PhD

Physics

You are viewing this course for September start 2024

Physics at Aberystwyth has an established reputation in leading-edge research and has fully-funded PhD studentships (such as EPSRC, STFC and AberDoc) available in all research areas. Our Department has a robotic telescope, state-of-the-art laboratories, supercomputing and 3D visualisation facilities for research projects, and makes extensive use of national and international research facilities. Lists of typical Materials Physics and Solar System Physics PhD projects are available.

Typical Entry Requirements

Entry Requirements 2:1 Bachelors (Honours) degree in a relevant subject area, or equivalent.

English Language Requirements IELTS 6.0 with minimum 5.5 in each component, or equivalent

Other Requirements Applicants should submit a full research proposal at the point of application

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Course Overview

Why undertake a PhD with the Department of Physics at Aberystwyth University?

Physics and Astronomy have been taught at Aberystwyth since the university was established in 1872. We aim to undertake internationally competitive, collaborative research in Space Physics, Materials Physics and Quantum Physics in a friendly and supportive environment.

We have a dedicated Physical Sciences library on campus that houses excellent research material for the study of mathematics, physics and computer science, including the Scott Blair Collection, a comprehensive and important resource for the study of rheology.

Aberystwyth University has a proud tradition of research excellence, as demonstrated in the most recent Research Excellence Framework assessment (REF 2014), which placed the university in the top 50 institutions for research power and intensity.

We specialise in many exciting areas including planetary exploration and the very latest low dimensional materials. Available research groups can be seen below:

Solar System Physics group, studies the chain of events leading from the Sun, through the solar wind, to the atmospheres and surfaces of the planets.

Materials Research, advanced experimental techniques are applied in parallel with mathematical and computational modelling to elucidate the critical relationships that determine properties such as fluid flow, fracture, melting, conductivity and light emission in materials such as liquids, foams, glass, ceramics, semiconductors, nanoparticles and thin films. The Department of Physics at Aberystwyth University is part of the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Diamond Science and Technology.

About this course

Key Facts

To apply for a place on the PhD programme you will need to prepare a research proposal, personal statement, complete an application form and provide two references. Please see the How to Apply pages for more detail.

English Language Requirements:

If you have a Bachelor’s degree from a UK University, you do not need to take an English proficiency test.

Non-native English speakers who do not meet this requirement must take a University-recognised test of academic English language proficiency. For further information please see our English Language requirements page.

Course Fees:

Please see the tuition fee pages for current tuition fees. Please note that all fees are subject to an annual increase.

Funding:

Funding opportunities may be available, please check our funding calculator for details.Possible funding opportunities include EPSRC Research Studentships (Material Science only), quota STFC research studentships (space/planetary physics only), and the AberDoc PhD Scholarship competition.

Contact

To discuss possible research projects and/or funding available, please contact the Department at mailto:phys@aber.ac.uk

For more information on the application process, please contact the Postgraduate Admissions Office at mailto:pg-admissions@aber.ac.ukor +44 (0) 1970 622270.