PhD position in Astronomy - IMPRS Bonn/Cologne

INTERNATIONAL MAX PLANCK RESEARCH SCHOOL (IMPRS)FOR ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSIC AT THE UNIVERSITIES OF BONN AND COLOGNE PhD POSITIONS IN ASTRONOMY, Call for Applications, Deadline: November 15, 2009

The International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne, funded by the German Max Planck Society, invites applications for its doctoralprogram. It is a collaboration between the Max-Planck-Institut furRadioastronomie (MPIfR), the Argelander-Institut fur Astronomie (AIfA) of the University of Bonn and the I. Physikalisches Institut at the University of Cologne. The official and working language of the school is English. It offers PhD courses both in observational and theoretical astrophysics, covering a wide range of topics ranging from observational radio interferometry to theoretical cosmology, such as:

Structure and Kinematics of AGN Jets * Galactic Masers: Nature and Application to Astrophysics * Intra-Day Variability * Infra-Red Interferometry of Disks and Jets of Young Stars * Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry Development * Interstellar Matter in Galaxies * Infra-Red Interferometry of AGN * Strong and Weak Gravitational Lensing * Galactic and Extragalactic Magnetic Fields * High Precision Astrometry * Envelopes of Evolved Stars * Radiative Transfer Modeling * Star Formation in the Milky Way and Other Galaxies * Astroparticle Physics * Supermassive Binary Black Holes in AGN * Observational Cosmology * Stellar Populations * Star Clusters * Satellite Galaxies * Galactic Dynamics * Binary Pulsars * Neutron Stars * Experimental tests of gravity * Transient Radio Sky.A list of suggested PhD projects can be found at: http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/pdf/PhD_projects.pdf

IMPRS offers a competitive PhD program including advanced lectures on fundamental astrophysical fields, soft-skills seminars (e.g. presentation skills, time management, scientific reading etc.), bi-weekly students seminars. Annually, the students reside in the country side for a-few-day workshop. The three hosting institutions provide a thriving environment of ever-growing scientific inspiration with lively colloquium talks given by experts from all over the globe as well as a wealth of university courses. Thesis committees monitor the progress of each student and provide scientific feedback to the PhD course. The students are traveling to international schools, conferences and the best observing facilities around the world. They are exposed to the most advanced techniques and methods using state-of-the-art earth-bound or space observatories (at energy bands from radio to gamma-rays). Such as, the unique 100-m radio telescope in Effelsberg and the most advanced instruments in millimeter and sub-millimeter astronomy. The MPIfR is one of the world centers for Very Long Baseline Interferometry, which utilizes a global network of radio telescopes for achieving the highest possible angular resolutions.

The call for applications is open until November 15, 2009. Encouraged to apply are students from all countries with an M.Sc. degree or diploma (preferably including a thesis) in Physics or closely related subjects. Solid astrophysical background is highly favored.

More details on the IMPRS program and the admission requirements and process can be found at the IMPRS website: www.mpifr.de/english/IMPRS