[ASA] PhD Opportunity in Solar and Space Physics at the University of Newcastle

[Hannah Schunker]

Dear Colleagues,

We would appreciate it if you could circulate the following PhD project opportunity to any (currently only domestic) students who may be interested.

—Hannah Schunker
ARC Future Fellow
University of Newcastle


Remote Sensing of Coronal Mass Ejection Magnetic Fields from the Sun for Space Weather Forecasting<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/dSIGC91WPRTRw4z0wuofgFqzekR?domain=newcastle.edu.au>

Applications close 3 November 2024

This is an opportunity to model remote sensing techniques for coronal mass ejection (CME) magnetic fields from the Sun through the heliosphere and contribute to advancing solar physics and space weather forecasting in this cutting-edge project.

The successful candidate will work towards advancing one of the pressing problems in a space-faring society: understanding the propagation of the Sun’s radiation and magnetic field through the heliosphere.

The goal of this project is to enhance remote sensing capabilities for measuring the speed and magnetic field characteristics of CMEs originating from the Sun. The focus is on advancing methods to determine the magnetic field strength and orientation of CMEs. We aim to develop innovative remote sensing capabilities to exploit a range of observations to constrain the propagation speed, magnetic field strength and orientation of CMEs: (i) Interplanetary Scintillation observations, (ii) gyrosynchrotron radiation from the Sun, and (iii) Faraday rotation effects on light from distant sources observed in radio observations from archive Murchison Wide-field Array data. A key component of understanding the signal is modelling the CMEs and observations. Ultimately, the enhanced capabilities will contribute to a deeper understanding of CMEs, enabling more precise forecasting of their arrival times and potential impact on Earth’s space environment.

The successful candidate will:
• have the opportunity to join the dynamic and growing Centre for Space Physics at the University of Newcastle as well as
• contribute to solving this important science problem developing both state-of-the-art simulations, and observations from the Murchison Widefield Array and (when available) the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder
• share their research with the international astrophysics community via conferences, meetings, and peer-reviewed publications
• benefit from mentorship and guidance from academics at the University, including Dr. Hannah Schunker, Prof. David Pontin as well as from external institutes such as Dr. John Morgan (CSIRO).


PhD Scholarship details

Funding: $36,000 per annum (2024 rate) indexed annually.
For a PhD candidate, the living allowance scholarship is for 3.5 years and the tuition fee scholarship is for four years.
Scholarships also include up to $1,500 relocation allowance.


Eligibility Criteria

We are looking for a motivated, independent student with a 1st class Honours (or expected) degree or equivalent.
Experience in modelling and coding would be an advantage.
This opportunity is currently only open to domestic students.


Application Procedure

In the email expressing your interest, please send the documents (academic transcripts, CV, statement of research interests, proposal linking you to the field of research - describing what you can bring to the project) as ONE pdf file attachment with YOUR surname as the filename e.g. Schunker.pdf

Please send the email expressing interest to hannah.schunker at newcastle.edu.au by 5pm on 03 November 2024.





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