Welcome to the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics

The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) is part of The Australian National University.  The Australian National University is Australia's premier university.  Our astronomers have won the Nobel Prize, the Prime Minister's Science Prize, and Australian Research Council Laureate, Federation, and Future Fellowships.  RSAA astronomers are members of the National Academies of Science in Australia, the USA, the UK, the Netherlands, and Spain.  Our graduating students regularly achieve prestigious international fellowships including Fulbright, Zonta, Hubble, CfA, ESO, Magellan, and Jansky Fellowships.

Our mission is to:

• Train outstanding young scientists to lead ground-breaking research projects in astronomy, astrophysics, and instrumentation
• Advance the observational and theoretical frontiers of astronomy and astrophysics, and their enabling technologies
• Provide national and international scientific leadership

The program at RSAA focuses on five main research themes:

1. Galactic archaeology - the study of the content, dynamics and evolution of galaxies.
2. Structure and evolution of the Cosmos - the study of the contents and evolution of the Universe as a whole.
3. Stellar and planetary astronomy - the study of the formation and evolution of the stars and planets.
4. Black hole phenomena - the discovery of the locations of black holes and the study of their interactions with their environments.
5. Instrumentation - in the areas of optics and detector science, integral-field spectroscopy, adaptive-optics technologies, instrumentation for the next generation of ground-based telescopes, and survey astronomy.

PhD research projects on offer are at the cutting-edge of astrophysics and instrumentation science, and include observations with the Hubble Space Telescope, the Gemini and Magellan 8m class telescopes, the Keck 10m telescope, and new theoretical simulations with ANU and the National Supercomputer facilities.

Location: Nature and Culture

The Australian National University is located in Canberra, the capital city of Australia.  Canberra is one of the few capital cities where nature reserves and parkland are integral to the city plan.  Canberra has extensive walking and bike trails.  The Research School for Astronomy & Astrophysics is located at Mount Stromlo, within the Stromlo Forest Park.  The Stromlo Forest Park includes a world-class mountain-biking trail, the Robert de Castella cross-country running track, the Stephen Hodge Criterium cycling circuit, and extensive equestrian and hiking trails. 

Canberra hosts the National Art Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of Australia, the National Library of Australia, and the National Film and Sound Archive. Canberra also has a vibrant and dynamic music scene. Numerous music events are held year-round by ANU School of Music, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, local choirs & bands, the annual National Folk Festival, the annual Canberra International Music Festival, touring Australian and international acts, rock festivals, live jazz, bands and DJs.

Our international PhD program

The Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University invites applications from outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate students of all nationalities for fully-funded PhD scholarships. Students with previous research experience in astrophysics or related fields (including undergraduate research projects and/or a research-based Masters degree) are particularly encouraged to apply.

Course foundation

The RSAA PhD Program offers the option to undertake innovative astrophysics courses taught by some of the world's pre-eminent astrophysicists, including ARC Laureate Fellow Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths.  These courses aim to provide students with a broad and deep understanding of the major current fields in astrophysics including cosmology, galaxy formation & evolution, stellar evolution & atmospheres, planetary science, high energy astrophysics, and the physics of the interstellar medium.  We also offer applications courses in astrophysical computer programming, observation techniques and data analysis, and scientific publication writing. 

Early research opportunity

You will commence work on finding a PhD research topic right from the start, by undertaking literature reviews, exploring work groups and meeting with potential supervisors. This will help you to choose a research topic that matches your research interests and that matches your research strengths and skills.  Since completing a PhD with us typically takes 3-4 years, you will be able to enter the international job market at a younger age than in many other countries.

International scholarships

Successful PhD scholarship applicants are fully supported with a generous tax-free scholarship plus an RSAA top-up scholarship, with a recommendation to waive tuition fees. PhD students may also access internal research funds and fellowships to cover travel and other research expenses, including international conferences and telescope observing.

Strong international support

Our research staff comes from many countries across the globe.  More than half of our PhD students are international students from all over the world and the student cohort is approximately 50/50 male/female.  Our international students receive the same research opportunities and scholarship support as local students.  A relocation allowance is part of the ANU PhD scholarship as well as part of the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. ANU offers accepted students a friendly and collaborative research environment.  In addition, ANU offers many support services to students, including a Research Training Program team and Academic Skills team that offer academic workshops for PhD students throughout the year.

Alumni and success rate

The RSAA has a long history of successful PhDs.  We have a selective PhD program, and our PhD success rate is extremely high; if we accept you into our program we have the expectation that you will complete your PhD in a reasonable time and move successfully to the next stage of an astronomical career.  Our PhD students regularly receive prestigious international scholarships and fellowships, and our alumni are now employed in astronomy all over the world, including ANU, Arecibo, Cambridge, Caltech, Columbia, the European Southern Observatory, Harvard, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Leiden University, Max Planck Institut fur Astrophysics, MIT, Princeton, the Space Telescope Science Institute, the University of California, University of Amsterdam, Yale, and Yonsei University Observatory.

Our facilities

RSAA has a long history of technical research and development, and is equipped with specialised engineering facilities for astronomical instrumentation. These facilities include a mechanical engineering design office and sophisticated mechanical workshop, an electronic design and manufacturing group, optics design and associated laboratories, and a software group that develops and implements control systems for telescopes, instruments, and data processing.

This tradition of expertise and development of advanced instrumentation has culminated in the Advanced Instrumentation Technology Centre (AITC), a world-class facility for developing and testing astronomical instrumentation, small satellites, and space payloads.

The RSAA is leading Australia’s involvement in the design and construction of the international, billion-dollar Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), one of the world's most powerful next generation telescopes. With a primary mirror the equivalent of 24.5 metres in diameter, the GMT will produce astronomical images up to 30 times sharper than existing ground-based telescopes. Using techniques currently being prototyped, this giant eye on the sky will become the platform for unprecedented discovery and insight into the evolution of the universe, galaxies, and planetary systems other than our own. It is scheduled to go into operation in the coming years.

Our faculty

Our distinguished faculty and research staff consists of over 50 astronomers from around the world.  With more academics than PhD students, you are assured of close attention at all stages of your career.  Research projects and supervisors are available in all four of our main areas of research: Galactic Archaeology, Galaxy Evolution and Cosmology, Planetary Science, and Black Hole Phenomena.  We also offer PhD projects in instrumentation research and development, particularly in laser-guided adaptive optics and infrared instrumentation development.

Our researchers include:

• Professor Matthew Colless, Director RSAA: Prior to becoming the director at the RSAA, Matthew was the Director of the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO), Australia's national optical observatory.  Matthew's research uses large redshift surveys of galaxies to understand their evolution and the large-scale structures they form.  Matthew led the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, which provided the first precise measurements of the total density of matter in the universe and established the relative densities of dark matter, baryons and neutrinos. He is currently co-Principal Investigator of the TAIPAN survey which will make the most extensive map of the mass distribution and motions in the local Universe. Prof. Colless is an ISI Citation Laureate and Highly-Cited Researcher, and has held positions such as Vice-President of the International Astronomical Union, and Vice-Chair of the Board of the Giant Magellan Telescope.
• Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths, 2021 Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow: Naomi uses radio telescopes to study the interstellar gas and magnetic fields of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. Her work includes the discovery of a new spiral arm within the Milky Way, the most detailed atlas of atomic hydrogen over the entire Milky Way visible from the Southern hemisphere and the pioneering demonstration of the importance of magnetic fields in the flow of matter into the Galactic disk. She is co-Principal Investigator on two of the large observational surveys underway with the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP): the Galactic ASKAP survey (GASKAP) and the Polarisation Survey of the Universe's Magnetism (POSSUM). GASKAP will reveal the structure of atomic gas in the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds, while POSSUM will detect magnetic fields throughout the Universe. In addition to her current research, Naomi is heavily involved in planning for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and is the Chair of the international SKA Science and Engineering Advisory Committee. Naomi was the recipient of the 2006 Prime Minister’s Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year and the 2015 Pawsey medal of the Australian Academy of Science for contributions to physics.
• Professor Ken Freeman, 2012 recipient of the Prime Minister's Prize for Science.  Ken was one of the first to discover that most of the mass of spiral galaxies is invisible. This is now called ‘dark matter’, and makes up more than 95% of the mass of galaxies like the Milky Way.  Ken works on galaxies, star clusters, our galaxy and dark matter. He and Professor Joss Bland-Hawthorn, started the new research field of Galactic Archaeology in 2002, and they are both leaders of a massive galactic archaeology survey of a million stars in the Milky Way using the new HERMES instrument on the AAT; the GALAH survey.  Ken Freeman recently won the American Astronomical Society's top prize for astronomical research: the 2013 Henry Norris Russell Lectureship
• Professor Lisa Kewley, 2015 Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow: Lisa uses massive clusters of galaxies to create the largest telescopes in the universe, to observe galaxies when the universe was only a tenth of its current age. In using this novel technique, Lisa analyses spectral signatures of oxygen in thousands of galaxies to measure how the amount of oxygen in galaxies has changed over time. By comparing galaxies at different distances, she has calculated that most of the oxygen in the universe formed between 5 billion and 12 billion years ago.  Lisa has won the American Astronomical Society's Annie Jump Cannon Award, the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize, the National Science Foundation Early Career Award, and was named one of Astronomy Magazine's Top 10 Rising Stars of Astronomy. Most recently Lisa is the lead Principal Investigator of the Australia Research Council Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D). This multi-year, multi-institution program will play a central role in the exploration of the universe over the next decade.
• Professor Brian Schmidt, 2011 Nobel Laureate for Physics: In 1994, Brian formed the HighZ SN Search team, a group of 20 astronomers who used distant exploding stars to trace the expansion of the Universe, discovering that the expansion is actually accelerating. He was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for this work.  Brian is now Vice-Chancellor and President of the Australian National University though he continues to have a limited engagement with the School.

How to apply

The Research School for Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University invites applications from outstanding undergraduate and Master's students of all nationalities for a number of fully-funded PhD scholarships to commence in 2022. Students with previous research experience in astrophysics are particularly encouraged to apply.

The application deadline is December 9th, 2022.

No applications will be considered prior to the deadline.

Admission requirements

We are seeking outstanding students from around the world.  Students should normally have a strong background in physics, including classical mechanics, statistical mechanics, electromagnetism, optics, thermodynamics, special relativity, quantum mechanics, and nuclear physics.  Courses in mathematics through differential equations are also required.  An undergraduate course in introductory astronomy is recommended.  Students with previous research experience in astrophysics (as an undergraduate or as a Masters student) are strongly encouraged to apply.

A grade point average of >80% is a minimum (but not the only) requirement for consideration for our program.  In selecting scholarship candidates, we consider academic achievement, the letters of recommendation, and independent research ability and experience. 

Submitting your pre-application

To be considered for our international program, please email your Curriculum Vitae, including copies of academic transcripts (English translation where necessary), your Personal Statement in a single pdf file to rsaa.international@anu.edu.au by the pre-application deadline.  You should also arrange to have 3 letters of reference arrive at rsaa.international@anu.edu.au by the deadline.  If available, please also send copies of any Master's thesis or published paper. Complete pre-applications received by the deadline will receive full consideration.  Applicants are encouraged to contact RSAA faculty about potential research projects in the applicant's areas of interest prior to the application deadline.

• Personal Statement

  In 2 pages or less, describe your experience, your research interests, your goals, your achievements, and any other information that you think might be relevant to your application.

• Reference Letters

  Research Application Referee Report Form (see Documents section) be submitted by three faculty members or other people who are familiar with your work.  Letters which address your research potential are generally more helpful than letters that describe your performance in coursework alone.

• English Requirements

  Successful pre-applicants will be required to satisfy ANU english language requirements. It is not necessary to satisfy these requirements prior to the pre-application deadline.

If you have any other questions regarding the RSAA or our graduate program, please do not hesitate to contact us on rsaa.sa@anu.edu.au

CRICOS Code 048378C