Astrophysics Data Science 3: The Growth of Galaxy Clusters

Summary of Cluster
The Astrophysical Data Science Cluster (ADSC) is an exciting new development for the University of Hull’s world renowned E.A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics. A series of five Grand Challenges underpin the ADSC, each of which are aligned with the science roadmaps shaping the science & technology landscape for the UK and Europe for the coming decade. The successful candidates will work alongside international leaders striving to identify the physics driving the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars, and planets, with cross-disciplinary opportunities characterising the development of complex biological life and astrochemistry. A blend of computational and experimental approaches will be adopted, employing Big Data analytical techniques and multi-dimensional data mining, with access provided to one of the country’s most powerful supercomputers and some of the best international telescopes, through our various partnerships. One of the most ambitious computational experiments ever undertaken – the Horizon Run – will ensure opportunities to data mine unprecedented peta- and exa-scale datasets, all within one of the country’s most dynamic, supportive, and social research centres. An extremely generous research budget (£9k) is provided to all successful candidates, above and beyond the stipend. Interested applicants should contact Professor Brad Gibson ([Email Address Removed]) for additional details.

PhD Scholarship project 3: The Growth of Galaxy Clusters
Galaxy clusters are the largest structures in the Universe, and they are still growing today. Unprecedented contemporary observational campaigns have shown that these systems are remarkably complex, with poorly understood internal dynamics, driven by multiple merging sub-substructures, each of which interact with the cluster in a regime where plasma physics plays a critical role in shaping the outcome. The successful candidate with undertake idealised multi-merger simulations and translate them into multi-wavelength mock observations to compare with real data. The idealised simulations will be supplemented with cluster mergers drawn from our unprecedented Horizon Run of the Universe, realised in a fully cosmological framework. This work will inform the observing strategies of the next-generation of international observatories.

Applicants should have at least a 2.1 undergraduate degree in Physics, Chemistry, Computational Science, or related discipline, together with relevant research experience. It is anticipated that the successful applicant will have a 1st class undergraduate degree or Masters level qualification. Interested applicants should contact Professor Brad Gibson ([Email Address Removed]) for additional details.

PhD students at the University of Hull follow modules for research and transferable skills development and gain a Masters level Certificate, or Diploma, in Research Training, in addition to their research degree.

Interviews will be held the final two weeks of February 2018; initial offers will be made by 5th March 2018, with decisions returned by 31st March 2018, in line with the UK’s Science & Technology Facilities Council guidelines.