This article is written with the purpose of providing guidance to the final year (or the pre-final year) Master’s students on how to prepare for their applications of doctoral studies. Although attempts have been made to make this document as general as possible so that any student working in astrophysics can benefit from it, some biases towards observational astronomy (especially observational exoplanetology) cannot be avoided since the information provided here is based on the author’s personal experience. In addition to this, this essay only deals with European (excluding the UK) PhD positions, and not with US-based graduate programs (again, a personal bias). It is advised also to look at two articles (Article 1 and Article 2) written by Prof. Katja Poppenhaeger on getting faculty jobs in the fields of astrophysics --- yes, they are on getting a faculty job, and not on getting a doctoral position. Indeed, both are very different. Yet, there are several points that could be useful while applying to PhD positions as well.
There are two ways to be admitted into the PhD studies: one can either apply to a doctoral position when it is announced, or one can directly ask a potential supervisor for a possible PhD position in their research group. It is not recommended to take the later course to get a PhD position because the probability of getting a response from the supervisor is very low unless your research interests match closely. Even if a positive reply is received from the supervisor, funding for the studies would not always be available. That being said, the rest of this article is dedicated to the first way to the doctoral school, through the advertised PhD positions, for which the funding has been secured already.
The very first thing to keep in mind is the time period of the application. Although the individual openings are advertised throughout the year, the doctoral programs are usually announced in September with the application deadline in November/December. Most of these programs ask for the completion of a Master’s degree before starting the position (and not at the time of application), therefore, one can apply for the position in the final year of the Master as well. It is recommended to apply while doing the Master’s research or else one may have to wait for the next year. The next crucial thing is to find the advertised PhD positions -- one cannot, of course, visit the websites of each institute and look for a vacant position. There are several dedicated job portals on which the openings of positions are advertised. Among the most popular ones are the job registers of the American Astronomical Society, and that of the European Astronomical Society. Additionally, roughly all of the Max Planck Institutes in Germany (or, at least the ones related to astrophysics/astronomy) have their dedicated doctoral school for international researchers called the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS). Here are the links for IMPRS for several Max Planck Institutes: IMPRS in Heidelberg, IMPRS in Munich, IMPRS in Gottingen etc. There may be other IMPRS available which is not mentioned here. These are great opportunities for international researchers -- the research being done in these institutes is remarkable, and many of these schools are in collaboration with other local institutes.
It should be added here that there may be other websites on which such advertisements have been posted of which the author is not aware. However, it is reasonable to assume that the job register of the American Astronomical Society should be sufficient (it was sufficient for the author). The key thing is to check these portals regularly for the positions.
The next step is to choose the doctoral position that is the most suitable for the applicant. It is certainly possible that, at this career stage, one has not defined any specific research area. For such a situation the doctoral schools (like IMPRS) are ideal. In these programs, no special projects are usually defined in prior; on the other hand, in many PhD positions, since a specific project is tailored beforehand, the priority is sometimes given to the candidate who has some experience in the given field. Hence, the Master’s thesis project is quite important for the PhD application --- if one applies to the position which is linked to the Master’s thesis work (or any other previous works), the chances of getting selected would be quite high. At this point, it is advised that the applicant should explore the field of research by looking at the most recent research papers so that one has an idea of what are the topics of current research in the field.
Now comes the most important step of the whole process: preparing the application. The prepared application is the first and only document the selection committee would look at to judge the applicant. That is why it is really important to take the time to prepare a good application. The application material usually consists of several documents including an application form (in case of a doctoral school), a CV, a cover letter, a research statement (in some of the cases), the degree certificate (if any) and/or the transcripts of grades achieved at the time of application. Note that, although proficiency in English reading and writing is required, the proof of the same in the form of IELTS/TOEFL is usually not demanded with the rest of the application material. Finally, the applicant has to arrange two to three letters of recommendation from referees who are familiar with the work of the applicant. Make sure that the referees are informed beforehand about the application, and that they submit their letters on time. Master’s thesis advisor(s) are the best persons for sending these recommendation letters.
A CV, a cover letter, and/or a research statement are the most valuable documents and based on only these documents the committee would send out the invitations for the interview. Another article devoted to the preparation of these documents has been written by the author, which can be found here.
The last step of this procedure is the interview -- before the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the host institutes used to invite the interviewee to the location, and hold the interview live. However, in the times of corona, online interviews are becoming a thing! The interview is another thing on which one wants to spend some time. Therefore, a detailed article on it is also written -- which can be found here.
The author hopes that this document, along with the other two articles, has provided sufficient guidance on the application procedure for the PhD position in European universities.
All the best!