PhD Studentship: Finding the Unexpected in Vast Pulsar Data Sets (PhD Supervisor: Lucy Oswald)

Supervisory Team: Lucy Oswald

Project description:

A PhD position is an opportunity to direct your enthusiasm and creativity into ground-breaking research, with support to develop the skills you need to become a leader in your field. In this project, you will push the boundaries of our understanding of extreme neutron star physics, developing your own research ideas and building expertise in AI and large-scale data science. You will apply machine-learning and data science techniques to discover anomalies in vast data sets of radio pulsar observations, and use these to understand how neutron stars evolve over their lifetimes.

Pulsars, spinning neutron stars emitting a beam of radio waves, are some of the most extreme objects in the Universe, yet the physics of how they are powered remains a mystery. The best chance of advancing understanding is to find ordinary pulsars behaving in unexpected ways. In this project, you will use over a million radio pulses from a thousand pulsars observed with MeerKAT, the most sensitive radio telescope in the Southern hemisphere. With so many observations to study, we need to take an AI-centred approach to handle the influx of information. You will apply novel visualizations, statistics and unsupervised machine-learning to discover the cases where pulsars behave strangely, and work with an international team of experts to investigate the causes of this behaviour. You will then use these discoveries to make connections across the radio transient population, from incredibly fast-spinning millisecond pulsars, to extragalactic Fast Radio Bursts.

What opportunities and support can you expect?

• The opportunity to take ownership of your research and become a leader of projects and publications.
• A schedule of weekly supervisor meetings to help guide your development.
• Membership of international collaborations with two of the world’s best radio telescopes: Murriyang and MeerKAT.
• The chance to work with experts from across the world, particularly the UK, Germany, South Africa and Australia.
• A network of mentors both within pulsar science and at the University of Southampton.
• Training: in data science and machine-learning; in Python programming and software development; in managing very large data sets; and in key communication skills.
• Opportunities to present your research at national and international conferences.
• A collaborative research trip to Australia.

Click here if you would like to learn more, and please feel free to contact me with any questions!

Entry Requirements

A very good undergraduate degree (at least a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent).

Closing date: 17th January 2025 for standard admissions, but later applications may be considered depending on the funds remaining in place.

Funding: We offer a range of funding opportunities for both UK and international students, including Bursaries and Scholarships. For more information please visit PhD Scholarships | Doctoral College | University of Southampton  Funding will be awarded on a rolling basis, so apply early for the best opportunity to be considered.

How To Apply

Apply online via the ‘Apply’ button above. Select programme type (Research), 2025/26, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, next page select “PhD Physics (Full time)”. In Section 2 of the application form you should insert the name of the supervisor Lucy Oswald

Applications should include:

• Research Proposal
• Curriculum Vitae
• Two reference letters
• Degree Transcripts/Certificates to date

Further information please contact: feps-pgr-apply@soton.ac.uk

Advert information