DATE: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:10:46 +1000
SUBJECT: PhD Studentships in Astronomy at The University of Sydney 

Job Advertisement: Closing Date 31 Oct 2009

PhD Studentships in Astronomy at The University of Sydney

Are you a high achieving student  who wants to launch your research  
career
in astrophysics? Where better than the largest and most successful  
research
group in one of the world's most beautiful and livable cities!

The Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA) invites applications for PhD
scholarships within the School of Physics at The University of Sydney.
As one of the largest and most successful astrophysics groups in
Australia, a very wide variety of research topics are available
including studies in cosmology and the high-redshift universe,
galactic archaeology, black holes, pulsars and exotic systems,
stellar astrophysics and the detection of exoplanets.

SIfA hosts more than thirty research staff including two
Federation Fellows, and supports two major scientific field stations:
the MOST radio telescope and the SUSI long-baseline optical
interferometer. We also have strong linkages with Australia's national
facilities: the Anglo-Australian Observatory, the Australia Telescope
National Facility, and several supercomputing centres.

SIfA researchers lead a host of projects on the world's premier  
facilities
for observational astronomy, including Keck, Gemini, Magellan, VLT and  
the
VLA, together with space missions such as the Hubble, Spitzer, Chandra  
and
Kepler space observatories.
Furthermore, SIfA is also a leader in the rapidly growing
interdisciplinary field of advanced photonics and instrumentation, so  
that
projects on offer span the complete range from theoretical,  
observational
and computational research through to design and construction of
leading-edge astronomical instrumentation for major optical and radio
telescopes.

The University of Sydney is Australia's oldest university, conveniently
located near the centre of Australia's largest city. With a great  
climate,
excellent food and diverse cultural offerings, Sydney regularly ranks  
near
the top in lists of the world's most desirable cities.

Eligible applicants will be exceptional students of any nationality who
hold a 1st class honours degree or a masters (or equivalent) in  
Physics or
a closely-related field. Scholarships will be awarded on a competitive  
basis,
and provide tuition and a tax-exempt stipend. Each
PhD student has access to funding to support conference attendance and  
travel to
observatories, while scholarship top-ups are available to the highest- 
calibre
applicants.

For details on potential astrophysical research projects, scholarship  
terms
and the application process see:
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/sifa/Main/Astrophysics

Those interested in innovative astronomical instrumentation may also be
interested to see:
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/sifa/Main/Instrumental

Further enquiries can be directed to sifa_enquiry@physics.usyd.edu.au.
The deadline for receipt of applications, supporting materials and
letters of reference is 31 Oct 2009 for a starting date in February  
2010.