Ph.D. studies in Germany #2

From a recent announcement about Ph.D. research in solar system science:

The International Max Planck Research School for Solar System Science at the University of Göttingen ( http://www.solar-system-school.deinvites applications for several PhD positions to start in 2019.

Full details may be found at https://www.mps.mpg.de/phd/applynow

The application window opens on October 1, with a deadline of November 15, 2018.

Ph.D. studies in Germany

Here’s an announcement that showed up last week:

The International Max Planck Research School on Astrophysics (IMPRS)  in Garching/Munich (Bavaria, Germany) is soliciting applications for its PhD program. We would appreciate if you could distribute the information among interested students in the program.

IMPRS provides much more details at its website.

The deadline for applications is November 15. 2018.

Canadian Ph.D. programs in Exoplanet Science

I recently received an announcement about opportunities for Masters and Ph.D. studies in exoplanet sciences in Canada.  Specifically

We are happy to announce new M.Sc./Ph.D. positions in exoplanetary science at the Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) at the Université de Montréal or the other home institutions of iREx professors (McGill University, Bishop’s University), starting either in the Spring or Fall 2019 semesters.

If you are interested, please read the announcement carefully before applying.   Graduate programs in Canada typically admit students only for study in research groups; one doesn’t apply generally to a department or program as people do in the US.  So it is necessary to contact potential groups to see when there might be openings.

You have to move fast on this one.  The program wants students to contact the professor(s) they want to work with by September 24.

Retention of female STEM students

Check out this really interesting article summarizing recent research at Ohio State on why women stay or leave graduate school.  One of the largest factors is the number of other women in the program.

A new study found that the fewer females who enter a doctoral program at the same time, the less likely any one of them will graduate within six years.

In the worst-case scenario – where there’s just one woman in a new class – she is 12 percentage points less likely to graduate within six years than her male classmates, the study found.

Astronomy’s undergrad major is pretty skewed, with only about 20-25% of students who are women.  And it’s even worse in Physics, where our majors take most of their classes.  Statistics don’t indicate that women leave the Astronomy major more often than men do, but that does not mean that the climate itself is not a barrier to success.

I’d love to hear your comments on the article or on the way gender imbalance manifests itself in the program.  If you prefer, you can write to me privately; any comments sent by email will remain confidential.