phd theoretical physics cambridge

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HEP Graduate Admissions

The HEP Group welcomes applications from students wishing to study for a PhD in experimental or theoretical High Energy Physics. We normally have projects available on each of our active experiments, and on various theoretical topics.

A PhD takes between three and four years to complete. We also offer one year MPhils (but only in exceptional cases).

We have a limited number of PhD places each year funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. These pay the full costs for UK citizens. We have no direct funding for non-UK citizens, but often offer places to students with funding from scholarships, such as those offered by the Gates Cambridge Trust or from other sources. There are many funding opportunities at Cambridge from a wide variety of sources including the Cambridge Trust, Gates Cambridge, Colleges, departments, Research Councils and central University funds.

The deadlines for applications vary depending on the funding sources - there is some information on this page .

High Energy Physics (Experimental)

The main focus of our research is with the LHCb and ATLAS experiments at the LHC and with the current and future neutrino experiments MicroBooNE and DUNE. We are also involved in smaller experiments, such as searching for ultra-light dark matter using novel atom interferometers (MAGIS and AION). As a member of one of these collaborations you will benefit from access to rich and varied datasets and you will have the opportunity to make leading contributions to the analysis of a physics topic chosen with your supervisor. You will develop new analytical skills and learn state-of-the-art methods for the exploitation of the data. You will be part of a large and dynamic international collaboration with many opportunities to engage with your co-researchers both in Cambridge and at CERN or Fermilab.

Our group also plays a leading role in R&D activities for future detectors and upgrades with an emphasis on silicon sensors for tracking and single-photon-sensitive sensors for particle identification and we encourage our students to become involved in our R&D work. We are currently offering a PhD studentship jointly with RAL to explore novel techniques to exploit high precision timing information for a future LHCb RICH upgrade.

High Energy Physics (Theoretical)

Our group is interested in a range of theoretical problems with a phenomenological emphasis (that is, with relevance to current or future experiments). We have close contacts with the Cavendish experimental high energy group and with the more mathematical theory group in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) . There are also collaborative projects with groups at CERN and elsewhere in Europe and the UK.

• High Energy Physics Theory Group homepage
• Cambridge Pheno Working Group homepage

Current research interests include:

• Search strategies at the LHC for new physics beyond the Standard Model, for example supersymmetry, black holes etc.
• The development of improved Monte Carlo simulations for high-energy collisions incorporating higher-order perturbative corrections.
• Determination of the probability distributions of partons in the proton to high accuracy, with particular emphasis on implications for LHC physics.
• The effective Lagrangian approach to understanding Quantum Chromodynamics at low energies, and its application to the properties and interactions of hadrons.

More details on possible projects are available here .

16th October 2024 for Gates Trust funded graduate students (USA residents) , 3rd December 2024 for non-USA residents.

3rd December 2024 for Cambridge Trust funded graduate students.

10th December 2024 for Research Council funded graduate students.

The 2025 interviews for prospective Gates/Trust funded and Research Council funded graduate students will be held in January and February 2025.

Applications for alternatively funded places will be considered at regular intervals throughout the year.

How can I find out more?

A great way to meet supervisors and learn more about the projects is to attend the Postgraduate Open Days , in which the HEP group at the Cavendish always takes part. This year the Postgraduate Open Day will take place between 4th and 15th November 2024.

We've tried to answer most common questions on the FAQ page , so please read this first.

If you have further questions please contact the Rutherford Hub Administration by email , by phone (+44 (0)1223 76 8138 or +44 (0)1223 33 7478) or by post at:

HEP Group, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.

Further details can be obtained here together with application forms.

Further details on research opportunities can be obtained from:

• Paula Alvarez Cartelle ( email , phone +44 (0)1223 33 7228) for experimental research,
• Ben Gripaios ( email , phone +44 (0)1223 76 1014) for theoretical research.

The University also has a lot of information for Prospective Graduate Students .

Related links

• Cavendish Admissions
• Cambridge University Admissions

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PhD in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics

University of cambridge, different course options.

• Key information

Course Summary

Tuition fees, entry requirements, similar courses at different universities, key information data source : idp connect, qualification type.

PhD/DPhil - Doctor of Philosophy

Subject areas

Applied Mathematics Theoretical Physics Applied Physics

Course type

This is a three to four-year research programme culminating in submission and examination of a thesis containing substantial original work. PhD students carry out their research under the guidance of a supervisor, and research projects are available from the wide range of subjects studied within the Department. Students admitted for a PhD will normally have completed preparatory study at a level comparable to the Cambridge Part III (MMath/MASt) course. A significant number of our PhD students secure post-doctoral positions at institutions around the world and become leading researchers in their fields.

Assessment for the PhD is by submission of a thesis and oral examination only. There is no standard format for the thesis in mathematics (ie no prescribed word limit). Candidates should discuss the format appropriate to their topic with their supervisor.

The Mathematics Degree Committee oversees the examinations process and is responsible for approving the research title of the thesis, appointing examiners and scrutinising the reports of those examiners before making a decision on the outcome.

UK fees Course fees for UK students

For this course (per year)

International fees Course fees for EU and international students

Applicants for this course should have achieved a UK First class Honours Degree. The usual minimum entry requirement is a first-class honours degree, awarded after a four-year course in physics, mathematics or engineering, or a three-year degree together with a one-year postgraduate course on advanced mathematics and theoretical physics. Part III (MMath/MASt) of the Mathematical Tripos provides such a course. Note, however, that entry is competitive and a higher level of preparation may be required for research in some subject areas.

Mathematics PhD, MPhil - Applied Mathematics

University of leicester, mathematics phd, mphil, msc applied mathematical sciences, heriot-watt university, phd applied mathematics, university of essex, applied mathematics phd, university of birmingham.

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PhD in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics University of Cambridge

Course options

Qualification.

PhD/DPhil - Doctor of Philosophy

University of Cambridge

01-OCT-24, 05-JAN-25, 17-APR-25

• TUITION FEES
• ENTRY REQUIREMENT
• UNIVERSITY INFO

Course summary

This is a three to four-year research programme culminating in submission and examination of a thesis containing substantial original work. PhD students carry out their research under the guidance of a supervisor, and research projects are available from the wide range of subjects studied within the Department. Students admitted for a PhD will normally have completed preparatory study at a level comparable to the Cambridge Part III (MMath/MASt) course. A significant number of our PhD students secure post-doctoral positions at institutions around the world and become leading researchers in their fields.

Assessment for the PhD is by submission of a thesis and oral examination only. There is no standard format for the thesis in mathematics (ie no prescribed word limit). Candidates should discuss the format appropriate to their topic with their supervisor.

The Mathematics Degree Committee oversees the examinations process and is responsible for approving the research title of the thesis, appointing examiners and scrutinising the reports of those examiners before making a decision on the outcome.

Application deadline

16 May 2024, 02 October 2024, 15 January 2025

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Tuition fees.

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£ 29,826 per year

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University of Cambridge, The Old Schools, Trinity Lane, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 1TN, England

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Centre for Quantum Information and Foundations

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Graduate Applications

The CQIF includes four members of DAMTP Faculty, two affiliated members, and several senior researchers.

We always have to turn away some outstanding applicants: if you are considering applying to us you should also apply widely elsewhere. Applicants who are not UK citizens should also carefully consider the information about funding below, and note the very early deadlines for applications for funding from Foundations and Trusts. Applications to start a PhD in October 2022 will be considered from November 2021 onwards.

Successful applicants are likely to have a first class undergraduate degree in mathematics, physics or computer science, and should ideally also have an M.Sc. or equivalent qualification. Candidates considering applying directly from an undergraduate degree are encouraged to consider applying first to take Cambridge's one-year Masters-level course, the Master of Advanced Study in Mathematics (Part III of the Cambridge Mathematics Tripos). The course includes one or more lecture courses on aspects of quantum information and foundations, as well as courses on a wide variety of other topics in theoretical physics and pure and applied mathematics.

Applications from graduate students to research centres in DAMTP are handled by the Board of Graduate Studies in the first instance, and then administered by the department. Applications for PhD places should thus be made to the Board of Graduate Studies in the first instance, specifying an interest in working at the CQIF in DAMTP. The information needed can all be found on this page . Note that the timetable for applications has some very early application deadlines.

The University's admissions process is quite slow and, beyond the initial acknowledgment of receipt of your application, past experience suggests it could be as late as May before you hear any more from the University. Once the application process has started, your application can be tracked using your self-service account .

Applications for the Part III course should also be made to the Board of Graduate Studies. The information needed can be found on this page .

Our standard method of funding UK and EU graduate students is by grants from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. These are allocated by the department, mostly after the Part III results in mid to late June. EPSRC studentships provide full support for UK students, and cover tuition fees for EU students from outside the UK.

There are some other possible sources for funding (which are not generally restricted to EU students): for example the Gates Foundation, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, and a small number of the wealthier Cambridge Colleges. Decisions on these scholarships are made in May. Unfortunately (at least for us!), these funding sources are entirely outside our control or influence; in particular there is nothing we can do to get a decision from them sooner than May. Applications to these organisations and institutions need to be made separately. The University's Board of Graduate Studies web pages --- reached from the above-mentioned links --- have some information; anyone needing clarification or advice should contact either them or the relevant organisation. We have no independent sources of support for non-EU students.

While we try to be helpful where possible, there is normally little that we can add to the information given here. We cannot generally comment in advance on the chances of any individual application to the CQIF being successful or offer advice in putting together an application. Applicants may find it helpful, though, to look at the information on our group web pages, and especially useful to look at some of the recent papers of CQIF members, which can mostly be found on the quantum physics archive . (Some recent papers are also linked from CQIF members' personal pages on this site.)

We normally interview  selected candidates once applications have been reviewed: the timetable for these varies from year to year.

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PhD in Physics (3+ years)

The majority of postgraduate students (about 110 are accepted each year) carry out research at the Cavendish Laboratory towards a PhD degree.

For admission to the PhD, the Postgraduate Admissions Office normally requires applicants to have achieved the equivalent of a UK  Masters (Pass) . Applicants should obtain the equivalent of:

• at least a 2:i in a UK four-year "undergraduate Master's" (Honours) degree,  OR
• at least a 2:i in a UK three-year Bachelor's (Honours) degree plus a relevant one/two -year UK Master's degree.

All applicants are assessed individually on the basis of their academic records.

Full-time students must spend at least three terms of residence in Cambridge and nine terms of research. If you are undertaking a placement or internship away from Cambridge for more than two weeks you need to apply for leave to work away.

Final examination involves the submission of a thesis of not more than 60,000 words followed by an oral examination (or viva) of the thesis and the general field of physics into which it falls.

Successful applicants are assigned to a research supervisor, a specialist in part or all of the student's chosen research field, and joins a research group which might vary in size between 4 and 80 individuals. Although the supervisor is responsible for the progress of a student's research programme, the extent to which a postgraduate student is assisted by the supervisor or by other members of the group depends almost entirely on the structure and character of the group concerned. The research field is normally determined at entry, after consideration of the student's interests and facilities available.

A list of current research projects is published and available on the  research pages  of our website, and more detailed information about specific research areas can be obtained from the relevant academic staff. The student, however, may work within a given field for a period of time before his or her personal topic is determined.

There is no requirement by the University of attendance at formal courses of lectures for the PhD. Postgraduate work is largely a matter of independent research and successful postgraduates require a high degree of self-motivation. Nevertheless, lectures and classes may be arranged, and students are expected to attend both seminars (delivered regularly by members of the University and by visiting scholars and industrialists) and external conferences. In addition, postgraduate students carry out first- and second-year physics undergraduate supervision and assist with practical work and theoretical examples classes in the Department.

Lectures within all the faculties of the University are open to any member of the University, and a physics postgraduate student has the opportunity of attending lectures not only within the undergraduate Physics and Theoretical Physics course, but also in any other subject area or faculty.

You can apply for the programme here.

Main Image:  Nanoscale sensing in diamond using atomic force microscopy. 

Diamond based platform for nanoscale nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging can be achieved through optical excitation and microwave stimulation to manipulate the spin state of single atomic defects in the diamond lattice. These defects are illuminated with green light in a home built confocal microscope. Two identical atomic force microscope tips coated in a magnetic material are brought close to the diamond surface to quench the photoluminescence of these single defect sites.

Credit: Toby Mitchell

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PhD Admissions in High Energy Physics, General Relativity and Cosmology

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Information for External Applicants to the PhD

Every year DAMTP receives a large number of applications for PhD places in the High Energy Physics (HEP) and General Relativity & Cosmology (GR) research groups. In recent years the number of students admitted to these groups has fluctuated between eight and twelve depending on the number of available supervisors. There are typically over ten applicants for each available place.

In these subject areas, a large majority of successful applicants will have first taken   Part III of the Mathematical Tripos (MMath/MASt) . This is a one year graduate-level course offering lecture courses in a wide range of topics in mathematics and theoretical physics. For more information about Part III please see the   course webpage .

There are two reasons why most of our PhD students come through Part III. First, Part III provides the necessary preparation for research in theoretical physics at a level matched by only a few other courses worldwide. Starting PhD students are expected to have covered all the material in those Part III lecture courses which are most relevant to their research project. A description of the content of each Part III lecture course can be found in the   Guide to Courses .

Second, the Part III class typically provides fifty or so well-qualified applicants for the available PhD places. Many of these applicants were at or near the top of their undergraduate class at their previous university. Performance in Part III allows us to rank these candidates accurately. It is much harder for us to rank external applicants. For these reasons, if you are interested in doing a PhD in theoretical physics in Cambridge we would strongly encourage you to consider applying for Part III first.

Ultimately, the decision to accept any applicant as a PhD student is made by the faculty member who will become their supervisor. The HEP and GR groups cover research in a wide range of areas and the precise requirements of individual supervisors may vary. In particular, we continue to admit a few students (one or two per year) who have not taken Part III. These admissions are usually in areas which could be loosely described as being “less formal” such as lattice field theory, particle physics phenomenology and cosmology. Successful external applicants often have relevant research experience in one of these areas.

Deadlines and Offers

Applicants to the HEP and GR research groups should note that we anticipate making some offers to outstanding candidates in February/March – for full consideration you should submit your application to the Postgraduate Admissions Office by   15 December 2023   for full consideration   (this arrangement applies equally to UK, EU and Overseas applicants). These offers will be made on the basis of academic track record, and the applicant may also be invited to an interview and/or asked to sit a written admissions test. However, it is also expected that some of the PhD places in the HEP and GR groups may be offered in June once the Part III Mathematical Tripos results are available.

Current PhD opportunity (closes 15 December 2023):  Newnham-DAMTP PhD scholarship for Women

Please note that if you wish to be considered for funding from the   University Postgraduate Funding Competition   you must apply by the relevant date ( Gates US: 11 October 2023; all other funding: 4 January 2024 ).

More information about applying can be found on the   DAMTP PhD Opportunities webpage .

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PhD opportunties

The DAMTP Astrophysics group typically admits two or three students every year to the PhD programme. We currently have about eight PhD students supervised by Henrik Latter, Gordon Ogilvie, Roman Rafikov and Giulio Del Zanna. A wide range of possible research topics is available and we welcome enquiries from potential applicants.

Course structure

The PhD in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics is a 3–4-year research programme culminating in submission and examination of a dissertation, or thesis, containing substantial original work. PhD students carry out their research under the guidance of a supervisor, and research projects are available from the wide range of subjects studied within the Astrophysics group. Students are admitted on a probationary basis in the first instance and are assessed for registration during the fourth term of research.

Entry requirements

The usual minimum entry requirement is either a first-class honours degree after a four-year course in mathematics, physics, astrophysics or engineering, or a three-year degree followed by a Master's course. Part III Mathematics or Part III Astrophysics (frequently taken by graduates from outside Cambridge as the Master of Advanced Study) can provide a good preparation for a PhD in this area.

UK applicants will be considered for studentships from the Science and Technology Research Council (STFC), which are allocated by DAMTP. Overseas applicants are mostly supported by scholarships from the Cambridge Trust and Gates Cambridge . Some Cambridge Colleges offer scholarships and there are also some country-specific awards for study at Cambridge, both of which are listed in the Cambridge Student Funding Directory .

Application procedure

Instructions for using the Applicant Portal can be found here . Applicants need not write a detailed research proposal but should mention their interest in the Astrophysics group so that their application is forwarded to the right group for consideration.

Application deadline

In order to be considered for all relevant funding opportunities, applications for PhD places to begin in October 2024 should be received by 4 January 2024 . Later applications will be considered where possible.

Past theses

Some of the titles of PhD theses by former students in the group are listed below. Where available, a link to the full thesis is included.

Potential PhD supervisors

Dr giulio del zanna, professor henrik nils latter, professor gordon ogilvie, professor roman rafikov.

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Professor Stephen Hawking

Credit: Andre Pattenden

Friends and colleagues from the University of Cambridge have paid tribute to Professor Stephen Hawking, who died today at the age of 76.

Widely regarded as one of the world’s most brilliant minds, he was known throughout the world for his contributions to science, his books, his television appearances, his lectures and through biographical films. He leaves three children and three grandchildren.

Professor Hawking broke new ground on the basic laws which govern the universe, including the revelation that black holes have a temperature and produce radiation, now known as Hawking radiation. At the same time, he also sought to explain many of these complex scientific ideas to a wider audience through popular books, most notably his bestseller A Brief History of Time .

He was awarded the CBE in 1982, was made a Companion of Honour in 1989, and was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. He was the recipient of numerous awards, medals and prizes, including the Copley Medal of the Royal Society, the Albert Einstein Award, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Fundamental Physics Prize, and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for Basic Sciences. He was a Fellow of The Royal Society, a Member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

He achieved all this despite a decades-long battle with motor neurone disease, with which he was diagnosed while a student, and eventually led to him being confined to a wheelchair and to communicating via his instantly recognisable computerised voice. His determination in battling with his condition made him a champion for those with a disability around the world.

Professor Hawking came to Cambridge in 1962 as a PhD student, and rose to become the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, a position once held by Isaac Newton, in 1979. In 2009, he retired from this position and was the Dennis Stanton Avery and Sally Tsui Wong-Avery Director of Research in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics until his death. He was also a member of the University's  Centre for Theoretical Cosmology , which he founded in 2007. He was active scientifically and in the media until the end of his life.

Professor Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, paid tribute, saying, “Professor Hawking was a unique individual who will be remembered with warmth and affection not only in Cambridge but all over the world. His exceptional contributions to scientific knowledge and the popularisation of science and mathematics have left an indelible legacy. His character was an inspiration to millions. He will be much missed.”

Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford although his family was living in north London at the time. In 1959, the family moved to St Albans where he attended St Albans School. Despite the fact that he was always ranked at the lower end of his class by teachers, his school friends nicknamed him ‘Einstein’ and seemed to have encouraged his interest in science. In his own words, “physics and astronomy offered the hope of understanding where we came from and why we are here. I wanted to fathom the depths of the Universe.”

His ambition brought him a scholarship to University College Oxford to read Natural Science. There he studied physics and graduated with a first class honours degree.

He then moved to Trinity Hall , Cambridge and was supervised by Dennis Sciama at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics for his PhD; his thesis was titled  Properties of Expanding Universes . In 2017, he made his PhD thesis freely available online via the  University of Cambridge’s Open Access repository . There have been over a million attempts to download the thesis, demonstrating the enduring popularity of Hawking and his academic legacy.

On completion of his PhD Hawking became a research fellow at Gonville and Caius College where he remained a fellow for the rest of his life. During his early years at Cambridge, he was influenced by Roger Penrose and developed the singularity theorems which show that the Universe began with the Big Bang.

An interest in singularities naturally led to an interest in black holes and his subsequent work in this area laid the foundations for the modern understanding of black holes. He proved that when black holes merge, the surface area of the final black hole must exceed the sum of the areas of the initial black holes, and he showed that this places limits on the amount of energy that can be carried away by gravitational waves in such a merger. He found that there were parallels to be drawn between the laws of thermodynamics and the behaviour of black holes. This eventually led, in 1974, to the revelation that black holes have a temperature and produce radiation, now known as Hawking radiation, a discovery which revolutionised theoretical physics.

He also realised that black holes must have an entropy – often described as a measure of how much disorder is present in a given system – equal to one quarter of the area of their event horizon: – the ‘point of no return’, where the gravitational pull of a black hole becomes so strong that escape is impossible. Some forty odd years later, the precise nature of this entropy is still a puzzle. However, these discoveries led to Hawking formulating the ‘information paradox’ which illustrates a fundamental conflict between quantum mechanics and our understanding of gravitational physics. This is probably the greatest mystery facing theoretical physicists today.

To understand black holes and cosmology requires one to develop a theory of quantum gravity. Quantum gravity is an unfinished project which is attempting to unify general relativity, the theory of gravitation and of space and time with the ideas of quantum mechanics. Hawking’s work on black holes started a new chapter in this quest and most of his subsequent achievements centred on these ideas.

Hawking recognised that quantum mechanical effects in the very early universe might provide the primordial gravitational seeds around which galaxies and other large-scale structures could later form.  This theory of inflationary fluctuations, developed along with others in the early 1980s, is now supported by strong experimental evidence from the COBE, WMAP and Planck satellite observations of the cosmic microwave sky. Another influential idea was Hawking’s ‘no boundary’ proposal which resulted from the application of quantum mechanics to the entire universe. This idea allows one to explain the creation of the universe in a way that is compatible with laws of physics as we currently understand them. 

Professor Hawking’s influential books included The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime , with G F R Ellis; General Relativity: an Einstein centenary survey , with W Israel; Superspace and Supergravity , with M Rocek (1981); The Very Early Universe , with G Gibbons and S Siklos, and 300 Years of Gravitation , with W Israel.

However, it was his popular science books which took Professor Hawking beyond the academic world and made him a household name. The first of these, A Brief History of Time , was published in 1988 and became a surprise bestseller, remaining on the Sunday Times best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. Later popular books included Black Holes and Baby Universes , The Universe in a Nutshell , A Briefer History of Time , and My Brief History . He also collaborated with his daughter Lucy on a series of books for children about a character named George who has adventures in space.

In 2014, a film of his life, The Theory of Everything , was released. Based on the book by his first wife Jane, the film follows the story of their life together, from first meeting in Cambridge in 1964, with his subsequent academic successes and his increasing disability. The film was met with worldwide acclaim and Eddie Redmayne, who played Stephen Hawking, won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 2015 ceremony.

Travel was one of Professor Hawking’s pastimes. One of his first adventures was to be caught up in the 7.1 magnitude Bou-in-Zahra earthquake in Iran in 1962. In 1997 he visited the Antarctic. He has plumbed the depths in a submarine and in 2007 he experienced weightlessness during a zero-gravity flight, routine training for astronauts. On his return to ground he quipped “Space, here I come.”

Writing years later on his website, Professor Hawking said: “I have had motor neurone disease for practically all my adult life. Yet it has not prevented me from having a very attractive family and being successful in my work. I have been lucky that my condition has progressed more slowly than is often the case. But it shows that one need not lose hope.”

At a conference In Cambridge held in celebration of his 75th birthday in 2017, Professor Hawking said “It has been a glorious time to be alive and doing research into theoretical physics. Our picture of the Universe has changed a great deal in the last 50 years, and I’m happy if I’ve made a small contribution.”

And he said he wanted others to feel the passion he has for understanding the universal laws that govern us all. “I want to share my excitement and enthusiasm about this quest. So remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious, and however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”

Words: Tom Kirk, Sarah Collins

Images: Alan Fersht, Graham CopeKoga, Andre Pattenden, Sir Cam, Dan White

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MASt in Mathematics (Theoretical Physics)

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This course is the Theoretical Physics stream of the Master of Advanced Study (MASt) in Mathematics; students should apply to only one of the four streams for the MAst (Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics, Mathematical Statistics, or Theoretical Physics). 

This MAst, commonly referred to as Part III, is a nine-month taught masters course in mathematics. It is excellent preparation for mathematical research and it is also a valuable course in mathematics and its applications for those who want further training before taking posts in industry, teaching, or research establishments.

Students admitted from outside Cambridge to the Part III are admitted to the Master of Advanced Study (MASt). Cambrdige students continuing from the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos for a fourth-year are admitted to the Master of Mathematics (MMath). The requirements and course structure for MASt and the MMath are the same. Cambridge students interested in the MMAth should refer to this page for more information  https://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/postgrad/part-iii/information-part-ii-studen...

There are around 280 Part III (MASt and MMath) students each year; almost all are in their fourth or fifth year of university studies. Each year the Faculty offers up to 80 lecture courses in Part III, covering an extensive range of pure mathematics, probability, statistics, applied mathematics and theoretical physics. They are designed to cover those advanced parts of the subjects that are not normally covered in a first-degree course, but which are an indispensable preliminary to independent study and research. Students have a wide choice of the combination of courses they take, though naturally, they tend to select groups of cognate courses. Examples classes and associated marking of (unassessed) example sheets are provided as complementary support to lectures.

As a taught masters course, the main emphasis is on lecture courses, and assessment is almost entirely based on written exams, which are taken at the end of the academic year starting in the last week of May, alongside a mathematical essay, normally due in early May. The standard graduation dates for successful candidates are usually in June and July.

Learning Outcomes

After completing Part III, students will be expected to have:

• studied advanced material in the mathematical sciences to a level not normally covered in a first degree;
• further developed the capacity for independent study of mathematics and problem-solving at a higher level; and
• undertaken an extended essay normally chosen from a list covering a wide range of topics.

Students are also expected to have acquired general transferable skills relevant to mathematics as outlined in the  Faculty Transferable Skills Statement.

MASt students wishing to apply for a PhD at Cambridge must apply via the Postgraduate Admissions webpage for readmission by the relevant deadline. Details of entry requirements can be found in the relevant course listings on this site.

Applications to study in either of the Mathematics Departments will be considered on a case-by-case basis and offer of a place will usually include an academic condition based on Part III results.

The Postgraduate Virtual Open Day usually takes place at the beginning of November. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions to admissions staff and academics, explore the Colleges virtually, and to find out more about courses, the application process and funding opportunities. Visit the  Postgraduate Open Day  page for more details.

See further the  Postgraduate Admissions Events  pages for other events relating to Postgraduate study, including study fairs, visits and international events.

Departments

This course is advertised in the following departments:

• Faculty of Mathematics
• Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics

Key Information

9 months full-time, study mode : taught, master of advanced study, department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics this course is advertised in multiple departments. please see the overview tab for more details., course - related enquiries, application - related enquiries, course on department website, dates and deadlines:, michaelmas 2025.

Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.

Funding Deadlines

These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2025, Lent 2026 and Easter 2026.

Similar Courses

• Mathematics (Mathematical Statistics) MASt
• Mathematics (Applied Mathematics) MASt
• Mathematics (Pure Mathematics) MASt
• Mathematics MPhil
• Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics PhD

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