BEACON: Student Research Projects
Connecting Stellar and Galactic Evolution Using High-Fidelity Benchmark Stars
I am currently offering student research projects as part of the BEACON program — Baseline Evolutionary-Anchored Characterisation Of Nearby stars.
BEACON aims to establish an empirically calibrated framework linking stellar oscillation properties to independently measured stellar masses, radii, and ages across post-solar evolutionary phases. By anchoring survey-scale seismic measurements to benchmark stars with dynamical masses and interferometric radii, the project will enable precise, model-independent stellar ages to be derived for evolved stars throughout the Milky Way.
Why it matters: By converting stellar oscillations into reliable timestamps, we will be able to disentangle stellar populations formed at different epochs of the Milky Way’s history and construct a coherent cosmic timeline of its dynamical and chemical evolution.
Available Projects
BEACON-I · Precision Characterisation of Early Red Giant Stars
Suitable for: Honours / Master’s students
This project implements and empirically validates a scalable seismic diagnostic for stellar mass and age inference in early red giant branch (RGB) stars. Rather than developing a new inference scheme from scratch, the work deploys an existing, physically motivated diagnostic that exploits a structural feature in oscillation frequencies which becomes strongly mass-sensitive following the subgiant phase.
What you will do:
- Cross-match eclipsing binary catalogues (DEBCat, LAMOST, ASAS-SN) with stars showing solar-like oscillations from Kepler or TESS
- Calibrate a grid of stellar models against dynamical masses from eclipsing binary systems
- Quantify systematic offsets relative to existing seismic scaling-relation estimators
- Contribute to a publicly released asteroseismic inference tool
Skills you will develop: Asteroseismic data analysis, stellar modelling, large catalogue cross-matching, Bayesian inference.
BEACON-II · High-Fidelity Modelling of Core Helium-Burning Stars
Suitable for: PhD students
This project develops a framework for refining stellar models of red clump (core helium-burning) stars — a regime where current models are generally not trusted. The work incorporates empirically derived, metallicity-dependent mass-loss prescriptions that have only recently become available, and uses population-level constraints from large spectroscopic surveys to tune internal mixing processes.
What you will do:
- Develop and calibrate stellar evolutionary models for red clump stars using MESA
- Incorporate empirically constrained mass-loss prescriptions
- Validate models against open clusters and binary systems containing red clump stars
- Perform boutique-level modelling of a gold-standard sample of ~100 stars from Kepler
- Derive transferable calibration prescriptions for population-scale seismic mass and age estimates
Skills you will develop: Stellar evolution modelling (MESA), asteroseismology, population-level statistical analysis, model calibration.
BEACON-III · Model-Independent Calibration of Stellar Radii
Suitable for: PhD students
This project incorporates interferometric measurements of stellar angular diameters to provide model-independent stellar radii for a sample of nearby stars spanning a range of evolutionary phases — from the main sequence through the red clump. These radii are used to corroborate masses and ages derived from BEACON-I and BEACON-II, and to refine evolutionary-stage-dependent correction factors.
What you will do:
- Cross-match interferometric radius measurements with TESS asteroseismic targets (>100 stars)
- Refine seismic scaling relation correction factors across evolutionary phases, with emphasis on the subgiant regime
- Bootstrap calibrations to open and globular clusters in collaboration with international partners
- Deploy validated calibrations to large TESS samples (≥50,000 stars)
Skills you will develop: Interferometric data analysis, seismic scaling relations, large-scale survey deployment, international collaboration.
Project Timeline
The BEACON program runs from 2027 to 2029, with structured milestones across all three components:
| Year | Focus |
|---|---|
| 2027 | BEACON-I calibration and validation; initiation of BEACON-II modelling |
| 2028 | BEACON-II model calibration; benchmark sample construction; collaboration visit to University of Hawaiʻi |
| 2029 | BEACON-III validation; large-scale survey deployment (TESS); final publications |
Results will be disseminated at the TASC/KASC international conference and the ASA Annual Scientific Meeting, and published in leading journals. All benchmark datasets and calibration tools will be publicly released via a dedicated BEACON web portal.
Interested?
If you are a prospective Honours, Master’s, or PhD student interested in joining the BEACON program, please get in touch via the Contact page. I welcome applications from students with backgrounds in physics, astrophysics, or related quantitative disciplines.