Course summary

The Postgraduate Certificate in Astronomy and Astrophysics programme at Queen Mary, University of London, provides a unique opportunity for graduates to pursue the subject in depth, either for personal interest or as a first step towards a professional career in astronomy for those with degrees with sufficient mathematical or physics content. The certificate programme has been running since 1985 and around 50 certificates have been awarded. Some students have gone on to complete the MSc, and even to do PhDs. The programme provides a broad coverage of relevant research topics, including modules on research methods, exoplanets, stellar structure, galaxies and cosmology. The programme at Queen Mary is unique in the UK in the scope of material covered. It gives students a detailed overview of the fundamentals of the subject as well as an up-to-date account of recent developments in research. The wide range of topics covered by the course reflects the breadth of research interests pursued by the members of staff in our large and friendly research group. Lectures cover such diverse topics as the origin of the universe, dark matter, the life and death of stars, black holes, extrasolar planets and space and solar plasma physics. Students who do sufficiently well on the Postgraduate Certificate (which essentially consists of the first year of the MSc Astrophysics) may be allowed to change their registration to MSc Astrophysics part-time and go into the second year of the MSc.