Joint Doctoral Program of the University of St Andrews and the University of Bonn

Stars are the building blocks of our Universe. They synthesise elements, shape the evolution of galaxies, and are the sites of planet formation. Yet the connection between stars and the galaxies within which they form is still unclear. In our Milky Way galaxy disentangling environmental variations in star formation is a challenging task due to clouds overlapping in our line-of-sight. A recent transformative advance has been, that with the current generation of radio and IR facilities like the “Atacama Large mm-Array” (ALMA) or the “James Webb Space Telescope” (JWST), star forming clouds can be studied in great detail across many nearby galaxies.

Similar, recent advances in numerical astrophysics allow to run detailed simulations on supercomputers, probing how the properties of molecular clouds vary with galaxy environment, such as galaxy morphology, gas turbulence, strength of stellar feedback, and magnetic field strength. The results from these numerical models can then be transformed into synthetic telescope observations and directly compared to observations.

The Universities of St Andrews and Bonn have world-leading expertise in both these areas, and this proposal is an opportunity to bridge both worlds with a collaborative PhD project. Frank Bigiel and his group are experts on obtaining, processing, and analysing astronomical radio and infrared observations, with a focus on studying gas and dust and the properties of star forming, molecular clouds across galaxies. Rowan Smith’s CLOUDFACTORY simulations were the first to both model a full galaxy and the formation of individual stellar systems in star-forming clouds using an innovative zoom-in technique. She is now producing the next generation of such simulations with improved initial conditions, specifically chosen to match those of real, observed nearby galaxies.

At St Andrews the student will first take the models produced by Dr Smith and perform radiative transfer simulations of different environments seen in the galaxies to create “mock observations”, like those that would be seen by ALMA or the JWST telescopes. They will then transfer to Bonn and process these further with Prof. Bigiel and his group. These mock data will be processed to mimic real observations (adding various sources of “noise”, spatial filtering, etc.) and fed through the same processing pipelines used for real observations. These data can then be analysed using the same tools (algorithms) employed for real observations. This addresses the key point of this project: to combine both approaches to answer what a real telescope would see from a galaxy and molecular clouds, where we know exactly the physical ground truth from the simulations.

Specifically, the student will:

• Investigate how the efficiency at which gas is converted to stars by gravity correlates with other observable properties.
• Determine if the observational probes (atomic and molecular spectral lines) used by observers to infer gas physics (density, pressure) matches the input from the simulations.
• Perform a statistical cross correlation analysis to find which observed quantities are most predictive of where stars form, and how they vary at different locations in galaxies.

The project will be managed jointly between the School of Physics and Astronomy at St Andrews and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Bonn. The student will be supervised by Dr Rowan Smith (St Andrews) and Prof. Frank Bigiel (Bonn).

Informal enquiries regarding this scholarship may be addressed to the co-supervisors: 

Dr Rowan Smith (rjs22@st-andrews.ac.uk)  

Prof. Frank Bigiel (bigiel@astro.uni-bonn.de)

Admission and scholarship criteria of both universities must be met.

For St Andrews, please refer to details of how to apply and of entry requirements here:
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/apply/

Level of study:
Postgraduate Research (Doctoral)

Domicile for fee status:
No restrictions.

Schools:
School of Physics and Astronomy (St Andrews) and Department of Physics and Astronomy (Bonn)

Application assessment:
Academic merit

Mode of study:
Full time

Geographical criteria:
No restrictions.

Year of entry:
2026–2027 academic year.

Students will enrol at both institutions from the outset. It is expected that the successful student will spend 50% of their time at each institution, with details to be agreed by the student and supervisory team. The student may start their degree at any point in the academic year 2026–2027 prior to a final entry date of 27 May 2027 subject to agreement with the supervisory team. 

Additional criteria

Applicants must not already (i) hold a doctoral degree; or (ii) be matriculated for a doctoral degree at either the University of St Andrews or the University of Bonn (or another institution).

Duration of award

Up to 3.5 years. The student will be expected to spend approximately half of the award term at the University of St Andrews and half at the University of Bonn. The successful candidate will be expected to have completed the doctorate degree by the end of the award term. The award term excludes the continuation period and any extension periods.

Value of award

The funding comprises a scholarship equivalent of a full-fees award and stipend for a period of up to 3.5 years. It is expected that the student will spend half of the scholarship term at the University of St Andrews and half at the University of Bonn:

• For the period spent at the University of St Andrews, the scholarships will comprise a full tuition fee award and an annual stipend paid at a rate set by the University of St Andrews. For 2025–2026, the stipend is £19,775 p.a., with an annual uplift published by the University each academic year.
• For the period spent at the University of Bonn, the scholarship will comprise a monthly maintenance grant of €1,800. The University of Bonn does not charge any tuition fees, but students must pay a so-called social contribution once per semester (currently €315 per semester).

Unless otherwise specified, the scholarships do not cover:

• Any continuation, extension, or resubmission period/ fees.
• A research training grant or another equivalent award for research expenses.
• Support for travel, immigration, health insurance and related charges between the partner institutions.

Tuition or maintenance award

Tuition and maintenance.

Note that this application is for the scholarship only; successful applicants must also apply for a PhD place and be admitted to each institution through normal routes.

Expressions of interest should include the following documents:

• CV including information about publications.
• Transcripts of most relevant/ recent degrees.
• Information about thesis components (thesis mark, word count, weight/ length in comparison to the degree overall).
• Statement of suitability as a candidate for the project (max 500 words)

Following a successful application for the scholarship, candidates may be invited to submit an application to both universities for admission into the program and award of the scholarship.

Please indicate in your application that you wish to be considered for this Global doctoral scholarship (Smith and Bigiel).

Applications should be submitted to the co-supervisors via email to: Ms. Sabine Derdau (derdau@astro.uni-bonn.de) and Dr. Rowan Smith (rjs22@st-andrews.ac.uk).

Terms and conditions of scholarships for St Andrews can be found here: Awards general terms and conditions.

Please contact us should you have any questions regarding the scholarship: pgscholarships@st-andrews.ac.uk

Immediately

Scholarship application deadline:
January 09, 2026

By late March 2026 Awards are subject to final signatures of contracts between the parties and successful admission to both institutions.

Next steps

Successful scholarship applicants will be invited to apply for admission to both universities from April 2026, and then formal outcomes of the position will be made, subject to provision of full application details and materials for entry to the programme at the agreed entry point in 2026–2027.

Successful scholarship applicants must meet all relevant entry requirements for admission including any immigration requirements that may be in place. Please see the advice on applying for research degree programmes at St Andrews and the PhD application guidelines at Bonn.

Some of the most intriguing and technologically relevant materials discovered in recent decades—e.g. high-temperature superconductors and quantum magnets—behave in ways that defy our conventional understanding of matter. Their unusual properties arise from strong interactions between electrons, leading to phenomena like superconductivity, magnetism, and quantum phase transitions. Understanding these “quantum materials” is essential for fundamental science and future applications in energy-efficient electronics and quantum computing.

To unravel these complex behaviors, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is a uniquely powerful technique that images materials at the scale of individual atoms. By observing the interference patterns of electron waves scattered by defects (quasiparticle interference, QPI), we can experimentally extract how the energy of a particle depends on its wavelength (the so-called band structure) and thus construct a detailed map of how electrons move and interact. However, interpreting these interference patterns in complex quantum materials requires advanced theoretical modeling of correlation effects to be integrated into the band structure simulations, while current tools are limited to cases where the electrons behave independently.

This project will develop a computational framework that incorporates advanced many-body techniques (developed in Bonn) into calcQPI (a St Andrews development), a state-of-the art software package for simulating QPI data (see Figure). This will provide an entirely new tool for understanding the rich physics of electron correlations in and out of equilibrium directly from the measured QPI patterns.

As the PhD student you will:

1. Learn and apply advanced many-body techniques for complex materials and learn the using the calcQPI package.
2. Apply this framework to QPI experiments in close collaboration with the experimental STM group at St Andrews to quantitatively link theory and experiment. Representative strongly correlated materials include so-called heavy-fermion compounds and unconventional superconductors.

As a result, you will obtain unique skills ranging from modelling at the forefront of theoretical physics, interpreting advanced spectroscopic data to development of code using massive parallelization techniques. You will interact with scientists from a wide range of backgrounds and gain hands-on experience in theory-experiment collaboration.

The training and research path are structured around the complementary expertise of the two partner institutions:

• Andrews phase (1 year): The student will receive initial training in QPI theory, STM data analysis, and band structure modeling using density functional theory (DFT) using VASP. They will become proficient in using calcQPI and constructing realistic tight-binding models from DFT calculations.
• Bonn phase (1.5 years): Under the supervision of Kroha, the student will learn state-of-the- art methods for modeling correlated electron states, such as NCA, DMFT, and combined approaches. This will include computing frequency-dependent self-energies and modeling the spectral functions of correlated systems.
• Final phase back in Andrews (1 year): The student will integrate the many-body self-energy formalism into calcQPI and apply the resulting tool to experimental data. This will include developing strategies to simulate and interpret non-equilibrium QPI data as well as completing the thesis and preparing publication.

Innovative Features

• First direct integration of many-body correlation effects into QPI
• Enabling quantitative, theory-driven interpretation of STM data on correlated
• Laying the foundation for non-equilibrium QPI, a completely new area of research.

Impact

This work will advance our fundamental understanding of correlated electron behavior at the atomic scale, with potential implications for technologies such as quantum computing, spintronics, and novel superconductors. It will also establish a unique computational framework that can be shared with the broader research community.

The project will be managed jointly between the School of Physics and Astronomy at St Andrews and the Institute for Physics at Bonn. The student will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Peter Wahl (St Andrews) and Prof. Dr. Johann Kroha (Bonn).

Admission and scholarship criteria of both universities must be met.

For St Andrews, please refer to details of how to apply and of entry requirements here: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/apply/

Level of study:
Postgraduate Research (Doctoral)

Schools:
School of Physics and Astronomy (University of St Andrews) and Institute for Physics (University of Bonn)

Application assessment:
Academic merit

Mode of study:
Full time

Geographical criteria:
No restrictions.

Year of entry:
2026–2027 academic year.

Students will enrol at both institutions from the outset. It is expected that the successful student will spend 50% of their time at each institution, with details to be agreed by the student and supervisory team. The student may start their degree at any point in the academic year 2026-2027 prior to a final entry date of 27 May 2027 subject to agreement with the supervisory team.

Additional criteria

Applicants must not already (i) hold a doctoral degree; or (ii) be matriculated for a doctoral degree at either the University of St Andrews or the University of Bonn (or another institution).

For St Andrews, please refer to details of how to apply and of entry requirements here: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/apply/postgraduate/research/

Terms and conditions

Terms and conditions of scholarships for St Andrews can be found here: Awards general terms and conditions.

The funding comprises a scholarship equivalent of a full-fees award and stipend for a period of up to 3.5 years. It is expected that the student will spend half of the scholarship term at the University of St Andrews and half at the University of Bonn:

• For the period spent at the University of St Andrews, the scholarships will comprise a full tuition fee award and an annual stipend paid at a rate set by the University of St Andrews. For 2025–2026, the stipend is £19,775 p.a., with an annual uplift published by the University each academic year.
• For the period spent at the University of Bonn, the scholarship will comprise a monthly maintenance grant of €1,800. The University of Bonn does not charge any tuition fees, but students must pay a so-called social contribution once per semester (currently €315 per semester).

Unless otherwise specified, the scholarships do not cover:

• Any continuation, extension, or resubmission period/ fees.
• A research training grant or another equivalent award for research expenses.
  Support for travel, immigration, health insurance and related charges between the partner institutions.

Duration of award

Up to 3.5 years. The student will be expected to spend approximately half of the award term at the University of St Andrews and half at the University of Bonn. The successful candidate will be expected to have completed the doctorate degree by the end of the award term. The award term excludes the continuation period and any extension periods.

Note that this application is for the scholarship only; successful applicants must also apply for a PhD place and be admitted to each institution through normal routes.

Scholarship applications should include the following documents:

• CV including information about publications.
• Transcripts of most recent degrees.
• Information about thesis components for a Master degree (thesis mark, word count, weight/ length in comparison to the degree overall).
• Statement of motivation and suitability as a candidate for the project (max 500 words).

Following a successful application for the scholarship, candidates will be invited to submit an application to both universities for admission into the program through normal routes upon award of the scholarship.

Applications for the international PhD scholarship should be submitted by email to either of the co-supervisors, Prof. Dr. Johann Kroha (jkroha@uni-bonn.de) or Prof. Dr. Peter Wahl (gpw2@st-andrews.ac.uk). Please indicate in your application that you wish to be considered for this Global Doctoral Scholarship (Wahl and Kroha).

Application period opens:
December 05, 2025

Application period closes:
February 27, 2026

By mid-April 2026. Awards are subject to final signatures of contracts between the parties and successful admission to both institutions.

Next steps

Successful scholarship applicants will be invited to apply for admission to both universities from April 2026, and then formal outcomes of the position will be made, subject to provision of full application details and materials for entry to the programme at the agreed entry point in 2026–2027.

Successful scholarship applicants must meet all relevant entry requirements for admission including any immigration requirements that may be in place. Please see the advice on applying for research degree programmes at St Andrews and the PhD application guidelines at Bonn.

Doctoral Research at St Andrews

As a doctoral student at the University of St Andrews you will be part of a growing, vibrant, and intellectually stimulating postgraduate community. St Andrews is one of the leading research-intensive universities in the world and offers a postgraduate experience of remarkable richness.

Over the course of 2025–2026, St Leonard’s College will be merging with the Graduate School for Interdisciplinary Studies to bring together these two areas of postgraduate activity and create the University of St Andrews Graduate School at St Leonard’s College. This is an exciting initiative to further enhance and develop postgraduate education, research and experience at St Andrews.

The University of St Andrews Graduate School at St Leonard’s College offers a strong postgraduate community experience. Led by the Provost, it supports all postgraduates, and provides opportunities for postgraduates to come together, socially and intellectually, and make new connections.

In addition to the research training that doctoral students complete in their home School, doctoral students at St Andrews can access a wide provision of training for PGR students, including GRADskills (a free, comprehensive training programme to support their academic, professional, and personal development), and bespoke employability training and advice provided by Careers.

The University of St Andrews Graduate School at St Leonard’s College works closely with the Students’ Association. All doctoral students are automatically members of the Students Association’ and are welcome to take part in all activities and societies. You will also have access to the excellent sports and fitness facilities of Saints Sports, and can participate in all sports teams and activities.

Doctoral Research at the University of Bonn

As a doctoral student at the University of Bonn you will be part of a vibrant and intellectually stimulating academic community. The University of Bonn is one of the leading research-intensive universities in the world. It is one of only 11 German Universities of Excellence and the only German university with 8 Clusters of Excellence.

In addition to the research training that doctoral students complete in their home Department, doctoral students at the University of Bonn have access to the Bonn-Cologne Graduate School (BCGS) in Physics and Astronomy and to the Bonn Graduate Center, which is the central service department for doctoral candidates. It offers guidance on training and funding opportunities and offers a free and comprehensive training programme to support their academic, professional, and personal development.

Please contact us should you have any questions regarding the scholarship:

At St Andrews: pgscholarships@st-andrews.ac.uk
At Bonn: t.odenthal@uni-bonn.de

Informal enquiries regarding this scholarship may be addressed to the co-supervisors:

Prof. Dr. Peter Wahl (gpw2@st-andrews.ac.uk)
Prof. Dr. Johann Kroha (jkroha@uni-bonn.de)