GSC 129:  Heidelberg Graduate School of Fundamental Physics

• Subject Area: Particles, Nuclei and Fields ; Astrophysics and Astronomy ; Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas ; Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2006 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 24838972

Together with the Max Planck Institutes for Astronomy and for Nuclear Physics, the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at Heidelberg University has installed an international Graduate School of Fundamental Physics. Its students are carefully selected after international advertisement, and find an exciting research environment. The deep relations emerging between astrophysics, cosmology, particle physics, and the physics of complex quantum systems are at the focus of research in fundamental physics at Heidelberg and world-wide. They call for a new generation of physicists, trained in an interdisciplinary way to work where seemingly disjoint fields of physics meet. The Graduate School of Fundamental Physics combines PhD projects from the forefront of international research with a broad and deep teaching programme covering the core areas of fundamental physics and emphasising their interrelations. The modular structure of the teaching programme allows the assembly of individual curricula for all students. Where possible, students actively contribute to the learning process and the organisation of the school. The PhD projects are accompanied by a group of three advisers who guide students into independent research and ensure that projects can be completed within three years. A combined Master's doctoral programme is installed through which the best students can proceed from the Bachelor to the PhD in four instead of five years. A rich variety of common programmes will expose the students to the international scientific discussion. Agreements with prestigious institutions world-wide will foster the informal exchange of graduate students between the school and its renown partners. The graduate school structures the entire graduate studies in fundamental physics at Heidelberg and maximally hosts 200 students. Its concepts build upon several existing, well-tested and successful programmes in graduate education. The integration of young researchers into student supervision and teaching at the graduate level is of central importance. Training of professional and personal skills is mandatory in order to enhance the career options of the school's students. Together with the university's Graduate Academy, the school's administration helps students to settle in and integrate into the German community.

• DFG Programme: Graduate Schools
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Participating Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA); Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Rüdiger Klingeler
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Werner Aeschbach; Professor Dr. Matthias Bartelmann; Professor Dr. Klaus Blaum; Professor Dr. Lorenz S. Cederbaum; Professor Dr. Norbert Christlieb; Professor Dr. Christian Walter Dietrich Enss; Professorin Dr. Eva K. Grebel; Professorin Dr. Stephanie Hansmann-Menzemer; Professor Dr. Arthur Hebecker; Professor Dr. Dieter W. Heermann; Professor Dr. Thomas Henning; Professor Dr. Werner Hofmann; Professor Dr. Christoph H. Keitel; Professor Dr. Manfred B. Lindner; Professor Dr. Markus Kurt Oberthaler; Professor Dr. Ulrich Platt; Professor Dr. Hans-Walter Rix; Professor Dr. Manfred Salmhofer; Professor Dr. Hans-Christian Schultz-Coulon; Professor Dr. Ulrich Schwarz; Professor Dr. Volker Springel; Professorin Dr. Johanna Stachel; Professor Dr. Joachim Ullrich; Professor Dr. Matthias Weidemüller; Professor Dr. Christof Wetterich