Two fully-funded PhD studentships available

If the question ‘Are we alone in the Universe?’ excites you, then two fully-funded PhD studentships within the OU’s Astrobiology Research Group may be just what you are searching for.

Applications are invited as part of The Open University’s recent £6.7 million grant from Research England which aims to help address fundamental questions about life beyond the Earth in a three-year project.

Based in the Business School, one of the research projects is defining a capitals approach to evaluating the socio-economic benefits of space exploration. This will investigate the socio-economic benefits of space exploration, particularly with the expansion of the space sector to the private sector and non-traditional nations.

Based in the Law School, the other research project is the future of the COSPAR Planetary Protection Guidelines: Space governance and astrobiology. This will examine the issue of planetary protection and the way in which the space governance framework can best deal with the challenges facing human exploration of other planets.

Please note that the deadline for applications for this research project has now ended.