The evolution of galaxies in the early universe with the next generation of telescopes

At the cutting-edge of Astronomy research is the study of the formation and evolution of the first galaxies.

Through breakthrough observations in the past 30-years it has been possible to identify galaxies from when the universe was less than 400 million years old.

These galaxies have unusual properties compared to the local universe, showing low chemical enrichment and dust obscuration, and irregular morphologies.

This project aims to exploit the new Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) and Euclid space-mission to discover and analyse galaxies at very high-redshifts (probing the first few billion years). The goal of the project is to understand when and how the most star-forming galaxies formed in the Universe. The student will become an expert in the selection of high-redshift galaxies from multi-band photometry.

They will then use the resulting samples to constrain the evolution of the number density of these sources (via the luminosity function).

There is considerable flexibility in the direction of the project in later years, and the student would be encouraged to apply for follow-up data (e.g. with JWST, ALMA) as well as exploit archival data where available.

At the end of the project the student would be in an excellent position to continue working with these next generation facilities.