Graduate opportunities

Research in theoretical astrophysics and plasma physics at Oxford University continues to push back the frontiers of physics in a number of different disciplines. It is an exciting time to be a graduate student in astrophysics at the moment, and the details below show how you can get involved.

Candidates wishing to be considered by more than one physics sub-department (or more than one group within a sub-department) should fill in ONE form and pay only ONE application fee. The form should be submitted giving the course code for the sub-department which most closely reflects the research interest and give under section 1(iii), Programme of Study, the sub-departments which are being asked to consider the application.

Every research student must be accepted by a college and it is necessary to specify a college when applying. The choice of college does not affect the academic work of the student, which is in any science subject the responsibility of the department. Many colleges make awards for graduate studies, usually as Clarendon Bursaries.

Research in Theoretical Astrophysics

Research in Theoretical Astrophysics is concentrated in the following areas: galactic dynamics (including specific applications to the Milky Way), plasma astrophysics and Astroparticle physics. Each year we typically have one STFC funded studentship, and for entry in 2014 we can offer two ERC-funded studentships. Details of ERC-funded projects are here.

If you want to work on galaxies or astrophysical plamas, you should apply through the sub-Department of Astrophysics, but make your interest in our projects clear on the application. If you want to work on astro-particle physics, you should apply through the Particle Theory group of the Rudolf Peierls Centre.

Email James Binney, John Magorrian or Alexander Schekochihin for information on D.Phil. projects in astrophysics.

You can find out more about the projects on offer, sources of funding and how to apply on the website of the Sub-department of Astrophysics.

Research in Plasma Physics

Students interested in research in theoretical plasma physics at the University of Oxford leading to the doctoral degree of D.Phil., beginning on 1st October 2014, are invited to apply here following the University's procedure. The course code is Theoretical Physics 002610.

To find out more about D.Phil. projects on plasma physics, contact Felix Parra Diaz or Alexander Schekochihin.

Plasma Physics Projects for 2014

Collisional solutions for the plasma in the boundary layer of fusion devices

Felix Parra Diaz

Fusion energy promises clean and virtually inexhaustible energy, but it is difficult to achieve because fusion reactions require temperatures of the order of 200 million degrees. At this temperature, the fuel is an ionized gas, also known as plasma. The extremely hot plasmas needed for fusion are confined using strong magnetic fields in tokamaks and stellarators. By design, these configurations have a large number of magnetic field lines that do not get in contact the walls because the plasma cannot move across magnetic field lines, but can easily scape along them. Near the walls, however, magnetic field lines impinge on the surface of the vacuum vessel, and the plasma can run into the wall. Current experiments control the plasma-wall interaction by setting the strike point of the open field lines in a region of the chamber, known as divertor, specially designed to deal with large heat loads. The purpose of this DPhil project is to find analytical or semi-analytical steady state solutions for the plasma in the open field line region, known as Scrape Off Layer (SOL). To find these steady state solutions, the DPhil student must consider the charged particle orbits, determined by the self-consistent electromagnetic fields, and the collisions between different charged particles. The DPhil student will focus in particular on the population of energetic electrons that can overcome the large potential barrier established by the electrons already absorbed by the wall. These energetic electrons can be important to determine the electric field at the wall. The results of this DPhil will be useful to understand future exciting experiments with the Super-X Divertor in MAST, the spherical tokamak at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE). These results will also help develop models for the energetic electrons that can be used in codes that try to model turbulent transport in the Scrape Off Layer plasma around the core of tokamaks and stellarators.

This DPhil will be done in collaboration with Dr. Fulvio Militello of CCFE.

To find out more information about this project, contact Felix Parra Diaz.