2 PhD studentships on the theory of convection and evolution of stars
Raphael Hirschi
Keele University
Lennard-Jones Laboratories 2.09
Keele
ST5 5BG
Dr Raphael Hirschi has been awarded a European Research Council starting grant, that will fund a 5-year multi-disciplinary project entitled SHYNE (Stellar HYdrodynamics, Nucleosynthesis and Evolution). The grant will enable Dr Hirschi to build a team of two post-doctoral researchers and two PhD students, and to acquire a dedicated 1000-CPU computer cluster. The SHYNE team will collaborate with the Norwegian company Numascale, adding an inter-sectoral component to the project. More details on the SHYNE project are given here: http://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/shyne/.
1) Convection in stars: developing synergy between 1D and 3D models:
This PhD project will focus on convection and rotation in stars. The successful candidate will analyse results of 3D simulations using both numerical and theoretical frameworks in order to establish new prescriptions for convective boundary mixing to be used in 1D models.
2) Life and death of stars:
This PhD project will focus on calculating grids of stellar evolution models in order to determine the properties and fate of massive and intermediate-mass stars. The successful candidate will model the evolution of massive stars from birth till death using state-of-the-art 1D stellar evolution codes while studying the effects of rotation, magnetic fields and improved treatment of convective boundary mixing. In particular, the candidate will calculate progenitor models of core-collapse supernovae and more exotic explosions (gamma-ray bursts, electron-capture supernovae and pair-creation supernovae).
The successful candidates will learn key computing skills and be exposed to the industry, which will give them a strong skills set for both an academic and an industrial career.
These 4-year studentships are available to UK/EU students only (only partial funding available for non-EU students). Candidates must hold at least a first-class Bachelors degree or an appropriate Masters qualification in a physics related subject or its equivalent. In order to be considered for a studentship you must complete an application form for PhD study, please indicate ERC-SHYNE studentship ref EPSAM 2012-2 or 2012-3.
Details of the application procedure for study are on the Keele website http://www.keele.ac.uk/pgresearch/howtoapply/ .
Attention/Comments: For informal enquiries, contact Dr Hirschi by email: r.hirschi@epsam.keele.ac.uk.
Weblink: http://www.keele.ac.uk/pgresearch/choosingaresearchdegree/studentships/
Email: r.hirschi@epsam.keele.ac.uk
Deadline: 28 February 2013