Pre-PhD Diploma in Astrophysics and Space Science

Designed for all Aspiring Scientists Ready to Dive into Research!

Program Details
  • Duration: 3 years
  • Location: ICSP, Integrated Campus, 466 Barakhola, Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, Netai Nagar, Kolkata
  • Fees: INR 50,000 per year (includes certificate, observatory tours, and research facility access)
  • Instruction Language: English (Preferred), Bengali and Hindi (Optional)
  • Entry date: Throughout of the year
  • Format of the Program:Offline and/or online both. The student must be in discussion with the supervisor at least two days per week regarding the progress of their research
  • Present list of Supervisors: Prof. S.K. Chakrabarti , Dr. S. Palit ,  Dr. D. Bisht ,  Dr. T. Basak,   Dr. S. Saha,  Dr. P. Nandi

Course Overview

This pre-PhD diploma provides aspiring scientists the necessary hands-on research experience in astrophysics, astronomy, and space science. Under the mentorship of scientists with global expertise, students will gain skills to carry out actual research work to further their ambition and achieve their goal and hopefully publish their valuable research in recognized International Journals.

Eligibility Requirements
  • Educational Background:
    • (i) Bachelor's degree in Science (B.Sc., Physics Hons.) with 55% marks
    • (ii) Pursuing or holding a Master’s in Science (M.Sc.) with 55% marks
    • (iii) Currently doing jobs elsewhere satisfying condition (i) and having proven interest in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Science.
Research Focus Areas (Course Name)
  • High Energy Astrophysics, X-ray astronomy around Black holes and neutron stars (PPhD-HE)
  • Optical Astronomy (PPhD-OA)
  • Space and Ionospheric Sciences and Space Weather simulation/experiments (PPhD-SI)
  • Theoretical Modeling and Simulations in Astrophysics (PPhD-TM)
  • Balloon-Borne Experiments and Stratospheric Sciences (PPhD-BB)
  • Astrobiology/Astrochemistry (PPhD-AA)
Each applicant will give three choices among the above fields and the Supervisor will be chosen as per availability.
Program Highlights
  • Independent Research: Candidates will engage in original research guided by renowned scientists on frontier topics.
  • Publication and Conference Opportunities: They will conduct high-caliber research with the potential for publication in leading journals and presentations at national and international conferences. They will learn the art of presenting scientific talks from expert supervisors.
  • Research Methodology related UGC required courses (Four courses): Candidates will be taught these courses free of cost in the third year.
  • Candidates become eligible to take up to three Diploma courses offered by ICSP in various fields during their entire course work and they will also be eligible for the certificates upon successful completion of these courses.
  • Certification: Upon successful completion, candidates will receive an ICSP diploma Certificate recognizing their research contributions and commitment. They will receive Certificate/Mark-sheet for Research Methodology related courses also.
  • PhD Pathway: Subject to satisfactory progress, students may continue to pursue research at ICSP, leading to a PhD degree from esteemed Universities or apply elsewhere if they fulfill the criteria set by the Universities.
  • Affordable Accommodation: On-campus guest house accommodations are available at affordable rates for outstation students. Statistics indicate residential students tend to have higher productivity.
  • Recommendation: Students may obtain performance-based recommendations from their Supervisors to facilitate their studies elsewhere.
Skills and Career Development

This program provides a comprehensive foundation in astrophysics, astronomy and space sciences including theoretical approaches, hands-on experiments, observational techniques, data analysis, modeling, and simulation. Students develop advanced programming, data handling, and instrumentation skills, preparing them for the complexities of PhD-level research.
Working closely with faculty members, the candidates will receive guidance, feedback, and get into academic collaborations that support their career progress. This program is meant to assist aspiring candidates to fully prepare for the PhD program and after successful completion of this course the candidates are likely to take a shorter time-span to complete PhD work if they fulfill all the criteria. Sincere candidates can complete more quality publications and thus are likely to have better job prospects in the future.

Roadmap of the course:

(A) First six months, literature survey and familiarization with the subject of research. (B) Attempt to complete a research project by the end of the 1st year. (C) By first half of the 2nd year, target would be to send out a research article for publication. (D) By the 2nd half of the 2nd year, another paper should be on the way to publication. (E) By the third year, all the four research methodology related courses (i. Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics; ii. Research Methodology; iii. Project on a specific topic; iv. Project on writing the review of the research topic, which could become the Introductory Chapter of the PhD thesis, if the candidate pursues research further) are to be completed, along with another paper. We anticipate at least 2-3 scientific papers be published from a sincere students during the course. All the students will be treated as a ‘Junior Research Fellow’ equivalent during the course and would be trained accordingly.

Contact:

For any course-related queries, students can contact the respective supervisor(s) before registration.
Course Name Name of the Supervisor(s)
High Energy Astrophysics, X-ray astronomy around Black holes and neutron stars (PPhD-HE) i) Prof. S. K. Chakrabarti,
email: icspdirector@gmail.com,
Phone: 9903120700 (WhatsApp preferred).

ii) Dr. Prantik Nandi
email: prantiknandiphy@gmail.com
Phone: 9836616686 (WhatsApp preferred)
Optical Astronomy (PPhD-OA) Dr. Devendra Bisht
email: devendrabisht297@gmail.com
Phone: 9773708357 (WhatsApp preferred)
Space and Ionospheric Sciences and Space Weather simulation/experiments (PPhD-SI) i)Dr. Sourav Palit,
email: souravspace@gmail.com
Phone: 9051639237 (WhatsApp preferred)

ii) Dr. Tamal Basak,
email: tamalbasak@gmail.com,
Phone:9477365958 (WhatsApp preferred)

iii)Dr. Sovan Saha
email: sovansaha93@gmail.com,
Phone: 7278114615 (WhatsApp preferred)
Theoretical Modeling and Simulations in Astrophysics(PPhD-TM) i)Dr. Sourav Palit,
email: souravspace@gmail.com
Phone: 9051639237 (WhatsApp preferred)

ii)Prof. S. K. Chakrabarti,
email: icspdirector@gmail.com,
Phone: 9903120700 (WhatsApp preferred).
Balloon-Borne Experiments and Stratospheric Sciences (PPhD-BB) i) Prof. S. K. Chakrabarti,
email: icspdirector@gmail.com,
Phone: 9903120700 (WhatsApp preferred).
Astrobiology/Astrochemistry(PPhD-AA) i) Prof. S. K. Chakrabarti,
email: icspdirector@gmail.com,
Phone: 9903120700 (WhatsApp preferred).

Interested students may fill out the application form here and submit with the proof of payment. Payment can be done through UPI / Bank transfer / cheque / DD drawn in favour of "Indian Centre for Space Physics, Kolkata" (payable at Kolkata). The fee structure includes registration, admission and course charges.
If you have any queries regarding the 3-year Pre-PhD Diploma course, please refer to the FAQs or email us at application.icsp@gmail.com