University of Warsaw Astronomical Observatory invites candidates for doctoral studies in astronomy at the Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw Astronomical Observatory is a leading astronomical institution in Poland. It has a high global position in the field of large-scale photometric sky surveys thanks to the OGLE and ASAS projects conducted for over twenty years. Our staff also actively participates in such renowned global projects as HESS and CTA (high-energy observations), LIGO/VIRGO (gravitational waves), and satellite missions such as Gaia (mass astrometry, transient phenomena).
PhD students at the Observatory have the opportunity to collaborate with an outstanding scientific team and actively participate in projects conducted by the UW Observatory or within the framework of international cooperation. They publish papers in reputable astronomical journals and present their results at international scientific conferences.
According to the new law on higher education and science, since 2019, astronomical doctoral studies at the University of Warsaw are conducted within the Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences and last 4 years. UW PhD students will now receive a scholarship of 4242 PLN gross (before the mid-term evaluation) and 5340.90 PLN gross monthly (after the mid-term evaluation).
Those interested in undertaking doctoral studies are requested to contact potential supervisors, according to the following list of proposed topics. Registration and application submissions is ongoing from April 15 and will last until May 29. Full schedule and detailed instructions on the Doctoral School website: Recruitment 2025/26
This PhD project will focus on enhancing the BHTOM.space web platform to enable real-time follow-up of astrophysical transients in the era of multi-messenger and time-domain astronomy. The student will work on integrating alerts from a variety of sources, including gravitational wave detectors, high-energy neutrino observatories, and time-domain surveys such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).
A key objective will be the identification and optical characterization of transient phenomena such as kilonovae, stellar mergers, supernovae, fast radio bursts, active galactic nuclei, and microlensing events. The project will involve developing automated workflows for BHTOM.space, optimizing scheduling for follow-up observations with small and medium-sized telescopes, and building an open-access database of calibrated optical measurements linked to multi-messenger and LSST alerts.
Proficiency in observational techniques in optical astronomy and programming (Python, Django, Docker, Git, PostgreSQL) is essential, as the student will work extensively with both archival and real-time data, contributing to the global effort in exploring the dynamic Universe.
A significant portion of stars near the Sun are in binary, or even multiple systems. We know this because these objects can be studied using various methods. Also, in other regions of the Galaxy, stars are in binary systems, but we do not know if the fraction of stars in binary systems and the parameters of this population, such as mass ratios and orbit sizes, are the same as near the Sun. For binary systems in the central bulge of the Galaxy, the best method for statistical studies is gravitational microlensing.
The PhD student will search for or conduct detailed studies of microlensing events caused by binary star systems. In the long run, such research will allow the study of the initial mass function for stars in the central bulge of the Galaxy.
Numerical simulations of astrophysical sources of gravitational waves
Supervisor: Dr. Dorota Rosińska, Prof. UW (drosinska at astrouw.edu.pl)
The doctoral studies propose conducting research in the dynamically developing field of Gravitational Wave Astronomy, which was born in 2015 with the first detection of gravitational waves from the coalescence of two massive stellar black holes GW150914. This groundbreaking discovery was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics two years later. Binary systems of neutron stars and black holes, rotating neutron stars, and supernova explosions are the strongest sources of gravitational waves for the LIGO-VIRGO-KAGRA detectors and the third-generation Einstein Telescope.
During the PhD, the student will study the properties of these sources using relativistic numerical codes. Specifically, it is proposed to model differentially rotating hot neutron stars, which are one of the remnants of the coalescence of neutron stars in binary systems or during the collapse of a massive star’s core during a supernova explosion.
There is also an opportunity to participate in the search for gravitational waves from various astrophysical sources by analyzing data from the VIRGO/LIGO detectors as part of the Virgo-POLGRAW research group. Projects are conducted in collaboration with research centers in France, Italy, Greece, Spain, and the USA.
A large proportion of pulsating red giants exhibit additional long-period variability known as LSP (Long Secondary Period). It is suspected that the cause of this variability is that the star is in a binary system, where the companion is a former planet that has accumulated some of the material lost by the giant.
The aim of the research will be to analyze photometric and spectroscopic observations of LSP stars, and to conduct hydrodynamic modeling of binary systems to verify this hypothesis. The research will be conducted within the ERC grant “A MISTery of Long Secondary Periods in Pulsating Red Giants – Traces of Exoplanets?” (LSP-MIST).
The candidate is required to have programming skills.
Binary stars with stellar remnants
Supervisor: prof. dr hab. Łukasz Wyrzykowski (lw at astrouw.edu.pl) Co-advisor: dr Milena Ratajczak (milena at astrouw.edu.pl)
This project investigates the population properties of binary systems hosting stellar remnants — including white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes — using high-precision astrometric, photometric, and spectroscopic data from the ESA Gaia mission. By combining detailed source identification, modeling of selection effects, and population synthesis, the project aims to constrain the formation channels, spatial distribution, and mass function of compact object binaries in the local Galaxy.
