skip to content
Home

Cavendish Astrophysics

 

Feed aggregator Subscribe to Cavendish Astrophysics aggregator

Mon 27 Oct 13:00: Title to be confirmed

Upcoming talks - Sun, 07/09/2025 - 11:58
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Mon 06 Oct 13:00: Title to be confirmed

Upcoming talks - Sun, 07/09/2025 - 11:57
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Mon 13 Oct 13:00: Title to be confirmed

Upcoming talks - Sun, 07/09/2025 - 11:56
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 26 Sep 11:30: The curious case of metal-poor DLAs at cosmic noon

Upcoming talks - Mon, 01/09/2025 - 21:26
The curious case of metal-poor DLAs at cosmic noon

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 24 Oct 11:30: Learning galaxy properties with machine learning and simulation based inference

Upcoming talks - Fri, 29/08/2025 - 12:02
Learning galaxy properties with machine learning and simulation based inference

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 14 Nov 11:30: Physics of Ultra-Faint Dwarfs

Upcoming talks - Thu, 28/08/2025 - 09:05
Physics of Ultra-Faint Dwarfs

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 28 Nov 11:30: Dwarf Galaxies in the Local Universe

Upcoming talks - Thu, 28/08/2025 - 09:03
Dwarf Galaxies in the Local Universe

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 07 Nov 11:30: JWST Spectroscopic Insights Into the Evolution and Diversity of Galaxies within the First Billion Years

Upcoming talks - Wed, 27/08/2025 - 12:39
JWST Spectroscopic Insights Into the Evolution and Diversity of Galaxies within the First Billion Years

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 28 Nov 11:30: Local satellite galaxies

Upcoming talks - Wed, 27/08/2025 - 12:38
Local satellite galaxies

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Safety Coordinator

Department of Physics Jobs - Wed, 27/08/2025 - 01:00

Are you looking for a full-time role within a small dynamic team? The Cavendish Laboratory (Department of Physics) has an exciting opportunity for a Safety Coordinator to join our passionate and dedicated community. Working as part of the Departments' Safety team, the roleholder will provide a welcoming, friendly and support to all users of the Department.

We have recently moved into our new state-of-the-art, Ray Dolby Centre which will be the centrepiece of the new Cavendish Laboratory. This is an exciting and challenging time for the Department, and we would like to find a highly motivated individual with a positive attitude towards change and development to join us. The Department is home to over 2000 staff, students and visitors across a large range of disciplines and categories, where exemplary delivery of world-leading, innovative research programmes and teaching takes place and where the provision of an outstanding safety advice and expertise will be vital to delivering the vision for the new Estate.

Working alongside the Health & Safety manager and their deputy, the successful candidate will be a positive, friendly and organised individual with a commitment to safety and customer delivery. You will be able to deal with all enquires in a professional manner, ensuring accuracy of information both in written and spoken communication form. You will be required to operate a few systems and develop processes to assist implementing the department safety management system (SMS) to ensure site and building safety and timely emergency or first aid response.

We are looking for someone who:

  • Has previous experience working in a health and safety setting.

  • Is able to communicate effectively and interact positively with staff, academics, students and visitors, with a confident approach and positive attitude.

  • Can manage their time to get tasks done and use their initiative to prioritise when necessary.

This full-time post is available now. Additional information regarding the role may be found within the Further Information document via the link below.

Some of our many benefits include:

  • Competitive rates of pay with automatic service related pay progression and annual cost of living increases;

  • Generous annual leave provision

  • Family & Work-life balance policies including hybrid working and generous carer leave (maternity, paternity, shared parental leave, adoption leave), amongst others

  • An auto-enrolment pension scheme, with a generous employer contribution;

  • Exclusive employee discounts via our CamBens scheme

  • Personal Development: The Department actively encourages and supports personal development and our staff have access to a wide range of courses and training via our Personal and Professional Development (PPD) service.

Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

For an informal conversation about the role, please contact Geoff Elliott, Departmental Safety Manager gde26@cam.ac.uk

Please quote reference KA46955 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Fri 07 Nov 10:00: JWST Spectroscopic Insights Into the Evolution and Diversity of Galaxies within the First Billion Years

Upcoming talks - Mon, 25/08/2025 - 14:50
JWST Spectroscopic Insights Into the Evolution and Diversity of Galaxies within the First Billion Years

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Tue 23 Sep 13:00: Planetary Evolution Across Stellar Lifetimes

None - Mon, 25/08/2025 - 10:48
Planetary Evolution Across Stellar Lifetimes

Over the past thirty years, nearly 6,000 planets have been confirmed. These systems provide key insights into how planet populations evolve over time, sculpted by planetary dynamics and stellar processes. Such mechanisms can drive dramatic changes on the planet and, in extreme cases, lead to its destruction. However, there are many gaps in our understanding of the evolution of planetary systems. In particular, the ultimate fate of these systems as their host stars evolve off the main sequence remains largely unknown. In this talk, I will present my work probing the mechanisms that shape planets over their lifetime. First, I will examine the impact of migration and photoevaporation on main-sequence systems. The recently confirmed planet, TOI -5800 b, provides a unique case study of an eccentric sub-Neptune on a close-in orbit, and may provide insight into how evolutionary processes contribute to population-level features such as the Neptunian desert. Second, I will describe how stellar evolution transforms planetary systems. In addition to destroying inner planets and dramatically altering the dynamics of outer planets, this process may also fundamentally alter the atmospheric composition of giant planets through a phase called common envelope evolution. Finally, I will discuss the ultimate fate of planet populations as their host stars evolve to their final state as white dwarfs. Even in these mature systems, planets can be destroyed through scattering into their host’s Roche radius, leaving an observational signature called “pollution.” I will also highlight ongoing efforts to probe the surviving planet population around white dwarf stars with JWST .

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Tue 23 Sep 13:00: Planetary Evolution Across Stellar Lifetimes

Upcoming talks - Mon, 25/08/2025 - 10:48
Planetary Evolution Across Stellar Lifetimes

Over the past thirty years, nearly 6,000 planets have been confirmed. These systems provide key insights into how planet populations evolve over time, sculpted by planetary dynamics and stellar processes. Such mechanisms can drive dramatic changes on the planet and, in extreme cases, lead to its destruction. However, there are many gaps in our understanding of the evolution of planetary systems. In particular, the ultimate fate of these systems as their host stars evolve off the main sequence remains largely unknown. In this talk, I will present my work probing the mechanisms that shape planets over their lifetime. First, I will examine the impact of migration and photoevaporation on main-sequence systems. The recently confirmed planet, TOI -5800 b, provides a unique case study of an eccentric sub-Neptune on a close-in orbit, and may provide insight into how evolutionary processes contribute to population-level features such as the Neptunian desert. Second, I will describe how stellar evolution transforms planetary systems. In addition to destroying inner planets and dramatically altering the dynamics of outer planets, this process may also fundamentally alter the atmospheric composition of giant planets through a phase called common envelope evolution. Finally, I will discuss the ultimate fate of planet populations as their host stars evolve to their final state as white dwarfs. Even in these mature systems, planets can be destroyed through scattering into their host’s Roche radius, leaving an observational signature called “pollution.” I will also highlight ongoing efforts to probe the surviving planet population around white dwarf stars with JWST .

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Tue 19 Aug 10:00: Mid-Infrared diversity in nearby AGN: New insights from JWST/MIRI

Upcoming talks - Thu, 07/08/2025 - 13:24
Mid-Infrared diversity in nearby AGN: New insights from JWST/MIRI

Type-2 quasars (QSO2s) are luminous active galactic nuclei characterized by narrow optical emission lines. They are the torus-obscured counterparts of type-1 quasars, although in some cases, part of the obscuration arises from galactic scales. Thanks to JWST , it is now possible to study the properties of nuclear gas and dust in local AGN with unprecedented spatial and spectral resolution and sensitivity. In this talk, I will present recent results from Cycle 2 JWST /MIRI observations of nearby QSO2s from the QSOFEED sample, which revealed a striking diversity of mid-infrared spectral shapes and features, and compare them with JWST /MIRI data of Seyfert galaxies from the Galactic Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS). Our findings highlight the complexity of these nuclear environments and underscore the need for larger JWST samples to disentangle the roles of obscuration, ionizing continuum, gas density, and other factors in shaping their mid-infrared spectra.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Tue 19 Aug 10:00: Title to be confirmed

Upcoming talks - Wed, 06/08/2025 - 15:14
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 21 Nov 11:30: Title to be confirmed

Upcoming talks - Wed, 06/08/2025 - 15:09
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 08 Aug 11:30: The Reionization of our Local Universe

Upcoming talks - Tue, 05/08/2025 - 11:46
The Reionization of our Local Universe

The neighborhood in the immediate cosmological vicinity of our Milky Way is known as the Near-Field. Due to its proximity to us, it is the best-observed region of the Universe. As such it is the most interesting to study, to understand and to try and simulate, as there is a wealth of observational information available that could allow us to significantly advance our knowledge on e.g. large-scale structure and galaxy formation, feedback processes and the nature of dark matter in a range of different local environments. I will present the work we have been doing over the years to address this problem. This has been largely based on constrained simulations of the Near-Field from the CLUES project, which use our ever expanding knowledge of the local structures and their velocity fields to create numerical structure formation simulations that faithfully reproduce the local universe at present. The main focus of our work has been on understanding the potentially detectable local signatures of Cosmic Reionization, for example on the number and properties of satellites of the Local Group and locations where some of the First Stars may be located (cosmic archaeology), which I will both discuss.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Research Associate

Department of Physics Jobs - Tue, 05/08/2025 - 01:00

The Experimental Semiconductor Physics Group in the Department of Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge invites applications for a Research Assistant/Associate position within the EPSRC-funded Memristive Organometallic Devices formed from Self-Assembled Multilayers (MemOD) programme.

The post is available for 30 months, or until the end of the grant 30/04/28, (whichever is the earlier). You must have earned, or be about to earn, a PhD in experimental physics, physical chemistry or a related field by the start date. Appointment as a Research Associate requires a PhD; those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will initially be appointed as a Research Assistant and promoted upon award.

The MemOD programme is a cutting-edge research initiative aimed at transforming artificial intelligence (AI) and computing. This interdisciplinary collaboration between Lancaster University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Durham seeks to develop high-performance memory devices using self-assembled molecular technology. These novel memory architectures have the potential to deliver faster, more efficient, and energy-saving computing solutions.

You will be responsible for the fabrication and characterisation of molecular thin films for next-generation memristor devices. You will have access to Cambridge's state-of-the-art cleanroom fabrication facilities and measurement systems, allowing you to explore the electrical transport properties of ultra-thin organic and organometallic structures and devices and to develop neuromorphic circuits incorporating them. Prior experience in molecular assembly and/or lithographic fabrication is highly desirable.

The ideal candidate will:

  • Have expertise in device fabrication in a semiconductor cleanroom, measuring quantum phenomena in nano-devices and experimental molecular-scale electronics including molecular thin-film assembly and characterisation of organic materials, with knowledge of quantum mechanics in the solid state or molecules.

  • Be able to work independently while collaborating effectively within an interdisciplinary team.

  • Have strong analytical and problem-solving skills and be capable of leading discussions and presenting research.

Key responsibilities of the role are contained in the attached Further Information document.

You will be part of a stimulating interdisciplinary research environment, working towards real-world impact in the fields of AI, quantum materials, and sustainable computing while supporting the UK's Net-Zero mission. The MemOD team is at the forefront of scientific breakthroughs, including room-temperature logic-in-memory operations, advanced molecular anchoring techniques, and CMOS-compatible graphene electrodes.

You will join an interdisciplinary team under the supervision of Professor Christopher Ford at the Cavendish Laboratory, in its new Ray Dolby Centre. You will also collaborate closely with the wider MemOD team, including:

  • Professor Ben Robinson (Department of Physics, Lancaster University)
  • Professor Martin Bryce (Department of Chemistry, University of Durham)
  • Professor Colin Lambert (Department of Physics, Lancaster University)

The successful candidate will hold (or be close to obtaining) a PhD in Physics, Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline, with a proven track record in relevant research. Knowledge of quantum mechanics in the solid state is useful. Preference will be given to candidates with a strong background in cleanroom fabrication or self-assembly techniques, and experience in measuring quantum phenomena in nano-devices. Organizational, communication, and team-working skills are essential.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

For questions about the vacancy, contact Professor Chris Ford (cjbf@cam.ac.uk).

For more information on quantum device and molecular-electronics research at the University of Cambridge, visit https://www.sp.phy.cam.ac.uk/research/

For more information on research in the Department of Physics please visit http://www.phys.cam.ac.uk/

Please quote reference KA46846 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Facilities Assistant

Department of Physics Jobs - Tue, 05/08/2025 - 01:00

The Cavendish Laboratory (Department of Physics) has an exciting opportunity for a number of Facilities Assistants to join our passionate and dedicated community at the University of Cambridge. Working as part of the Departments' Soft Facilities team, you will be one of 4 in a team that deliver exceptional customer service and building management to all the users of the Cavendish Estate.

The Cavendish Laboratory is at an exciting point in its 150-year history, and undergoing a substantial period of transformation, as we have recently moved into our new, purpose-built physics facility, the Ray Dolby Centre, which will be the centrepiece of the new Cavendish III Laboratory. The Department is home to around 1000 staff, students and visitors across a large range of disciplines and categories, where exemplary delivery of world-leading, innovative research programmes and teaching takes place and where the provision of an outstanding soft facilities service will be vital to delivering the vision for the new Estate.

Working within the soft facilities remit alongside other Facilities Assistants, Building Attendants and the Facilities Supervisor, you will have a can-do approach and be responsible for undertaking daily operations to support the smooth running of the Department, such as, building management, parcel deliveries estate wide, supporting delivery of meetings, conferences and events and health and safety compliance. Use of a CAFM system in a previous role would be an advantage.

We are looking for someone who:

Has previous experience from a similar role in an educational setting, or as a caretaker or porter;

Is able to communicate effectively and interact positively with staff, students and visitors, with a confident approach and positive attitude;

Can manage their time to get tasks done and use their initiative to prioritise when necessary;

Understands the importance of custodian work within a higher education setting and makes themselves readily available and willing to help out wherever needed;

Is familiar with PPMS within soft service delivery;

Is proactive, hardworking and always looking for the next task.

The Facilities Assistants currently work shifts to cover 08:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday. Occasional cover to support events and teaching outside normal working hours may be required in the future.

Uniform will be provided and should be worn on shift.

This full-time post is available immediately.

Interviews are scheduled to be held week beginning 29th September.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

For an informal conversation about the role, please contact Matt Molloy, Facilities Supervisor (mfm44@cm.ac.uk)

Please quote reference KA46834 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Fri 08 Aug 11:30: Title to be confirmed

Upcoming talks - Sat, 02/08/2025 - 22:05
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Contact us

Battcock Centre for Experimental Astrophysics
Cavendish Laboratory
JJ Thomson Avenue
Cambridge CB3 0HE

Site Privacy & Cookie Policies

Quick links

Study at Cambridge

About the University

Research at Cambridge