Become an Astrophysicist: Education and Career Roadmap

Career in Astrophysics

Astrophysicists explore the physical properties of celestial objects, including stars, planets, and galaxies; thus they need a substantial amount of scientific knowledge. Becoming an astrophysicist requires training and skill in a combination of astronomy and physics. Students should identify prospective schools and maintain a high GPA in high school and concentrate on excelling in math, science, and computer science.

Scope: Research Scientist | University Faculty | Industry

Key Institutes

Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) Bengaluru

The East India Company having resolved to establish an observatory at Madras for promoting the knowledge of Astronomy, Geography, and Navigation in India, Sir Charles Oakeley, then President of the Council had the building for the observatory completed by 1792. The Madras series of observations had commenced in 1787(1786)* through the efforts of a member of the Madras Government – William Petrie – who had in his possession two three-inch achromatic telescopes, two astronomical clocks with compound pendulums and an excellent transit instrument. This equipment formed the nucleus of instrumentation of the new observatory, which soon embarked on a series of observations of the stars, the moon, and eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites, with the accurate determination of longitude, as its first concern.

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Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Nainital

Situated adjacent to the picturesque hill town of Nainital, ARIES ( an acronym of Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences ) is one of the leading research Institutes which specializes in observational Astronomy & Astrophysics and Atmospheric Sciences. The main research interests of Astronomy & Astrophysics division are in solar, planetary, stellar, galactic and extra-galactic astronomy including stellar variabilities, X-ray binaries, star clusters, nearby galaxies, quasars, and inherently transient events like supernovae and highly energetic gamma-ray bursts. Research focus in Atmospheric Sciences division is mainly in the lower part of the atmosphere and covers the studies on aerosols and trace gases. Moreover, to strengthen the scientific contribution.

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Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune

The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) is an autonomous institution set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India to promote the nucleation and growth of active groups in astronomy and astrophysics at Indian universities. IUCAA aims to be a centre of excellence within the university sector for teaching, research and development in astronomy and astrophysics.

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Indian Centre for Space Physics, Kolkata

Indian Centre for Space Physics is a premier Research Institute dedicated to carrying out research in various challenging branches of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Science. It is a Govt. aided institution, but the majority of the research fund comes from projects from National and International funding agencies. Major projects are from ISRO and DST. CSIR (NET) scholars can also directly carry out Ph.D. program here. It is an autonomous body, recognized by the Calcutta University. Presently, students working towards Ph.D. are taken. However, MSc students do carry out projects also.

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