Astroinformatics for Students
At the FHNW HSI you can get involved in real space projects. Work with our international astroinformatics and heliophysics teams for your
> Semester- and bachelor project
> PhD (with a partner institution such as ETHZ)
Semester-and Bachelor Projects
BSc Computer Science | Data Science | ICT
Recent semester- and bachelor projects
2023
Klassifikation von Sonneneruptionen mittels
Machine Learning und e-Callisto Netzwerk
Gravitationslinsen in Quasaren finden mit An-
omaly Detection
Simulating the light from Big Bang for the Squa-
re Kilometer Array
2024
Planetary Excursions: Virtual reality exhibition for Schweizer Kindermuseum to explore the Solar System
Virtual Reality training to control the Mars Rover
FHNW Rover Drohnen-Navigation
FHNW Rover-Navigation
2025
360°-Darstellung der Sonnenaktivitäten
Using Machine Learning to Estimate the GOES
X-ray Flux of Backside Solar Flares Seen by STIX
Deep Learning for Recognizing Strong Lens Sy-
stems formed by Galaxies and Quasars
Real-Time Imaging of Solar X-ray Flares with
Machine Learning
Using Machine Learning to Predict full-
resolution STIX Data from Quick-look Profiles
Using Machine Learning to Estimate the GOES
X-ray Flux from STIX Quick-look Data
Using Machine Learning to Measure Temperatu-
res of Solar Eruptions
Mars Rover Navigation
2026
Real-Time Imaging of Solar Flares with Machine Learning
Predicting solar flare GOES flux from STIX data
FHNW Rover: Autonome Navigation
FHNW Rover: Autonome Objekterkennung für Drohne und Rover
Reasoning AI for Automated Discovery in Cosmology
X-ray Thermometer
Using Machine Learning to Predict full-resolution STIX Data from Quick-look Profiles
Master Projects
MSc Computer Science | Data Science | ICT
Opportunities for master students
Are you interested in working towards a Master Thesis in Computer Science, combining computer science and machine learning with applications in science and space?
PhD Positions
Computer Science and Solar Physics
Open PhD Positions
Fall 2026: Two positions for the X-ray telescope STIX
Current PhD Positions
Muriel Stiefel
Research project: X-ray telescope STIX on ESA’s mission Solar Orbiter
– data analysis and interpretation, help with daily operations of the telescope
Partner academic institution: ETHZ
Francesco Pio Ramunno
Research project: RODEM
– deep learning on solar data for space weather prediction
Partner academic institution: UNIGE
Janis Witmer
Research project: SQUID (Solar Quantum Annealing for Inversion and Disambiguation), instrument SDO/HMI
– First application of quantum computing to solve solar magnetic field ambiguities
Partner academic institution: University of Bern
Past PhD Positions
Hannah Collier (doctoral degree 2025)
Research project: X-ray telescope STIX on ESA’s mission Solar Orbiter
– Data analysis and interpretation, help with daily operations of the telescope
Partner academic institution: ETHZ
Andrea Battaglia (doctoral degree 2024)
> Won the Edith Alice Müller Award 2025
Research project: X-ray telescope STIX on ESA’s mission Solar Orbiter
– Data analysis and interpretation, help with daily operations of the telescope
Partner academic institution: ETHZ
Brandon Panos (doctoral degree 2021)
Research project: NASA’s space telescope IRIS
– Machine Learning techniques to perform large scale statistical studies on IRIS satellite data to better understand the physics of solar flares.
Partner academic institution: University of Geneva
Erica Lastufka (doctoral degree 2020)
Research project: MiSolFA cubesat system
– Gratings for the imager on the Micro Solar Flare Apparatus
Partner academic institution: ETHZ
Matej Kuhar (doctoral degree 2018)
Research project: NASA’s space telescope NuSTAR
– New observational techniques for solar flares
Partner academic institution: ETHZ
Stefan Müller (doctoral degree 2016)
Research project: Dark Energy Survey DES on the Blanko Telescope in Chile
– Semi-automatic parallelization software Pydron for astroinformatics including multi-core and the cloud.
Partner academic institution: ETHZ