Astronomy & Astrophysics

Department of Physics

Astronomical Research at Durham

Durham University is one of the UK's leading centres for astronomical research with world-class groups working in a wide range of fields covering the observational, theoretical and instrumentation aspects of astronomy.

NEWS
17 Apr 2013:New telescope brings distant galaxies into sharp focus
14 Feb 2013: Durham researchers join the CUGA consortium with the aim of combining dishes at Goonhilly Earth Station with the eMERLIN radio interferometer to undertake a sensitive radio continuum survey of the COSMOS field.
13 Feb 2013: Black Holes and Star Formation: A Herschel Perspective Press release
31 Jan 2013: ALMA Cycle 0 study of submm galaxies from the LESS survey accepted for publication in MNRAS (pre-print here).
28 Nov 2012: First paper from the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey submitted (pre-print here).
20 Nov 2012: Durham researchers lead four "high-priority" ALMA Cycle 1 science programmes. Full results here.
12 June 2012: World's largest ground-based telescope is given 'go ahead'. Press release
9 June 2012: HST cycle 20 awards
Lectureship in Observational Astronomy
The Astronomy Group at Durham University invites applications for a Lectureship in observational Astronomy. The position will begin in the Fall of 2013 or thereafter. The successful applicant will have research experience which complements and strengthens existing areas of research within the observational extragalactic astronomy group. The lecturer will be expected to engage in research, postgraduate student supervision and undergraduate teaching. The post will be advertised through the AAS Jobs Register and the Durham University Job Vacancy website (http://www.dur.ac.uk/jobs/) from March 2013.
Postgraduate Research Opportunities
We are seeking graduate students to undertake research within our PhD and MSc programmes from October 2013. We have 1 ERC, 1 Charm, and 8 STFC fully-funded studentships for 3.5-4 year PhD degrees. In addition we will also consider students with self-funding or with funding from different sources; Students will undertake full-time (or part-time) cutting edge astronomical research and instrumentation. Applicants are required to have, or expected to gain, a 1st in a 3-year undergraduate degree, or at least a 2:1 in a 4-year undergraduate degree, or at least a pass in an MSc postgraduate degree, in physics, astrophysics or mathematics. More details on the available research programmes, application procedure, and eligibilty can be obtained from here.

Durham was ranked Number One in Europe and fourth in the world for our research into Space Science (which covers research into astronomy and astrophysics) over the decade 1998-2008, according to the most recent league table from Thomson Reuters ESI.

There are 28 academic staff across the combined astronomy groups, with over 100 postdocs, postgraduate students and support and technical staff involved in astronomy research. The majority of our astronomical research is undertaken in the following groups:

Contact Details

Department of Physics,
Durham University,
South Road,
Durham DH1 3LE
 
Tel: 44 (0)191 3343635
Link to Ripples in the Cosmos conference website

A conference to be

held at Durham, July 2013
Link to Galaxy Formation conference website

An international conference

held at Durham, July 2011