Addison PhD position now available.

A 3.5 year PhD position in extragalactic astronomy, funded by the Addison fellowships from the University of Central Lancashire, is now open for applications. The position will start in October 2008 and the successful candidate is expected to work under the supervision of Dr. Cristina C. Popescu on a project related to dust emission in galaxies (see below). A bachelor degree in physics and an EU nationality are the minimum requirements for the post. The position is to be advertised externally, but candidates are encouraged to directly contact Dr. Popescu at cpopescu@uclan.ac.uk.

Project title: Statistical Analysis of the UV-FIR Spectral Energy Distributions of Gas-rich Galaxies observed in the Herschel ATLAS and GAMA surveys

Abstract: Applications of novel radiation transfer modelling techniques, developed at UCLan as apart of a world-wide international collaboration of theorists and observers, have shown that a combined, self-consistent modelling of the visible/UV and infrared spectral energy distributions of galaxies will be fundamental to the understanding of both the stellar emission and the interstellar medium (ISM) out of which stars are being formed. The aim of this PhD project is to extend the application of these modelling techniques to large statistical samples of galaxies now being observed/soon to be observed by the Herschel ATLAS (The Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey) and the GAMA (Galaxy Mass Assembly) surveys.