Observational Astrophysics

An observatory against the night sky

About us

Astrophysics is the study of the physical nature of celestial objects and the Universe in which they live.

The Astrophysics group at Lancaster was set up in 2015 within the School of Physics and Astronomy, complementing the existing Astro-particle Cosmology and Space and Planetary Physics groups.

The group's research is primarily observational and tackles some of the most important open questions in Astrophysics, broadly centred around understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies and the properties of the Universe itself. The group's research on galaxies includes the effects of environment and super massive black holes on galaxy evolution, understanding dusty galaxies, and determining the properties of the distant galaxies that reionised the universe. Related research on the properties of the Universe includes measuring cosmological parameters such as the expansion rate and geometry of the Universe, and the relative fractions and properties of its constituents, including ordinary matter and the mysterious dark matter and dark energy.

This research involves making state-of-the-art observations using the world's most powerful telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope, the Euclid Mission, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Vera Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), the WEAVE spectrograph on the WHT, and the facilities of the European Southern Observatory, including the 4MOST spectrograph on the VISTA telescope, ALMA and the VLT. At the same time, the group is involved in the scientific planning for the 40m European Extremely Large Telescope.

Key research

  • galaxy formation and evolution
  • sub-mm galaxies
  • supermassive black holes
  • reionisation of the universe
  • supernovae as cosmological probes
  • dark matter and dark energy
  • scientific planning for future telescopes and instruments
  • citizen science
  • machine learning for astrophysics

Lancaster University Astronomy Society

For Lancaster students in Physics or beyond wanting experience of astronomy, please see the Lancaster University Astronomy Society https://luastro.space/ .

Fellowship Opportunities

We encourage researchers to consider the Lancaster Observational Astrophysics group as a host for prestigious postdoctoral fellowship applications.

Below is a list of fellowship opportunities available to astrophysicists. Some of these fellowships require the host department to provide full economic costings, match funding or pre-select a list of candidates. We recommend that you contact Dr John Stott as early as possible in order to ensure that your application can proceed successfully. Many of the deadlines below are based on those from previous years so please check the organisation's website for the correct date.

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PhD Opportunities

We encourage applications from excellent candidates wanting to pursue a PhD in Astrophysics.

Below is a list of our current PhD project opportunities. Our PhD projects are offered on a competitive basis and are subject to availability of funding. For more general information about PhD study in Physics at Lancaster, please contact our postgraduate admissions staff at py-pgadmiss@lancaster.ac.uk. You can also apply directly on our Physics Study webpage, stating the title of the project and the name of the supervisor. Once done, please also send an email to Professor Isobel Hook and Professor Brooke Simmons. For your application to be given full consideration and for those wishing to be considered for funding from an STFC studentship, please apply by the deadline of 31st January 2027. Letters of reference should also be received by the same deadline so please contact your letter writers in advance. Please note that you do not need to provide a research statement in the application and if you state multiple projects from the list below in your personal statement you will be considered for all of them.

Applicants are typically expected to have the equivalent of an upper second-class degree (2.1) in either Physics, Astrophysics or a related discipline.

For international applicants, there are resources that aggregate lists of funding (e.g. the British Council's website). External funding opportunities for international students often involve negotiating offers of study with the host institution in advance of the scholarship application deadline. Once a student has identified a relevant opportunity we are happy to discuss it with them in order to decide whether Lancaster is a good match and how best to move forward with the process.

We occasionally accept MSc by Research students. This is dependent on the availability of a suitable supervisor. Please look at the research pages of potential supervisors in order to find a fit to your interests.

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Postgraduate Training

The Observational Astrophysics group plans to run training workshops that are dedicated to postgraduate students. These will cover subject-specific and more general research skills. The form and content of these workshops will depend on the needs of individual PhD students.

The Faculty of Science and Technology, ISS and the Library offer additional training. Our students also have the opportunity to participate in School outreach training and to develop their presentation skills via participation in our outreach programme.

Example workshops include:

  • An introduction to astronomical data reduction and analysis tools
  • An introduction to the Python coding language

Our students can also apply to attend various national and international schools, including:

  • STFC Introductory and Advanced Summer Schools
  • NEON observing schools
  • Data-Intensive Science training workshops as part of the STFC Centre for Doctoral Training

Publications

Related Projects