Examples of PhD projects available

An overview

There will be several PhD positions open for application with a deadline of November 1, 2024. For details of the application procedure see this page. The positions are available in all the research areas in which the Observatory is active. This page will give a broad overview of possible research projects . However, research in different areas is possible and not all projects that might be offered are listed. The faculty research interests provides more background information.

  • Detecting planet formation in the youngest protoplanetary disks
    Supervisor: Melissa McClure
    Description: Planet formation occurs in short-lived protoplanetary disks of dust and gas around young stars. The final stage of gas giant formation can be studied directly in mature disks (e.g. PDS 70b/c), but at the earliest stages (<1 Myr) disks are still embedded in the their natal envelope and difficult to detect. JWST enables detailed observations of the inner regions of these young disks for the first time. The student will model data from several Cycle 1-3 programs to study where and when planets can form at this young age.

  • Resolving stellar populations in distant massive galaxies with the JWST
    Supervisor: Mariska Kriek
    Description: In recent years, it has become apparent that massive galaxies formed and evolved much faster than predicted by theoretical models, with many already mature when the Universe was only a fraction of its current age. However, we still have a limited understanding of how these galaxies formed so quickly, why many of them had already ended their star-forming phase, and how they evolved into the massive galaxies we see in the present-day Universe. A PhD position is available in the group of Prof. Kriek to work on the stellar populations of massive galaxies over cosmic time, using novel Cycle 3 observations from the James Webb Space Telescope. The PhD candidate will work with both ultradeep spectroscopic and photometric data to derive spatially resolved stellar populations. For this analysis, we will develop new forward-modeling routines to analyze these datasets simultaneously. The resulting stellar population maps and stellar mass distributions will provide novel insights into the star-forming, transitional, and quiescent phases of massive galaxies.

  • Pushing the next generation of astronomical instruments towards the fundamental limit with meta-materials
    Supervisor: Sebastiaan Haffert
    Description: The era of the 39-meter European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will offer unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution, enabling new discoveries in all areas of astronomy and astrophysics. Among its top priorities is the discovery and characterization of Earth-like planets that could have climates like ours and where life could form and evolve - potentially answering one of the oldest questions of humankind; are we alone? Realizing such a grand goal will only be possible if we invent and implement new technologies to fulfill the ultimate potential of the ELT. Since the ELT observes through Earth?s atmosphere, severely degrading its performance, Adaptive Optics (AO) is required to compensate for atmospheric turbulence. Leveraging metamaterials, an exciting new class of optical components, we will push AO systems to their theoretical limits, facilitating the characterization of Earth-like planets. Optical metasurfaces, constructed with nanoscale structures using advanced lithographic techniques, provide unparalleled manipulation of their optical characteristics. This capability allows them to surpass previous limitations in the design of adaptive optics (AO) components. In this project the applicant will work together with Dr. Sebastiaan Haffert to develop optical meta-material components for the Extremely Large Telescope. The new technology will be tested on-sky at world-leading observatories to demonstrate their potential for the ELT.

  • Detection of high-energy neutrinos from tidal disruption events with the KM3NeT telescope
    Supervisor: Sjoert van Velzen
    Description: The origin of high-energy neutrinos is unknown. Uncovering potential sources is important because neutrinos provide unique information about the processes of particle acceleration under extreme conditions. Using data from the IceCube telescope, we have recently obtained evidence that stellar tidal disruption events could produce a significant fraction of the detected high-energy neutrino flux. In this project we are going to test this hypothesis using data from a new neutrino telescope: KM3NeT. This telescope is under construction, but already operational and thanks to its excellent angular resolution, it can match IceCube in sensitivity for multi-messenger searches. The PhD candidate will be working closely with KM3NeT group at NIKHEF. The candidate will help with efforts to calibrate the detector, in particular the sky localization algorithms. At the end of the project, we will be able to test the connection between high-energy neutrinos and tidal disruption events with a new neutrino dataset. Candidates with a background in (experimental) astroparticle physics are preferred, but all candidates will be considered.

  • Stars tidally disrupted by supermassive black holes
    Supervisor: Elena Maria Rossi
    Description: Prof. Elena Maria Rossi advertises a project on numerical and theoretical studies of stars tidally disrupted by supermassive black holes (called Tidal Disruption Events, TDEs) at the centre of galaxies. The ultimate goal is to realise the potential of TDEs to signpost quiescent supermassive black holes and measure their masses and spin, essential clues to their (still unknown) formation and highly debated co-evolution with their host-galaxy. The student will work with state of the art simulations and theoretical tools to predict lightcurves and spectra of TDEs in an unprecedented large range of black hole masses and other parameters. The student will also develop a formaward model that given a scenario for supermassive black holes formation in the early universe, predicts the TDE rate as a function of black hole mass in the local universe and assess the prospect to use current and future TDE survey data to reveal the origin of supermassive black holes.
    The student will be embedded with a group formed by two other PhD students and a post-doc. This position is funded by an NWO, VICI grant

  • Radio powerhouses of the Milky Way: Stellar remnants with LOFAR 2.0
    Supervisors: Maria Arias and Joeri van Leeuwen
    Description: We are about to start the sharpest and deepest exploration of the Milky Way at low radio frequencies, in the LOFAR 2.0 Galactic Plane Survey (L2GPS). That is exciting because we are bound to discover new supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae and compact objects, and better understand previously known ones. This will allow us to answer question about how supernova remnants shape the Milky Way, how highly magnetized neutron stars power nebulae, and which compact objects produce the enigmatic long-period transients. For this project we invite applications for a PhD student, who will join our groups at Leiden and ASTRON (consisting of further students, post-docs, and faculty). You will learn cutting-edge techniques in radio interferometry and supercomputing to exploit the LOFAR 2.0 observations along with data from other radio telescopes, and become an independently-thinking astrophysics expert.

  • At the frontier of spectroscopic characterization of exoplanet atmospheres
    Supervisor: Ignas Snellen
    Description: The field of extrasolar planets is arguably one of the most exciting areas in modern astronomy. The newest observations of exoplanet atmospheres show that they are highly complex and diverse worlds, often very different from the planets in our own Solar System. Snellen's exoplanet group is at the forefront of these discoveries.
    JWST is revolutionizing exoplanet atmospheric characterization with spectroscopic measurements of breathtaking precision. However, those complex observing modes with the highest spectral resolving power, have not yet been utilized, while they will be the most powerful for exoplanet observations. In this PhD project, you will work with state-of-the-art techniques, such as spectral filtering, cross-correlation methods, and molecular mapping, to push JWST to its limits -- potentially allowing Earth-like planets to be characterized.

  • The PhD positions previously listed here by Joseph Callingham ("Into the unknown" and "Hunting for the beat") are now offered at the University of Amsterdam.