-of-the art statistical, theoretical and computational techniques to extract physical parameters from the galaxy distribution.
One key task is to compress information in efficient summary statistics, for which statistical inference can be performed by comparing theoretical models with observational data. You will work on non-Gaussian statistics that capture additional nonlinear information that is lost in traditional inference methods focusing on two-point statistics alone. To make the inference of cosmological parameters computationally feasible, a massively optimised parameter estimation and data compression can be applied.
During your PhD, you will use such techniques to identify physically informative summary statistics that are sensitive to cosmology and robust to nuisance parameters arising from small-scale astrophysics. You will continue the development and testing of these new methods and apply them to simulated and real galaxy survey data.
Eligibility and How to Apply:
This studentship is available to home * and international applicants.
You must apply through the University’s online postgraduate application system.
You will need to:
- Insert the programme code (8821F) in the programme of study section
- Select ‘PhD Physics (FT) (Theoretical) as the programme of study
- Insert the studentship code (e.g. NUDATA01) in the studentship/partnership reference field
- attach a covering letter and CV. The covering letter must state the title of the studentship, quote reference code (e.g. NUDATA01) and state how your interests and experience relate to the project
- Attach degree transcripts and certificates and, if English is not your first language, a copy of your English language qualifications.
Please note:
You must include the relevant advert reference/studentship code (e.g. NUDATA05) in your application.
The NUdata CDT is offering multiple potential PhD projects this year. 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.
You do not need to submit a research proposal for the proposed project, since the project is already defined by the supervisor. If you have your own research idea and wish to pursue that, then this is also possible - please indicate this on your application (if this is the case, then please include a research proposal of approximately 300 words).
Northumbria and Newcastle Universities take pride in, and value, the quality and diversity of our students and staff. We welcome applications from all members of the community. We offer all applicants full guidance on the application process and on details of the CDT. For informal enquiries, email Professor James McLaughlin (Northumbria: [Email Address Removed] ) or Professor Tamara Rogers (Newcastle: [Email Address Removed] ). Please contact the Principal Supervisor of the project(s) for project-specific enquiries.
Deadline for applications: Friday 29th April 2022
Start Date: 1st October 2022
Funding Notes
Home and International students (inc. EU) are welcome to apply. The studentship is available to Home and International students, and includes a full stipend at UKRI rates (for 2021/22 full time study, this is £ £16,062pa) and full tuition fees. Also, additional funding is included to cover research costs and local, national and international travel such as conferences.
We have a limited number of International awards available.
* please note: to be classed as a Home student, candidates must meet the following criteria:
- Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or
- have settled status, or
- have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
- have indefinite leave to remain or enter.
If a candidate does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an International student.
Further information about how UKRI classifies international fee status please see Annex B of https://www.ukri.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/UKRI-050422-TrainingGrantTermsConditionsGuidance-Apr2022.pdf
Applicants should be aware of the following additional costs that you may incur as these are not covered by the studentship.
Continue with Facebook
