The nature of dark matter is one of the major open questions in astrophysics and particle physics. There are several well-motivated candidates (e.g. weakly interacting massive particles, axions, and primordial black holes), and numerous observational and experimental searches are underway.

My research centres around two key questions:
  • How can we probe the properties of dark matter using observations and experiments?
  • How does the dark matter distribution within galaxies depend on its nature?
For further details, see my research webpages.

Various PhD projects are available and the specific project would depend on the student's skills and interests. Projects typically involve a mixture of analytic and numerical calculations, and close contact with observations and/or experiments. Potential projects include studying how:
  • atom interferometers, cosmic microwave background and large scale structure observations can probe ultra-light axions,
  • next-generation semiconductor directional detectors can probe light WIMPs,
  • stellar microlensing surveys by the Roman Space Telescope and Rubin Observatory can probe primordial black holes.


A list of PhD projects available in the University of Nottingham Particle Cosmology group, and details of how to apply, can be found on the group Applications page.

List of UK research groups offering PhDs in Cosmology.