Established 1992 Phone +44 151 231 2900 | Founded 1992 | |
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Director Professor Chris Collins Colours university colours Navy blue Lime greenfaculty colours(Faculty of Science) Affiliations Liverpool John Moores UniversityLiverpool Telescope (LT) Address Liverpool Science Park, IC2, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK Profiles | ||
The Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI) is an astronomy and astrophysics research institute located in Merseyside, UK. Formed in 1992, the institute was situated on the Twelve Quays site in Birkenhead from 1998 to 2013, until in June 2013 the institute relocated to the Liverpool Science Park in Liverpool. The institute is in the top 1% of institutions in the field of space science as measured by total citations.
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There are currently over 60 staff members and research students working at the institute, which lies within the administration of the Liverpool John Moores University's Faculty of Science.
Research
Conducted research varies into many areas of astronomy and astrophysics, such as supernovae, star formation and galaxy clusters. Research is funded by external organisations, such as the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The institute maintains the Liverpool Telescope which is located on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands.
Education
The institute currently teaches two undergraduate courses: a 3-year BSc (Hons) in Physics and Astronomy, as well as a 4-year MPhys (Hons) in Astrophysics. Both the undergraduate courses are taught as a joint degree by the Astrophysics Research Institute of Liverpool John Moores University and the Department of Physics at the University of Liverpool. The courses are accredited by the Institute of Physics.
Postgraduate courses are made available at PhD and Master's level, with two MSc courses taught via distance learning.
Unaccredited short courses are also made available to those who do not have a scientific or mathematical background. The Astronomy by Distance Learning courses are taught by CD-ROM, DVD and website material without the need for classroom sessions. Each of the courses provides an introduction into astronomy as well as specialist areas such as supernovae.
Awards
In 2006, the institute received the "Queen's Anniversary Prize" for higher education in recognition for its development of the robotic telescope. In 2007 the "Times Higher Education Supplement Award" for 'project of the year' was given for the use of RINGO optical polarimeter at the Liverpool Telescope in measuring gamma-ray bursts. RINGO has since been decommissioned and an updated polarimeter named RINGO2 is since in operation.