For details of university research departments, the fields of research in which their strengths lie, and the types of degrees offered, the student should obtain a copy of the booklet Postgraduate Opportunities in Astronomy and Geophysics , published free of charge by the Royal Astronomical Society - for address see above. These appointments can be in the UK or abroad and there is significant competition. As many as half the applicants secure a fellowship. They are often employed as academic members of staff in university departments and have teaching duties. There are also posts at research laboratories such as the Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories.
Pay is on the academic scale.
Astronomy, Geophysics and Planetary Science research covers both observational and theoretical work. Observations are made over a wide range of wavelengths and require a variety of techniques. The instruments may be on the ground or be in orbit above the obscuring atmosphere and weather. Researchers often become involved in developing new telescopes and detectors and in the design of space probes destined for the planets. Theoreticians specialise in developing models to describe and explain the results of observations and to make predictions that can then tested by further observations.