Ph.D. students who have not studied astrophysics at fourth-year level are expected to take a similar range of courses in their first six months to M.Sc. Students who hold an M.Sci. or M.Phys. Entry to the second year of the Ph.D. course is conditional on passing any coursework and submission of a satisfactory report at the end of the first year. The degree of Ph.D. is awarded following the submission of a thesis largely based on original work by the candidate. A good thesis should contain material suitable for publication.
Candidates defend their theses in an oral examination conducted by external and internal examiners.
The lectures in the first six months will be held in the Schuster Laboratory in Manchester, except for a few organised at Jodrell Bank. The research component of the course will be based at Jodrell Bank, and on beginning their research project students will be allocated office space at Jodrell.