The pathway to planets: formation of protoplanetary discs

Observations are bringing new insight into the structure of discs of dusty gas orbiting young stars, but not in sufficient detail to understand where and how planets form within them. This project aims to fill this need by linking the structure of discs to the well-characterised interstellar cloud cores that collapse to form star-disc systems. The project aspires to use innovative techniques to enable the rapid collapse calculations needed to map core properties to disc structure. Expected outcomes include knowledge of the disc structures critical to interpreting observations of forming planetary systems. The benefit will be guidance to the theory ultimately needed to explain the incredible variety of planetary systems we see today.