A funding scheme for planetary scientists in Ireland and the UK
—- APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED FOR 2026 —-
The Europlanet Ireland & UK Hub invites applications from planetary scientists for the 2026 Research Visit Fund.
Building on the success of our 2025 Early Career Researcher Conference Fund — which supported nine ECRs in attending meetings across the UK — we are delighted to open a new competitive fund to support research collaboration across Ireland and the UK in the field of planetary and space science.
This fund provides an award of up to €1,000 in total to enable a planetary or space scientist to travel within Ireland and the UK to visit a host institution for a research visit. This could include working on a paper, performing experiments, accessing specialist facilities, or other collaborative research activities. Funds may be used to cover or offset travel, accommodation, subsistence, and access expenses. We particularly encourage transnational research visits (Ireland to the UK, or vice versa).
Research visits must take place between summer and the end of 2026. The Europlanet Ireland+UK Hub Committee have compiled a non-exhaustive list of potential host institutions, and these are listed below the application form.
Applications closed on Friday 1st of May, 17:00 BST.
Who can apply?
Applicants must:
- Be affiliated with an institution in Ireland or the UK
- Be individual members of Europlanet, or be based at an institution with an organisational Europlanet membership
- Be intending to visit a host institution within Ireland or the UK
- Submit no more than one application
- Have agreed the proposed visit with their intended host institution before submitting an application
There is no strict career-stage requirement for this fund, but priority may be given to Early Career Researchers. Europlanet defines ECRs as anyone whose last degree was obtained no more than 7 years ago (not counting parental leave, serious illness, and similar career breaks).
Application Closing Date: Friday 1st of May, 17:00 BST
Potential Host Institutions
To help inspire applications, we have compiled a list of planetary science research groups and facilities across Ireland and the UK that have expressed interest in hosting visitors. This list is not exhaustive — applicants are welcome to propose a visit to any institution in Ireland or the UK, whether or not it appears below. Applicants should contact potential host institutions for feasibility before naming them in their application.
If you would like your group or facility to be added to this list, please fill out our quick Google Form.
University of Cambridge, Department of Earth Sciences Planetary Chemistry Group
Contact: Oliver Shorttle (os258@cam.ac.uk)
Research interests: Early Earth; Venus; Mars; Rocky exoplanets; Thermodynamics; Atmospheres; Climate
Capabilities: Modelling; Micro-analysis (EPMA; SEM)
Website: www.shorttle.com
University of Glasgow Planetary Science Research Group
Contact: Lydia Hallis (lydia.hallis@glasgow.ac.uk)
Research interests: Volatiles in the inner solar system, meteorite studies, correlative microscopy
Capabilities: Scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectrometry
Website: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/ges/research/researchfacilities/gems/
Lancaster University Space and Planetary Physics
Contact: Licia Ray (licia.ray@lancaster.ac.uk)
Research interests: Outer planet aurorae; gas and ice giant magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere coupling; gas giant ionospheres; plasma circulation within giant planet magnetospheres; X-ray emissions from planetary magnetosheaths; space plasma interactions at Mars; moon-magnetosphere interactions. The group combines numerical modelling, observations, and data analysis.
Capabilities: HST datasets, standard techniques applied to publicly available data, MIT coupling and atmospheric models
Website: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/physics/research/astrophysics/space-and-planetary-physics/
Northumbria University Solar and Space Physics Group
Contact: Charlotte Goetz (charlotte.goetz@northumbria.ac.uk)
Research interests: Our Solar and Space Physics researchers work to understand the physics of the Sun, the solar-terrestrial connection, and all aspects of space physics including planetary and cometary plasma physics. To better protect and utilise humanity’s use of space, we have a particular focus around space weather and satellite technology.
Capabilities: The group is involved in a number of space missions such as Solar Orbiter, MMS, Comet Interceptor, and JWST. There is also expertise in the usage of ground based observatories such as VLT, DKIST, and IRTF to observe the Sun, the giant planets, and comets.
Website: https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/1/our-peaks-of-excellence/solar-and-space-physics
The Open University HVI-SPE Laboratory (Hypervelocity Impact and Space/Planetary Environments Lab)
Contact: Manish Patel (manish.patel@open.ac.uk)
Research interests: Hypervelocity impact testing, space and planetary environmental simulation and exposure experiments, simulation of Mars and other geomorphological and aeolian processes.
Capabilities: A two-stage light gas gun capable of firing mm-sized projectiles horizontally or vertically at up to ~7 km/s; several environmental simulation chambers capable of replicating conditions in space and on planetary surfaces.
Website: https://university.open.ac.uk/science/physical-science/facilities/hvi-spe-laboratories
The Open University The Planetary Environments Group
Contact: Matt Balme (matt.balme@open.ac.uk)
Research interests: Planetary geoscience; Mars; Mercury; Icy moons; Surface-atmosphere interaction; Planetary GIS; Planetary orbital remote sensing; Machine learning applied to planetary GIS; Mars rover missions (especially the ESA Rosalind Franklin Rover mission).
Capabilities: Expert group with a strong track record of hosting and mentoring visiting researchers. High-specification GIS workstations set up for machine learning tasks; access to a Linux cluster with climate modelling tools; co-located staff-student workspace welcoming to visitors.
University of Sheffield Ice and Climate Research at Sheffield (ICERS)
Contact: Frances Butcher (f.butcher@sheffield.ac.uk)
Research interests: Past, present, and future climatic changes and their impacts on ice masses, oceans, the atmosphere, and landscapes — including glaciers, ice sheets, and glaciated landscapes on both Earth and Mars.
Capabilities: GIS and remote sensing; ice flow modelling; luminescence dating laboratory; Arctic and Antarctic fieldwork; proximity to sites of geomorphic and geological interest in the Peak District National Park.
Website: https://sheffield.ac.uk/geography-planning/research/geography/groups/icers
University of Manchester Isotope Geochemistry and Planetary Science
Contact: Rhian Jones (rhian.jones-2@manchester.ac.uk)
Research interests: Planetary sample science, including petrological, geochemical, and isotopic analysis of meteorites and mission-returned samples. Questions relating to the formation and early evolution of the Solar System, and geological and surface processes on asteroids, Mars, and the Moon.
Capabilities: SEM, EPMA, Raman spectroscopy, LA-ICP-MS, NanoSIMS, experimental petrology, noble gas mass spectrometry, and clean rooms for sample preparation. Note: applicants wishing to use research facilities should discuss their application with the group before submitting.
Natural History Museum, London Planetary Materials Group
Contact: Helena Bates (h.bates@nhm.ac.uk)
Research interests: Evolution of the Solar System through analysis of meteorites and asteroids; geology and surface processes on terrestrial planetary bodies; composition of icy moons.
Capabilities: An exceptionally well-equipped facility including: preparation laboratory; clean room; offline high-memory computing for data processing; electron microprobe (JEOL JXA-8530F); multiple field emission and conventional SEMs with EDS; portable SEM; two micro-CT scanners; extensive light microscopy; ICP-MS and ICP-OES; single crystal and powder X-ray diffractometers.
Remote sensing lab including high-specification GIS workstations with stereo DEM production capabilities, multi- and hyper-spectral remote sensing facilities, and involvement in active orbital and in situ space missions (Rosalind Franklin, CaSSIS-TGO, etc).
Website: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/services/facilities/imaging-analysis.html
Imperial College London Venus Surface Processes Group
Contact: Philippa Mason (p.j.mason@imperial.ac.uk)
Research interests: Venus surface and crustal processes, tectonics, geomorphology, radar data processing, Earth observation of Venus analogues, and Venus observations from past and future orbital missions.
Capabilities: Primarily computational — the group includes postdoctoral researchers, PhD and MSc students, and academic staff working with remote sensing and modelling tools.
University of Edinburgh Edinburgh Centre for Planetary Sciences
Contact: Auriol Rae (auriol.rae@ed.ac.uk)
Research interests: The Centre works across the full breadth of planetary science, including Solar System science, exoplanetary science, astrobiology and the origins of life, and mission science.
Capabilities: A wide range of analytical and computational facilities including microscopy, mass spectrometry, light spectroscopy, X-ray analysis, biological analysis, and numerical modelling. Full details at https://planetarysciences.ed.ac.uk/facilities.
Website: https://planetarysciences.ed.ac.uk/
Royal Holloway, University of London Astromaterials Group
Contact: Queenie Chan (Queenie.chan@rhul.ac.uk)
Research interests: Meteorites, organic matter, Mars, Phobos, origin of life.
Capabilities: SEM-EDX, elemental analysis, clean lab facility, wet chemistry lab, anoxic glove box, micromanipulation of small particles, particle counting.
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium Solar System Group
Contact: Apostolos Christou (apostolos.christou@armagh.ac.uk)
Research interests: Origin and evolution of solar system small bodies, including Trojan, Main Belt, and Near-Earth asteroids and cometary meteor streams, through modelling, observations, and data mining.
Capabilities: Analytical and semi-analytical orbital evolution models; AI and machine learning algorithms for asteroid classification; in-house high-performance computing for many-particle numerical simulations; access to observing facilities for photometric and spectrophotometric data acquisition.
Website: https://armagh.space/
