Finding a German University for Theoretical Physics Masters Programs

[Curieuse]

Hey people,
I am an Indian undergraduate student of Math, physics and Chemistry(yes, there was no option which had one specialization only) and I'm doing a 3 year Bachelor of science course in a not-so-well-known but decent college. I'm currently in the 2nd year and i'd like to plan the next step starting now as things went wrong with the undergrad choice because it was postponed a lot. I think what i want to do is Theoretical physics with a lot of astrophysics elements in it and maybe a bit of quantum physics too. I need some help to narrow down on a german university, a nice one in that, that'll offer grad programs that are fuelled by the above branches. I can learn german but english is always better. And most of all, how hard is it to get into the top shot german physics institutes? What are the tests I'll have to take? And how exactly does the grad program work under Max Planck Gesellschaft work? And I plan on a couple of internships in top shot institutes of my country in the next two years.. and then again I wish to do a masters in mathematics as that would help greatly with what I want to do in one of those institutes before looking at german masters... Also, what else can i choose for the two masters instead of the above mentioned? which combination will help the most? Where should I take them and in what university in germany? I believe the indian selection is pretty obvious. Above all, am i even eligible from a masters program in germany with a 3-yr bsc and 2-yr msc? Will they allow the double masters thing? Am i eligible for the same with just the 3-yr bsc thing? I checked the LMU sites and the testing method isn't very clear. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[mfb]

I can learn german but english is always better.

English should work for a MSc and certainly works for PhD students.

And most of all, how hard is it to get into the top shot german physics institutes? What are the tests I'll have to take?

Ask them. The usual road in Germany is Abitur -> BSc (3 years) -> MSc (2 years) -> PhD without additional tests. You'll have to ask in which way your degrees from India are accepted. PhD programmes in physics usually require a MSc in physics or some related field, I'm not sure if mathematics gets accepted (could be for theoretical physics, however).

As far as I know, for MSc positions you just ask the professor you would like to work with, they are rarely advertised and usually unpaid. PhD positions are paid, and usually they get advertised.

MPG: I didn't find theoretical positions for the fields you mentioned here, but maybe one of the IMPRS schools has something.

Also, what else can i choose for the two masters instead of the above mentioned? which combination will help the most?

Why two masters?

 

[Curieuse]

Why two masters?

Will that not be useful? Considering my bachelor's math is pretty low level compared to the stuff people learn for prep for a masters course in THEORETICAL PHYSICS.

 

[mfb]

Hmm, I don't know.

 

[SteffenKaufmann]

Usually, German Max Planck Institutes require a PhD or offer a PhD program in cooperation with a German university. The Max Planck Society is arguably the German Harvard (in some aspects of complex physics), Helmholtz and Leibniz society have a few similar institutes and other ones. Fraunhofer institutes accomplish more applied research.

A typical German Material Sciences institute of the Leibniz society is http://www.ifw-dresden.de or http://www.ipfdd.de in polymers research.

You can watch - and I recommend that - a lot of such institutes at
http://www.dresden-concept.de/en/alliance/members.html - in this case they are all located in the city of Dresden, Europe's epicenter of microelectronics.

This mid-sized city has its strong points in microelectronics, material sciences and biophysics.

The university TU Dresden is one of Germany's 11 research "Universities of Excellence" and it more and more cooperates with the non-university peak research institutes around to gain global visibility. In Germany this university is the number 3 by industrial income and number one counted by patents.

40 out of 80 German universities are in the Global Top 500, a few not listed because they don't provide data to ranking firms.
Not ranked Universities of Applied Sciences have almost the same reputation in Germany but not in consulting, science jobs etc.

There are a lot of English master and PhD courses in English languages.

Here are a few examples (all in Dresden, other universities have similar ones).

http://www.biotec.tu-dresden.de/teaching/masters-courses.html
http://www.nano.tu.dresden.de
https://www.cfaed.tu-dresden.de
http://www.dresden-ipp.de
http://www.dlgs-dresden.de

To find master programs you can also google for "Nanoelectronic Systems" or "Organic and Molecular Electronics", "Advanced Computational and Civil Engineering Structural Studies", "Computational Logic", "Molecular Bioengineering", "Tropical Forestry and Management", "Human Performance in Socio-Technical Systems" to name a few.

The application competition depends on your native country, for example when you are from India you compete with other Indian students.

Feel free to ask at the University or DAAD.de

http://www.dresden-microelectronics-academy.de offers mini-"studies" for young engineers in English.