ASP4000 Astrophysics research project

You will undertake a project, involving original research in one of the School's research themes, which encompass a diverse range of "cutting-edge" topics, including: active galaxies, astrophysical fluid dynamics and magneto-hydrodynamics, galaxy evolution, first stars, the formation of stars, stellar evolution, stellar nucleosynthesis, nuclear astrophysics, chemical evolution, galactic archaeology, supernovae and supernovae remnants, neutron stars, stellar transients, supermassive black holes, high energy astrophysics, gravitational wave astronomy, stellar and planetary dynamics and exoplanets. A full list of projects will be made available to you prior to commencing the MSc program.

The research project may be observational, computational or theoretical in nature, or it may involve a combination of these research paradigms. You will be assigned an academic supervisor (or supervisors), who will oversee the research project and provide mentoring. You are required to undertake a comprehensive literature review and report your preliminary results via a seminar. The major outcomes of the project will be communicated in the form of a thesis. You will also be required to defend your research outcomes via an oral examination. Your project will likely be continued into the second year of the MSc program; hence ASP4000 will lay the foundations for a substantial ongoing research project in the second year of the degree.

As part of your research training, you will be affiliated with one of the School's research groups (aligned with your research project) and will be required to attend weekly group meetings, seminars and colloquia. Opportunities will also be provided to you to receive training in specialist areas associated with your research project, e.g., technical computing, visualisation of data, specific observational techniques, etc.