Pairing Gaia data with simulations to trace the dark and stellar mass distribution of the Milky Way

The aim of the PhD is to probe both local structure and global dynamical properties of the Milky Way using streams, nearby dwarf galaxies and other stellar halo sub-structure. A portion of the PhD will focus on the impact that the Large Magellanic Cloud has on local stellar halo sub-structure, and on the disequilibrium and time evolution of the Milky Way potential more broadly.

Such an investigation will make significant use of the current and future Gaia data together with the information from ongoing spectroscopic surveys such as APOGEE, GALAH, LAMOST as well as the future ones (WEAVE, DESI). Our models will be benchmarked with the help of numerical simulations of Milky Way formation and evolution.