AstroMundus
ERASMUS MUNDUS MASTERS COURSE in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Sabine Schindler (University of Innsbruck)
Joint Degree with 5 partners
. University of Innsbruck (Coordinating institution) . University of Belgrade . University of Göttingen . University of Padova . University of Rome Tor Vergata + new associated members (observatories, Max-Planck Inst.)
Status: extension was granted and edition 6 has started in September 2015
Astromundus Objectives
Main objective: provide top-ranked students with excellent background in astrophysics in order to get them ready for a successful career
But also: ◦ introduce students to the world of modern astrophysical research ◦ application of modern techniques ◦ introduce them to the community
3 Cooperation agreement took a while to reach • due to different laws in different countries • different regulations at different universities But: no major obstacles, full support from administration and management
Difference to regular/singular Master programmes • a special curriculum was issued • students can be selected • very intense tutoring • career and study path advice
AstroMundus is a truely international programme…
nationalities/number of students (editions 1-4)
Armenian 1 Georgian 1 Peruvian 1 Bangladeshi 1 Greek 1 Polish 1 Bolivian 1 Guatemalan 1 Serbian 4 British 1 Hungarian 1 Slovenian 1 Bulgarian 2 South African 1 Indian 7 Spanish 1 Chilean 3 Iranian 1 Chinese 1 Taiwanese 1 Colombian 1 Italian 3 Turkish 3 Croatian 1 Macedonian 1 U.S.A. 2 Egyptian 1 Mexican 5 Ugandan 1 Ethiopian 1 Nepalese 1 Venezuelan 2 French 1 Pakistani 5 Vietnamese 2
gender balanced ( ~50% female) AstroMundus is a truely international programme…
About 60 of our alumni obtained PhD positions, the first PhD positions held by students of editions 1 and 2: alumnus defended his PhD last - 1 Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany week! - 2 University of Groningen, Netherlands - 4 University of Göttingen, Germany - 1 Cornell University, USA employment rate so far more - 1 ETH Zürich and Davos World Radiation Center, Switzerland than 80% - 1 Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa - 1 assistant position at University of Banja Luka, Bosnia- Herzegovina & PhD at University of Belgrade, Serbia - 1 University of Leuven, Belgium Main target for the career of our - 1 Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of students is Academia, therefore we Science, Warsaw, Poland prepare them well for this - 1 Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands - with reference letters - 1 University of Massachusetts, USA - encourage attendance of - 1 Middle East Technical University, Turkey summer schools - 1 University of Innsbruck, Austria - encourage visits at institutes - 1 Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany - use our connections to colleagues - 1 assistant position at University of Mbarara, Uganda - … - 2 Joint PhD University of Rome “Tor Vergata” and Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy - 1 Observatoire de la Cote d‘ Azur, Nice, France - 1 University of Nottingham, UK Astromundus are people…
Meeting of Edition 1 and 2 students in 2012
Agreeing on the design and the wording on the certificate was a major effort! … a few features that we can recommend !
Study Path
Institution 1st 2nd 3rd 4th semester semester semester semester Innsbruck x x Padova x x Rome x x x Göttingen x x Belgrade x x
All students are together in the first semester!
• students are being brought to the same level, basic courses • necessary for the following, more specialised courses in the following semesters • bringing the students of one edition together, so that they are really acting as a group
We can recommend this! Study Path
Institution 1st 2nd 3rd 4th semester semester semester semester Innsbruck x x Padova x x Rome x x x Göttingen x x Belgrade x x
Too many choices cause imbalances
Sometime they are not easy to resolve, students are disappointed
Students tend to stay in the same place
At the end students are convinced that the best thing in the programme was the fact that they had to move around Semester 1 ECTS Type Concepts of Galactic Astrophysics (lecture 6.5 compulsory Curriculum of the 1st + tutorial) semester in Innsbruck Concepts of Extragalactic Astrophysics (lecture + tutorial) 6.5 compulsory
Compulsory and optional Concepts of Physics for Astrophysicists courses (lecture + tutorial) 6 compulsory
Advanced Mathematical Methods for Astrophysicists (lecture + tutorial) 6 compulsory
Theory of Relativity (lecture) 5 optional
Basic Concepts of Astro- and Particle Physics (lecture) 5 optional
Modern Astronomical Instrumentation & Observational Techniques (special lecture) 2.5 optional
Astrophysics Seminar (seminar) 5 optional
German as a Foreign Language 2.5 optional Additional optional courses from the standard Master of Physics programme Curriculum
We wrote the curriculum of the partner universities in our curriculum appendix
Don‘t do this!
In other countries ECTS assignments and names of courses can be changed easily. In Austria/Innsbruck it takes a lot of time to make these changes in the curriculum, even if it is only in the appendix.
Yearly Retreats Central event of AstroMundus! • 2011 and 2012: Asiago Observatory (Padova) • 2013 and 2014: Conference Centre Obergurgl (Innsbruck) • 2015 Gran Sasso
Meeting of • two editions of students • members of Board, Selection Com., Quality Evaluation Com., Academic Advisors • lecturers and tutors • potential Master’s theses supervisors
Many different activities take place • meetings of the committees • feedback sessions with the students • projects of the Master’s theses of the older edition of students are presented • informal discussions of the younger edition with potential Master’s theses supervisors • lots of opportunity for exchange of experience and informal discussions Yearly Retreats
Joint Supervisions of Master‘s Theses (two supervisors from two partner universities)
• the students can make use of the experience of two different scientists resulting in particularly good theses • the two supervisors from two different universities start collaborating scientifically resulting in common publications and sometimes even in continuing collaborations • the frequent visits/teleconferences/presentations involved in the joint supervision brings both partners closer together
… the best theses resulted from joint supervisions … was particularly helpful to integrate Belgrade! Committees
• AstroMundus Board • Quality Evaluation Committee • Selection Committee • Scientific Advisory Board • Academic Advisors
Committees
Academic Advisors support the students in their choice of • place • courses • topic of Master‘s thesis
Not only astrophysics , but also some European culture …
Social Activities (e.g. Innsbruck): • Hiking in the Alps • Official reception with representatives of the University of Innsbruck • Törggelen with institute • Christmas party of the institute • University Ball • Retreat • …. … a few problems
Cancellations before Arrival
• several cancellations before arrival
• reasons: personal situation, other scholarship offers, failing Bachelor‘s degree, visa problems
• late confirmation from EC
External Funding
• self funding: difficult • industry funding: difficult for astrophysics
• so far: fellowships/support from universities and ministry
• new initiative: crowd funding Finally… what have we learned and gained from AstroMundus
• A lot of experience in the coordination of international education and in the organisation of such a complex programme
• During the numerous discussions with the students we have learned much about their home countries, about their personal situation at home and about the status of research and education in the home countries
• We grew together with the colleagues at our partner universities remarkably well
• We did not only benefit from having excellent Master’s students at the partner institutes, but as we have taken on and continue taking on AstroMundus students as PhD students, we have now a constant influx of excellent PhD students
• We benefitted a lot from the invited scholars
• And last but not least - it was a lot of fun to communicate and work with highly motivated, young people from all over the world
Thank you for your attention!
For more details visit www.astromundus.eu