Young stellar population in the Magellanic Clouds

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Studies of extragalactic young stellar populations have been hitherto restricted to deep optical HST studies (at high spatial resolution) over very small areas, or large area infrared (Spitzer and Herschel) surveys sampling only the most massive young stars and suffering from poor resolution. The ESO/VMC survey of the Magellanic Could allows better spatial resolution than Spitzer, while still covering the large area of the whole Magellanic System. It is sensitive enough to sample down to solar mas young stars at IR wavelengths therefore bridging the gap between the previous studies. This PhD project will provide the first unbiased study of the young stellar populations across whole galaxies, something that is not even possible in the Milky Way. It will also allow the first systematic near-infrared variability study of young stars across the system. Such observed properties will be analysed in the context of galactic properties (gas and dust). The project will involve the development of automatic algorithms that can identify the young populations over large sky areas. This PhD project is associated with a prestigious ESO studentship; the student will therefore spend two years at ESO/Garching.