Studying
General information on studying physics at Universität Hamburg can be found at the physics department website.
Besides university lectures, we offer workshops for interested school level students as well as public talks, podcasts and videos for a broader audience.
"Why study astrophysics?" - Video series
Episode 1
In the first episode Master student Kathrin Böckmann talks about why she studied astrophysics, the usual procedure of studies, the involved challenges, and what fascinates her about astrophysics.
Watch (This Episode is available in German only.)
Episode 2
In the second episode PhD student Paola Domínguez Fernández from Mexico tells us why she works at the Hamburg Observatory, how she came to study astrophysics, and what she likes about her life and work at Hamburg.
Watch (audio: English / Spanish, subtitle: German)
Episode 3
In the third episode, PhD student Stefan Hackstein tells us why he studied physics, how he branched into astrophysics, and what makes physics research at Hamburg so special.
Watch (This Episode is available in German only.)
Episode 4
In the fourth episode postdoctoral researcher Dr. Virginia Cuciti and PhD student Thomas Pasini from Italy talk about their research in radio astronomy at the Hamburg Observatory, about post-graduate studies in astrophysics and how research continues afterwards.
Watch (audio: Italian / English, subtitle: German)
Episode 5
What are computer simulations in theoretical astrophysics used for? And how are super computers programmed? This is answered by PhD students Fiona Prodöhl and Simon Selg in the fifth episode of „Why study astrophysics?“.
Watch (This Episode is available in German only.)
Episode 6
In the sixth episode of „Why astrophysics?“ Dr. Pranjal Trivedi from the Hamburg Observatory introduces us to the realm of dark matter and explains different approaches to solve the riddle surrounding this mysterious matter.
Episode 7
How can artificial intelligence affect astrophysical research? How can students at the Hamburg Observatory look for dark matter? These questions and others are discussed by student Julia Ziegler and scientist Dr. Volker Heesen in the seventh episode of "Why astrophysics?“.
Watch (This Episode is available in German only.)
Episode 8
In the eighth and final episode of "Why astrophysics?" Dr. Duy Hoang und Denis Wittor bring us along to the LOFAR station at Hamburg, tell us about their scientific career path, and report on fascinating projects such as the X-ray telescope eROSITA.
School students
Astronomy Workshops
School classes may register for workshops at the observatory.
Holiday courses
Due to lack of staff, unfortunately, no Holiday courses at the moment!
Each year, during the autumn school break, the observatory offers courses for school students from grades 10 to 13, (German / English) as part of the faculty-wide project (Website MIN faculty holiday courses). Courses involve two supervised experiments carried out in groups of two on a single day, with plenty of opportunities to ask everything you want to know about studying and working in the field of Astrophysics.
Girls' Day
How about becoming an astronomer? Spending the Girls' Day at the Observatory will give you an idea. You will inspect our telescopes, perform your own experiments and ask everything you need to know about this profession. Since women remain notably underrepresented in astrophysics this event is directed to girls only.
