A fully funded 4 year PhD position to work primarily in the area of star and planet formation is available in the UCD School of Physics in Dublin (Ireland) under the supervision of Dr. Rebeca Garcia Lopez.

The successful candidate will work on high angular resolution studies of protoplanetary disks to probe the initial conditions for terrestrial planet formation and how matter is accreted and ejected from the central star. This project will exploit the power of state-of-the-art instrumentation such as GRAVITY at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) to spatially resolve the inner regions of protoplanetary disk.

Requirements: applicants need to have gained a first class or upper second honors degree (or equivalent) or a master’s degree in an appropriate subject (e.g. astronomy or physics). A good command of English, to at least IELTS level 6.5, is also required for international applicants. The successful student will be expected to start on September 2020.

For additional information regarding the research topic, please contact Dr. Rebeca Garcia Lopez (rebeca.garcialopez@ucd.ie). Applicants should include the following documents with their application: cv, degree certificates (where available) and transcript of records, a brief description of their research interests and experience, along with the names and contact details of two referees who can be approached for letters of recommendation. Completed applications should be sent directly to rebeca.garcialopez@ucd.ie and those submitted by Friday 1st May 2020 will receive our full consideration.

Studentships will be awarded for a total of four years, of which the first year is probationary, and will cover all university fees, the cost of a laptop, travel to conferences, etc., and a tax-free maintenance allowance of €18,000 p.a.