About the project
In this project, you will push the boundaries of our understanding of extreme neutron star physics, developing your own research ideas and building expertise in AI and large-scale data science. You will apply machine-learning and data science techniques to discover anomalies in vast data sets of radio pulsar observations, and use these to understand how neutron stars evolve over their lifetimes.
Pulsars, which are spinning neutron stars that emit beams of radio waves, are among the most extreme objects in the Universe, but the physics behind their power source remains unknown. To gain a better understanding, our best bet is to find ordinary pulsars that behave in unexpected ways.
You will use over a million radio pulses from a thousand pulsars observed with MeerKAT, the most sensitive radio telescope in the Southern hemisphere. With so many observations to study, You will need to take an AI-centred approach to tackle this influx of information.
You will apply novel visualizations, statistics and unsupervised machine-learning to discover the cases where pulsars behave strangely, and work with an international team of experts to investigate the causes of this behaviour. You will then use these discoveries to make connections across the radio transient population, from incredibly fast-spinning millisecond pulsars, to extragalactic Fast Radio Bursts.
You can expect the following opportunities and support:
- the opportunity to take ownership of your research and become a leader of projects and publications
- a schedule of weekly supervisor meetings to help guide your development
- membership of international collaborations with two of the world’s best radio telescopes: Murriyang and MeerKAT
- the chance to work with experts from across the world, particularly the UK, Germany, South Africa and Australia
- a network of mentors both within pulsar science and at the University of Southampton
- opportunities to present your research at national and international conferences
- a collaborative research trip to Australia
Moreover, you'll receive training in:
- data science and machine-learning
- Python programming and software development
- managing very large data sets
- key communication skills
