Post-Graduate Opportunities in Planetary Science and Computational Geochemistry

The Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Hong Kong has recently expanded into new research areas and is seeking to fill a number of funded opportunities for graduate students. The Department offers programmes leading to MPhil and PhD degrees. Potential supervisors include Man Hoi Lee in the area of Planetary Science and Kono Lemke in the area of Computational Geochemistry. The work in the field of Computational Geochemistry deals with water cluster structure and stability as well as coupling between atmospheric cluster distribution and climatic impact. The project will involve modeling energetic and spectroscopic properties of molecular clusters such as, for instance, neutral and ionic water clusters as well as transition metal/water clusters, at ambient and extreme conditions. The research topics in Planetary Science are in the theory of the origin and dynamics of Solar System configurations (such as the spins and the satellite systems of the giant planets) and extrasolar planetary systems. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact Kono Lemke (kono@hku.hk) or Man Hoi Lee (mhlee@hku.hk) directly about specific research programmes prior to developing a complete application. The deadline for the next round of application is May 31, 2008.

Application forms and detailed information on the application procedure are available at http://www.hku.hk/gradsch/web/apply/. The University of Hong Kong is at the international forefront of higher learning and research, with over 20,000 students, and it is located in one of the most dynamic cities in the world. Successful applicants will join a dynamic, research-oriented department with strong collaborative links to the Physics, Chemistry and other natural science departments as well as to high-performance supercomputing facilities on campus. Further details about the above research areas, the Department of Earth Sciences, and our postgraduate programmes can be found at http://www3.hku.hk/earthsci/