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In the local Universe, galaxies can be broadly classified into discs, ellipticals and irregulars. Discs contain regularly-rotating gas, and are forming new stars. Ellipticals contain predominantly old stars in randomly oriented, round-shaped orbits, don't have much gas and are no longer forming stars. Irregulars are often the result of the merger between two disc galaxies, are rich in gas and dust, and are forming stars at an intense rate.
Ellipticals are amongst the most massive galaxies in the present-day Universe, have spheroidal morphologies and red colours, and were formed more than 10 billion years ago. They contain very little cold gas, and are not forming new stars at a substantial rate.How these objects have been formed and evolved across cosmic history is one of the main puzzles for galaxy formation and evolution studies. Indeed, observations show that at their formation epoch, that is redshift z~1-3, most galaxies were actively forming stars within extended stellar discs. Therefore, some mechanisms must quench star formation and induce morphological transformations in galaxies.