Projects & Supervisors
The members of staff available as supervisors for students beginning PhD's in October 2026 are listed below. Click on a supervisor’s name to access information describing their current research interests.
| Supervisor | Research Areas | PhD 2026 | MPhil 2026 |
| Dr James Alvey | Machine learning, gravitational waves, Bayesian inference, artificial intelligence, simulation-based inference | Yes | No |
| Professor Vasily Belokurov |
Big data, large surveys, galactic evolution, galactic dynamics, stars, dense stellar systems, dark matter, quasars, time domain, spectroscopy |
Yes | Yes |
| Dr Amy Bonsor | Planetary systems, Exoplanets, Debris discs, Polluted white dwarfs, Origin of life. | Yes | Yes |
| Professor Anthony Challinor | Physical and theoretical cosmology, cosmic microwave background, large scale structure formation and growth. | Yes | No |
| Professor Cathie Clarke | Protoplanetary discs, binary stars, cluster dynamics. | Yes | No |
| Dr Miles Cranmer | Machine learning, artificial intelligence, statistics, galactic dynamics, local group, cosmology, galaxy formation, planetary systems, fluid dynamics, simulations. | Yes | No |
| Professor Wyn Evans | Stars and stellar evolution, black holes, neutron stars, near field cosmology, milky way, dark matter, Gravitational lensing and microlensing. | Yes | Yes |
| Professor Anastasia Fialkov | Theory of dark ages, cosmic dawn and reionization including: cosmology and astrophysics with the hydrogen 21-cm line, properties of the high-redshift intergalactic medium, dark matter physics, first stars and black holes, impact of quasars. Interpretation of data from radio telescopes (HERA, REACH, SARAS, etc.) using Bayesian analysis and Machine learning. Synergies. | Yes | Yes |
| Dr Will Handley | Cosmology, astroparticle physics, gravitational waves, Bayesian analysis and machine learning (theory, observation & methods). | Yes | No |
| Dr Boryana Hadzhiyska | Cosmology, large-scale structure, cosmic microwave background, extragalactic astronomy, gas dynamics, cosmological simulations, galaxy surveys, early Universe, weak lensing, theory and observations | Yes | Yes |
| Professor Martin Haehnelt | Reionization and the Physics of the Intergalactic Medium, the Formation of Galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes, the Lyman-alpha Forest as a probe of Dark Matter, Observational Cosmology. | Yes | No |
| Dr Simon Hodgkin | Time Domain Observational Astronomy: Exoplanet Discovery, Variability in Young Stars, Gaia and PLATO. | No | No |
| Professor Nikku Madhusudhan | Exoplanets, Atmospheres, Interiors, Habitability, Biosignatures, Hycean worlds, JWST observations. | Yes | No |
| Professor Kaisey Mandel | Supernova Cosmology, Astrostatistics, Astronomical Machine Learning, Time-domain and Transient Astronomy, Gravitationally-lensed Supernovae, Bayesian Modelling and Inference, Statistical Computation. | Yes | Yes |
| Professor Richard McMahon | Extragalactic observational astronomy; Galaxy formation and evolution, high redshift quasars, supermassive black holes. | No | Yes |
| Dr Chris Moore | Gravitational Wave Astronomy, Black Holes, Compact Objects, Astrostatistics, Bayesian inference and data analysis. | Yes | No |
| Professor Hiranya Peiris | Cosmology, Galaxy Evolution, Astroparticle Physics, Early Universe Theory, Bayesian Analysis and Machine Learning, Gravitational wave Astrophysics. | Yes | Yes |
| Dr Antti Rantala | Formation and evolution of galaxies and star clusters, formation and dynamical interactions of black holes of all masses. Developing novel high performance computing frameworks. | Yes | Yes |
| Dr James Rogers | Exoplanets, super-Earths and sub-Neptunes, planet formation and evolution, atmospheric escape, interior structure, machine learning, Bayesian inference | Yes | No |
| Dr Nikhil Sarin | Time domain and transient astrophysics, Gravitational-wave astrophysics, neutron star dynamics, formation, and evolution | Yes | Yes |
| Professor Oliver Shorttle | Extrasolar planets, sub-Neptunes, rocky planets, solar system, planet formation, interior structure and dynamics, habitability, origin of life. | Yes | Yes |
| Professor Debora Sijacki | Formation and evolution of galaxies, dark energy, dark matter, baryons, supermassive black holes and multi messenger science. | Yes | Yes |
| Professor Christopher Tout | Stars, Stellar Evolution. and Interacting Binary Stars. | Yes | Yes |
| Dr Nicholas Walton | Assembly history of the Milky Way, Late stages of stellar evolution & Planetary Nebulae, Supernova cosmology & Supernova Alerts, Exoplanet/ Host Star Connection. | Yes | No |
| Professor Mark Wyatt | Evolution of planetary systems, circumstellar disk observations, debris discs. | Yes | Yes |