PhD in Astrophysics in Europe: Where to Study and Research Opportunities

[astronut555]

Hello,
Does anyone know of some good programs in Europe for a PhD in Astrophysics?
I know England has some great school, however I believe they are rather competitive.

What about France? Are there some well know Astrophysics programs there that I could look into? I've tried doing some research but they seem a little bit disconnected with the Internet world over there if you know what I mean...

Also, I've heard that the Netherlands is a good place for Astrophysics. Does anyone know a bit about the programs there and what kind of reputation they have?

I'm mostly interested in the France options, but any information you might be able to give me would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance

 

[Astronuc]

Just a few of ideas.

http://www.upmc.fr/en/university/faculties_institutes/paris_astrophysics_institute_iap.html

http://www.upmc.fr/en/university/faculties_institutes/department_of_physics.html

http://www.phdportal.eu/students/browse/programme/16232/ile-de-france-astronomy-and-astrophysics.html


http://www.u-psud.fr/en/index.html

http://www.phys.u-psud.fr/recherche.html

http://www.ias.u-psud.fr/

http://www.ias.u-psud.fr/website/modules/content/index.php?id=12

http://www.ias.u-psud.fr/website/modules/content_sol/index.php?id=1

http://www.ias.u-psud.fr/website/modules/content_mic/index.php?id=10

http://www.iap.fr/

http://www.oamp.fr/infoglueDeliverLive/www/LAM


More generally in France - http://www.phdportal.eu/students/browse/country/10/france.html
I'd recommend checking the websites of particular universities.

 

[astronut555]

Wow, thanks for the extensive list.
It's much appreciated!

 

[physiker_192]

Hi,

You may want to consider Germany as well.
You can find here a compact listing of the different programmes offered:

http://www.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/07535.en.html

It would be best if you check the universities webpages individually, as in the above database you will find listing with the more "international" theme programmes.

cheers,

 

[LithiumHelios]

Some very good suggestions above so the next logical step seems to be to narrow down the research areas (e.g. Stellar Physics, Galaxies, Cosmology, Observational/Theoretical, Instrumentation and so on). Once you have a better idea of the general area you can start picking out the Universities that have strong research groups in those areas.

Another possible useful idea is just to take a look through some Journals/pre-prints (e.g. arxiv) and pick out some people who do research in areas you think sound interesting and find out where they work or who their main collaborators are.