MSc by Research Particle Physics

The  Department of Physics and Astronomy at Manchester is one of the largest and most active physics departrments in the UK. We have a long tradition of excellence in both teaching and research, and have interests in most areas of contemporary research.

The Department has a strong presence in a number of Manchester-based centres for multidisciplinary research: The National Graphene Institute, the Photon Science Institute, the Manchester Centre for Non-Linear Dynamics, and the Dalton Nuclear Institute. In addition, the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire is a part of the department.

The Manchester Particle Physics group performs theoretical and experimental research into the fundamental constituents of matter and the interactions that govern them. The group includes over 50 academic, research, and technical staff and over 50 postgraduate research students, making it one of the largest groups in the country.

Opportunities exist for prospective postgraduates to directly contribute to the world-class experimental and theoretical particle physics research conducted by our group members, including projects that span experiment and theory. Our theoretical research spans the development of models of Beyond the Standard Model physics and their testing at existing and future experimental facilities, connections to the study of particle cosmology and the early Universe, and research into high-precision quantum chromodynamics calculations and Monte Carlo modelling.

Our experimental research spans the LHCb, ATLAS and FASER experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the DUNE experiment and short-baseline neutrino experiment programme at Fermilab in the USA, the NEXT experiment in Spain, the Mu2e and g-2 experiments at Fermilab, the SuperNEMO experiment on the French/Italian border, the BES-III experiment in China, and the Darkside-50/20k dark matter direct detection experiments in Italy.

The group holds leadership responsibilities in 14 international experiments, and hosts the spokesperson of one major international collaboration. As well as playing a leading role in the exploitation of existing facilities, the group has key roles in the design and development of future experiments including FCC, Liquid Argon TPC detector development, particle tracking detector upgrades for the LHCb and ATLAS experiments, and 3D diamond detector technologies.

The group has strong links with national and international facilities, a very well-equipped laboratory space and state-of-the-art clean rooms, and hosts one of the largest and most successful Tier-2 distributed computing centres in the UK. We have a local computing cluster with networked storage and GPUs.

The postgraduate research environment is well funded and world-class as demonstrated by our ranking in REF2021.  Supervision is provided by academic staff, who are leaders in their fields, with independent pastoral back-up. Transferable skills training is available and there are some school teaching opportunities.

For more information about research themes within the department please visit our themes page or view available projects within the department on our Postgraduate Research projects page .

Note: Although the course requires 1 year full time study, students should expect the process of examination of the dissertation may take several months. MSc degrees are usually awarded several months after the end of the programme.

Visit our Faculty of Science and Engineering Postgraduate Research page to find out about upcoming open days and webinars.

Apply online

In your application you’ll need to include:

• The name of this programme
• Your research project title (i.e. the advertised project name or proposed project name)
• Your supervisor’s name
• If you already have funding or you wish to be considered for any of the available funding
• Details of your previous study
• Names and contact details of your two referees.

Before applying we also recommend that you read the Advice to Applicants section.

Before you start your application, you should have:

• Checked you meet the minimum eligibility criteria for postgraduate research in the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
• Identified the specific research project, CDT or dual-award you'd like to apply for or, if you already have funding, determined your own research project and title and discussed this with a supervisor.  
• Contacted the project supervisor and spoken to them about your suitability for the project.  
• Browsed funding you are eligible for and discussed this with your supervisor, if you don't already have your own funding.  

You'll also need to make sure you have the following:

• Certificates: Certificates and final transcripts of any completed university-level qualifications and interim transcripts for qualifications in progress. If your transcripts are in a language other than English, you must provide an official English translation.  
• CV: Summarising your academic record and highlighting experience that demonstrates your potential to conduct research.  
• English language proof: A certificate or evidence demonstrating your English language ability and proficiency. Applications can be considered without this evidence but any offer would be conditional on meeting minimum requirements.  
• Referees: Names and contact details of two academic referees who we can get in contact with and will support your application.

This information will be reviewed and used to shortlist you for a funding interview if appropriate; you should therefore ensure that you address all of the above requirements.

The  Department of Physics and Astronomy at Manchester is one of the largest and most active physics departrments in the UK. We have a long tradition of excellence in both teaching and research, and have interests in most areas of contemporary research.

The Department has a strong presence in a number of Manchester-based centres for multidisciplinary research: The National Graphene Institute, the Photon Science Institute, the Manchester Centre for Non-Linear Dynamics, and the Dalton Nuclear Institute. In addition, the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire is a part of the department.

The Manchester Particle Physics group performs theoretical and experimental research into the fundamental constituents of matter and the interactions that govern them. The group includes over 50 academic, research, and technical staff and over 50 postgraduate research students, making it one of the largest groups in the country.

Opportunities exist for prospective postgraduates to directly contribute to the world-class experimental and theoretical particle physics research conducted by our group members, including projects that span experiment and theory. Our theoretical research spans the development of models of Beyond the Standard Model physics and their testing at existing and future experimental facilities, connections to the study of particle cosmology and the early Universe, and research into high-precision quantum chromodynamics calculations and Monte Carlo modelling.

Our experimental research spans the LHCb, ATLAS and FASER experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the DUNE experiment and short-baseline neutrino experiment programme at Fermilab in the USA, the NEXT experiment in Spain, the Mu2e and g-2 experiments at Fermilab, the SuperNEMO experiment on the French/Italian border, the BES-III experiment in China, and the Darkside-50/20k dark matter direct detection experiments in Italy.

The group holds leadership responsibilities in 14 international experiments, and hosts the spokesperson of one major international collaboration. As well as playing a leading role in the exploitation of existing facilities, the group has key roles in the design and development of future experiments including FCC, Liquid Argon TPC detector development, particle tracking detector upgrades for the LHCb and ATLAS experiments, and 3D diamond detector technologies.

The group has strong links with national and international facilities, a very well-equipped laboratory space and state-of-the-art clean rooms, and hosts one of the largest and most successful Tier-2 distributed computing centres in the UK. We have a local computing cluster with networked storage and GPUs.

The postgraduate research environment is well funded and world-class as demonstrated by our ranking in REF2021.  Supervision is provided by academic staff, who are leaders in their fields, with independent pastoral back-up. Transferable skills training is available and there are some school teaching opportunities.

For more information about research themes within the department please visit our themes page or view available projects within the department on our Postgraduate Research projects page .

Note: Although the course requires 1 year full time study, students should expect the process of examination of the dissertation may take several months. MSc degrees are usually awarded several months after the end of the programme.

This is a standard one year full-time research degree which provides the opportunity to carry out a research project while gaining valuable skills and knowledge through a tailored taught package. The programme includes 45 credit taught units and a dissertation project equivalent to 135 credits, creating a standard 180 credit postgraduate MSc by Research programme.

A research project is undertaken under the supervision of a staff member throughout the year together with lectures. Full time is spent working on the project unless attending lectures. A dissertation will be submitted at the year-end. We provide a range of skills training which is particularly focussed on the needs of physics research. 

For further information about coursework and assessment please visit our  Course handbook

A research degree in physics is highly regarded by employers as evidence of a thorough training in numerate problem-solving and opens a wide range of possible career choices.  In addition to continuing physics research in industry, an MSc provides the entry level training to undertake a PhD in physics.

Visit the Careers Service website for more information.