Particle Physics in Uni. of Manchester-Review and comment.

[sigmatjj84]

Particle Physics in Uni. of Manchester--Review and comment.

Hi everyone,

I am applying a MSc in Particle Physics at Uni of Manchester. I've done some research on the university ranking by subject area, student's reviews...etc. which are posted on the net. But I am hoping to get more info and verification from you all. Just to be sure I am making a right choice.

For your information, I am especially interested in String Theory, Q. Gravity, Dark Matter & Energy..etc. I have contacted few of the faculties in Manchester University and they are all very friendly, this is one of the main reason why I choose Manchester but still I want to know more.

Excluding the top 5 universities like Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, UCL... do you guys recommend the particle physics group in Manchester (anyone studied there before)? How is the Manchester particle physics group if compares to other uni like Uni of Durham, Uni of Edinburgh, Uni of Bristol and so on who also have a strong group in this field?

I really appreciate any comment from you guys. Thank you.

 

[feely]

I haven't studied there, but I know people who have, and they only say good things! Not only about the Uniersity, but about the city itself.

Sean

 

[Azrael84]

Hey, Manchester is a great uni with great professors and a strong physics dept, also a great city to live in.

The one thing I would say is your research interests (QG, string theory) don't really seem to match the theoretical particle physics group's interests. Manchester is much more phenomenology (i.e. you might do things like create Monte Carlo simulations of various processes to simulate what might be observed in the LHC etc), and also they do lots of QCD (similar to the Cavendish Lab at Cambridge). Pilafstis is probably the closest to stringy you will find here, but I think if these truly are your interest you might be better with Imperial MSc in Quantum fields and Fundamental forces, or maybe even part III at Cambridge DAMTP, and the Durham MSc is pretty good for this too. If you don't mind going furhter a field there is the Perimeter Scholars programme in Canada too.

The groups I have found in the UK that do hardcore Stringy/QG research are: DAMTP Cambridge (realistically requires part III before entry, which can be a bugger to fund), Oxford Maths Inst (again I'm sure most people here will have part III or some equivalent), Oxford Physics, Durham, Edinburgh Maths, Nottingham QG group (Maths Dept), Imperial Physics...
Also String Theory dominates research in the US, so you could start a PhD there without need for an MSc at all, and work on String Theory too.

 

[sigmatjj84]

Thanks for the reply man. Ya, Prof. Pilaftsis is probably the closest to string you will find there. You sound like you have been there, I wonder?

Haven't looked at Perimeter Scholars programme in Canada yet, will check on it.