Thursday, May 24, 2007

Shameless promotion

Update: Due to some strange web server configuration at LMU, people coming from a blogspot.com address were denied access to the TMP web pages. This should be fixed now.

By now, I have settled a bit in Munich (and yes, I like beer gardens) , found a flat to move into in a week and started my new job as scientific coordinator of a new graduate course in theoretical and mathematical physics. There are many new things to learn (for example how to interact with the university's lawyer to come up with documents defining examination and application procedures for the course which both satisfy the scientists and the legal department) and it's quite exciting. The only downside is that right now as we have to get things going I have not actively done any physics in the past three weeks.

But today, Wolfgang, my collaborator from Erlangen and former office mate from Bremen comes to visit for two days and we hope to put some of the finishing touches on our entropy project. And yes, Jiangyang, I have not forgotten you and our non-commutative project and will restart working on it very soon. Promise!

What I wanted to talk about is that yesterday, the web page for the Elite Graduate Course in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics went on-line. A lot of things there are still preliminary but we wanted to get as much information out as soon as possible as the deadline (July 15th) for applications for the course starting in fall is approaching fast.

So if your are interested in theoretical physics (including quantum field theories and strings but not exclusively, there courses in condensed matter theory and statistical physics/maths as well) and looking for a graduate school you should definitely consider us.

Or if you know somebody in that situation, please tell him/her about our program!

I think, at least in Europe, this program is quite unique: It is a very demanding course offering classes in a number of advanced topics of current interest which in a very short time bring students up to the forefront of research. It hinges on the fact that the Munich area with its two universities (LMU and TUM) and several Max Planck institutes plus Erlangen university has an exceptional large number of leading researchers who teach courses in their area of specialisation. The program is run jointly by the physics and math department and several classes will be taught jointly by a mathematician and a physicist so students can obtain a wide perspective on topics on the intersection of these disciplines.

In addition to the courses on the web page which are scheduled on a regular basis, there will be
a large number of smaller courses on topics of recent interest or more specialised subjects to be decided on close to the time when they will be given.

Furthermore, it is planned (and there are reserved slots in the schedule) to have lectures given by visiting scientists adding expertise complementing the local one. Thus, if you are reading this and are further in your career to apply for a graduate course but have an idea for an interesting lecture course (like for example it could be given on a summer school) you could teach and would fancy visiting Munich (I mentioned the beer gardens above) please do get in touch with me! We do have significant money to make this possible.