Information regarding this project is presented below
IAC ESR - Hannu Parviainen
This project involves observations of known or newly found extrasolar planets with several methods (transit photometry and spectroscopy; radial velocities) in order to: detect additional (yet unknown) planets; refine our knowledge about the central star and the known planet(s); and to evaluate if the circumstellar environment has any effect onto the known system properties. This project will combine the use of state-of-the-art ground-based observational facilities, such as the GTC and later, HARPS-N on the WHT, with the analysis of data coming from space missions - currently CoRoT and later from the Kepler mission. Through these missions we also have access to new planet discoveries for investigation in this thesis project. Observational results will need to be reflected in the light of theoretical developments, which requires familiarization with models of planetary system evolution, planetary and stellar structure, orbital mechanics, and requires potentially the writing of simulation codes for multi-planet systems. Summarizing, this is a very versatile PhD project where the student will be forced to deal with nearly every aspect of modern astrophysics, and to use the most recent and advanced instruments and facilities. As a matter of fact, the student will be introduced in one of the fastest developing and revolutionary fields of astronomy. This may have great advantages for the future development of the PhD student's own scientific and academic carrier, with many scientific institutions and research teams joining this field. This, in turn, will oblige the student to demonstrate all his/her capabilities in such a stimulating and exciting, but also competitive area of contemporary astrophysics.
IAC - H. Deeg, J. A. Belmonte