HowtobecomeanAstronomer?

(CareerinA&A)
Prof.T.Padmanabhan

HowandwherecanIstartcareerinA&A?
CareersinAstronomy&Astrophysics(A&A)canbebroadlydividedasTheoreticalorObservationalthough,in
ordertomakesignificantcontributiontothesubjectyouhavetobegoodatboth.
TheoreticalresearchcareerinA&AtypicallyinvolvesdoingaMastersinphysics,orBachelorsinEngineeringor
Technologywiththoroughbasicknowlegegeinphysicsandmathematics,joiningasuitableinstitutionoruniversity
foraPh.D.programmeinA&A,followingitupwithoneortwopostdoctoralpositionsandfinallyobtaininga
permanentjob.
Amongtheleadinginstitutesinthiscountry

IndianInstituteofAstrophysics,Bangalore(IIA),
IndianInstituteofScience,Bangalore(IISc),
NationalCentreforRadioAstrophysics,Pune(NCRATIFR),
InterUniversityCentreforAstronomyandAstrophysics,Pune(IUCAA),
PhysicalResearchLaboratory,Ahamedabad(PRL),
RamanResearchInstitute,Bangalore(RRI)and
TataInstituteofFundamentalResearch,Mumbai(TIFR)
havegraduatestudentsprogrammesinA&AleadingtoaPh.D.
Institutionslike

HarishChandraResearchInstitute,Allahbad(HRI)and
TheInstituteofMathematicalSciences,Chennai(IMSc)
areactivelyexpandingintothisareaandwillcertainlyencouragetheoreticalresearchinA&A.
Therearealsoseveraluniversities,whichhavefacultymembersworkingonA&A,nottomentiontheIndianof
Institute(s)ofTechnology.
On the observational side, the scope is somewhat wider because even students with engineering degree (or
knowledgeofcomputersystemsandelectronics)arealsoencouragedtoapplyforthegraduatestudent'sprogramme
inmanyoftheaboveplaces.Forexample,IUCAAtakesB.E.andB.Techstudentsforitsgraduateschoolandallows
themtodoanM.Sc.byresearchpriortodoingaPh.D.
Thescopeforexperimentalastronomyinthiscountryissomewhatlimitedcomparedtotheory,butthissituationis
likelytochangewithinthenext5yearsorso.
The key point to remember is that A & A is a branch of physics and you need to have astrong foundation in
physicsandmathematicsinordertohaveasuccessfulcareerinA&A.

JointEntranceScreeningTest(JEST)
ForPh.D.ProgrammesinPhysics/Mathematics/TheoreticalComputerScience

WhataboutbooksandsyllabusofA&A?
ThereisnosinglebookorsyllabusinA&Awhichastudentisexpectedtoreadandfollow.
Infact,mostinstitutionswillexamineyouonyourphysicsandmathematicsbackgroundandwilladmityoutothe
graduateschoolevenifyouknownothingofA&A.ThisisnecessarybecauseourM.Sc.coursesinphysicsdonot

giveadequateemphasistoA&Acomparedto,forexample,solidstatephysicsornuclearphysics.
Thissituationmaychangeoverthenextdecadeorsobutatpresent,itisenoughifyouconcentrateontheregular
M.Sc.physicssyllabus.

WhatshouldIstudytopreparefortheexaminations?
The graduate school programme in most of the leading institutions expects you to be good at physics and
mathematicswithanaptitudeandmotivationtodoresearch.
Thelatterisdifficulttodefinebutessentiallyitinvolvesanabilitytoapplyyourbasicknowledgetounfamiliarareas
andcomeoutwithlogicallyconsistentconclusions.Inshort,youshouldbeabletothinkonyourownandshouldbe
confidentinusingthebasicprinciplesofphysicsandthetechniquesofmathematicswhichyouhavelearntinany
area.
Inthebestinstitutes,theexaminationisdesignedinsuchawaythatnospecificpreparationisnecessaryoreven
useful.Theideaisnottorunamemorytestorinvestigateyourknowledgebasebuttoseehowgoodyouareinusing
theknowledgewhichyouposses.
Ofcoursethisistheidealsituation.Iftheexaminationisnotuptothemark,youmaybestraddledwithquestions
whichrequirememorizingofsomekeyformulas,etc.Thegeneraltechniqueofpreparationcanbesimilartothatyou
willadoptforJEEorGREorforanyothermultiplechoiceobjectivetypetest.

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