[ASA] Summer research internships in the COMBS ARC Centre for Excellence

[Michael Murphy]

Dear colleagues,

If you could pass on this opportunity to 2nd or 3rd year undergraduate
science students (especially in physics & astronomy), that would be most
appreciated. The due date is 20 September, just over a week away.

Applications are invited from 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students for
summer internships in our new Centre for Excellence in Optical Microcombs
for Breakthrough Science <https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/sFIdC3QNPBi7k57yDigfoCQiNNE?domain=combs.org.au> (COMBS). This is a
multi-disciplinary centre, funded by the Australian Research Council, that
works across 8 Australian universities. Successful applicants will spend
6–8 weeks working at one of these universities on a research project led by
one of the COMBS Chief Investigators
<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/69TtC4QOPEiYVpYD4fxhYC4AwE1?domain=combs.org.au>, paid at $750 per week. They
will also be funded to attend the COMBS annual workshop early next year
(mid-Feb.), to be held in Victor Harbour, South Australia.

The research projects <https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/TXyyC5QPXJigJVgXkHyioCkGK5V?domain=combs.org.au> cover a
diverse range of topics where laser-based "frequency combs" promise to
provide new breakthrough science. This includes the astronomy project
detailed below.

Applications are due by Friday 20th September. More details, including the
research projects available, are available at
https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/TXyyC5QPXJigJVgXkHyioCkGK5V?domain=combs.org.au


*Project 6: Can we watch the Universe expand in real time?* (Swinburne
University of Technology)

*Project Description:* The Swinburne node of COMBS – the ARC Centre of
Excellence in Optical Microcombs for Breakthrough Science – is leading work
on “astrocombs”. These are ultra-precise ‘colour rulers’ for making new
measurements possible in astronomy. For example, astrocombs are envisaged
to help us identify Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars. Another
example, and the focus of this project, is to understand whether astrocombs
can help us watch the Universe expand in real time. For this to work, we
need to be able to measure the spectrum of an object now (first epoch), and
then again in a decade or so (second epoch), to track tiny changes in its
speed over time. Your task will be to make some of the first measurements
using the spectrum of a quasar (light from around a black hole in a very
distant galaxy), recently observed on the Very Large Telescope in Chile,
one of the world’s front-line optical telescopes (8-metre diameter).

--

Professor Michael T. Murphy,

Deputy Director, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing
<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/PI_cC6XQ4LfVNnVpLI5sNC5MXZU?domain=astronomy.swin.edu.au>,

Chief Investigator, ARC Centre for Excellence in Optical Microcombs for
Breakthrough Science (COMBS) <https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/sFIdC3QNPBi7k57yDigfoCQiNNE?domain=combs.org.au>,
Swinburne University of Technology,
Mail H29, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia.
@MTMurphy77 <https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/xCmNC71R2NTEgOE8Giqt0CoO4zv?domain=twitter.com>,
https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/fCLbC81V0PTOG7O2NtwuECy9TZM?domain=astronomy.swin.edu.au
Pho: +61 (0)3 9214 5818; Mob/Cell: +61 (0)405 214 461.
CRICOS Provider No.: 00111D
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