Max Planck Institute For Physics

[PhyAmateur]

What do you guys think of Max Planck Institute for Physics as a place for one to pursue PhD in theoretical physics? ny previous experience you can share?

 

[Orodruin]

I did my first postdoc at the MPP. In general, I think it is a very nice place to be and there tends to be a relatively good flow of good people coming through (now, the postdocs and PhD students that were there at my time have left, but I think it is a general statement). Of course, it also depends on who you go with and what your interests in physics are and whether or not you find a supervisor with those same interests. The location is perhaps not the best in the sense that it is not central as the LMU or at Garching, where you would get some synergies with other institutes and TUM. Is there anything particular you are wondering about?

 

[PhyAmateur]

Thank you for your reply. I am wondering about its reputation between the top universities in physics like cambridge, stanford, and so on? And as I saw here on this site that people said it is difficult to find a job position once you graduate from MPP. And how about acceptance? Is a hard catch university? Does one need good connection with professors to get there or only your CV will do the job? Anything you can add is also appreciated. @Orodruin

 

[Orodruin]

As anywhere, if you have some connections it will help in the sense that people may look at your qualifications twice. Deciding whether or not to hire someone you have more information about is obviously easier than just judging from a piece of paper. I cannot say how difficult it is to get a PhD position at the MPP, I came as a postdoc and had external grant money from the Marie Curie actions. The reputation will depend on the field, different places are well known in different fields with good or bad reputation to go along with it. What kind of physics are you interested in doing?

 

[PhyAmateur]

I have interests in many fields in high energy physics, do you advice me of a good group there? If not a group, can I do individual PhD with a certain adviser?

 

[PhyAmateur]

Oh, what fields were you working on back then at MPP?

 

[Orodruin]

I suggest you look through the different fields that are under study at the MPP: https://www.mpp.mpg.de/forschung/theorie/index.html
(There is a link to switch to English in the upper right if you do not speak German)

Between 2008 and 2011, I was working in the group of Georg Raffelt, doing mainly neutrino phenomenology with some projects on different dark matter scenarios. The papers I wrote during that time might give you some feeling of the topic.

 

[PhyAmateur]

Thank you! Nice information, appreciate it!