Generally, students are admitted for the IMPRS on Astrophysics Graduate School once a year. The program starts each September 1st for a general duration of 3 to 4 years. Application deadline is November 1st of the year before. We are offering about 25 PhD positions each year for research topics in various fields of astrophysics. See Research Areas for more details.
Deadline for applications for the program
starting on September 1st, 2026
is November 1st, 2025
A complete application must include the following documents:
- A fully filled-in online application form, including a list of all courses and credits/grades.
- Your curriculum vitae as PDF file in the upload area of the application form.
- Up to three letters of recommendation uploaded by your referees. For more information follow the instructions of the online application form. The recommendation letter deadline is November 1st too!
- Copies of all academic certificates/transcripts including M.Sc., B.Sc., etc. as one PDF file in the upload area of the application form (all originals must be presented, if you are selected for a position).
- A copy of your M.Sc. thesis (with an English abstract if the thesis is not written in English) or a preliminary Master's thesis abstract as PDF file in the upload area.
- A proof of English language ability (when applicable*). That is e.g. a transcript of TOEFL / IELTS scores or equivalent; our TOEFL Institution and Department Code is 8223. For TOEFL, there is the recommended IbT of at least 94 points, for IELTS a recommended score of at least 7 points. Please note: We would only need an upload of your electronic score card in the application form. There is no necessity to order an extra score card to be sent to our institute.
*If your native language is Englisch or if your university education including your Master's thesis has been already conducted in English you do not need to provide an English proficiency test.
Online Application Form
To apply for our graduate program, please follow the link: online application
Please pay special attention to your PDF files BEFORE uploading! Uploading encypted files where found to cause errors in the submission process. Make sure that your files are not protected ones.
TOEFEL and IELTS official score reports ARE encrypted and some universities also send protected transcripts to make sure that those files can not be changed afterwards by third parties. Please print these documents first and then make a scan of them! Only upload the scanned version, otherwise the system will show a permanent error in your application file.
See Available PhD Topics for more details regarding the subjects of research for your PhD project.
Selection & Admission
Suitable candidates are selected by our selection committee. Individual online interviews with individual candidates can already be conducted in November - December. In mid-December, the shortlisted candidates will receive an invitation to our recruitment days:
The student selection workshop and the interviews for students who apply in 2025 are scheduled to take place February 9-11, 2026
See Selection & Admission for more details.
General Information about PhD positions at Max Planck Institutes
The Max Planck Society has about 80 scientific institutes spread all over Germany focusing on numerous research fields ranging from physics, biology to medicine, from social sciences to humanities. All institutes are independent from each other with their own board of directors and administration. The short video “How to apply for a PhD position in the Max Planck Society” provides further information about PhD research opportunities.
In the case of further questions
Please check in our FAQ section for an answer.
Otherwise please do not hesitate to contact us via e-mail: office [at] imprs-astro.mpg.de.