Casimir PhD Program, The Delft-Leiden Casimir Research School

Casimir PhD Program, The Delft-Leiden Casimir Research School
The Delft-Leiden Casimir Research School (Casimir) offers an advanced European scientific atmosphere to ambitious and talented MSc and PhD students interested in academic research, which crosses the traditional boundaries between fundamental and applied research and crosses the scientific disciplines. The school is initiated by leading physicists from the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION) at Leiden University and from the Kavli Institute of NanoScience at Delft University of Technology. The School is named after H.B.G. Casimir (1909-2000), professor in Theoretical Physics whose involvement in fundamental as well as applied physics left many traces in the Dutch scientific landscape. He is best-known for his discovery of the so-called Casimir effect and for his visions on science and research-management.

Casimir PhD program

The Physics Institute at Leiden University and the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft have created a limited number of PhD positions for students of exceptional quality. A committee of leading scientists of the Casimir Research School will make the selection. The selected candidates will start by working for brief periods in about three research groups of their choice after which they may choose the subject for their research as well as the supervisor they would like to work with.
In the Netherlands the Master and PhD are not combined, like is common in for example the US. As a Dutch PhD you are not a student but a scientific employee. The normal duration of the PhD-study is four years, which is strictly monitored to ensure that most PhD students finish their PhD-thesis within this timeframe.

Casimir Program in short:

• For the most excellent students;
• Programme tailored to your own research plans and insights;
• Interdisciplinary;
• Intercultural / international;
• Independent research position;
• Good supervision;
• Courses & summerschool;
• General courses (English / presenting / writing your thesis).

Funding opportunities

A PhD position is a full-time employment position with a salary that is comparable to entrance level salaries in industry. There is no tuition fee.

International embedding

Research within Casimir benefits from the strong international position of the Lorentz center at Leiden and the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft, leading to a flux of experienced and talented post-docs and visiting scholars. At our universities all lectures, ll seminars and colloquia are given in English, and undergraduate and graduate theses are written in English.

The School’s qualities:

Top-ranking researchers and teachers
In international rankings the cluster of researchers participating in Casimir is identified as belonging to the top of the European research universities, as testified by the publication and citation record of the individual professors. Many professors have won prestigious European and national grants, and participate in major international programs.
Gateway to a research-career
Graduates with a MSc or PhD degree find their way into academic institutions abroad, into many small high-tech companies as well as large international companies of which many are based in the Netherlands such as Philips, Shell, Akzo, DSM, ING, and ABN-AMRO.
Fields of research and education
The Casimir research school offers research-programs and teaching programs in 6 focused areas:

i. Molecular biophysics; ii. Physics of nanostructures; iii. Quantum matter and functional materials; iv. Quantum information and quantum optics; v. Astro-particle physics and instrumentation; vi. Dynamic complex systems.

Application Procedure

Please apply via our website: http://casimir.researchschool.nl/application-casimir-phd-program-244.html

• Complete your application before you submit it;
• Application deadline = 1 February 2010. Review process starts in March;
• Review will be done by independent committee.