The IMPRS provides a course program consisting of an Introductory Course and a set of

Advanced Courses. The latter consists of nine one-week morning lectures on various topics. It is mandatory to participate in at least 7 of these lectures within the three year PhD period.

For students without an astrophysics background, participation in the IMPRS Introductory Course is strongly recommended. The IMPRS Introductory Course is combined with the LMU-M.Sc. course. Regardless on whether a student takes part in the lectures it is mandatory for all IMPRS students to write an exam at the end of the Introductory Course (February/March).

The exam mostly provides an evaluation of the student's general astronomy background and should indicate where further learning is desirable. Students will be graded in categories A (very good), B (good), C (acceptable), D (sufficient), F (failed). Students with grade F can repeat the exam if they fail the first time.

The IMPRS course schedule

Various advanced courses will be scheduled throughout the year. Details on the schedule of the upcoming courses will be announced further down on this website.

A complet list of the previous IMPRS courses can be found at Previous Courses.

In addition to the courses taught at the IMPRS, most IMPRS lecturers teach courses at the LMU or TUM in the frame of the universities' regular course program. For a comprehensive list see the websites of LMU and TUM.

IMPRS Advanced Courses 2025/26

Winter Semester 2026

Essentials of Advanced Astrophysics

by Profs. Dr. Thomas Preibisch, Dr. Joseph Mohr, LMU
Weekly on Tuesdays from 09:45 – 11:15 and Thursdays from 14:00 – 16:00.
Start date is October 14, 2025, 09:45 – 11:15
Tutorials will be scheduled with the students in the first lecture.
Place: Lecture room, USM, Scheinerstr 1, Munich

Galaxy Evolution

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Guinevere Kauffmann (MPA)
Date: 17. - 21. November 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:30
Place: MPE

High Energy Processes and Objects

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Marat Gilfanov (MPA)
Date: 23. - 27. February 2026
Time: 10:00 - 13:30
Place: MPE

Cosmic Inflation

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Eiichiro Komatsu (MPA)
Date: 8. - 12. June 2026
Time: 10:00 - 13:30
Place: MPE

Galaxy Evolution from the Galaxies' Perspective:
from interstellar gas, to stars, to black holes and back

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Reinhard Genzel (MPE)
Date: 5. - 9. October 2026
Time: 10:00 - 13:30
Place: MPE

Softskill/Programming Courses 2025/26

Practical Research Computing Toolkit Part 1:
Bash, Python Environments, and Git for Early-Career Scientists

Lecturer: M.Sc. Joel Gil Léon, MPE
Date: 12. - 16. January 2026
Time: 09:30 - 12:30
Place: MPE

Practical Research Computing Toolkit Part 2:
Astronomical Data: Overview and Practical Examples

Lecturer: Dr. Luciano Nicastro, INAF OAS Bologna
Date: January 26th - 30th, 2026
Time: 9:30 - 12:30

Additional program will follow in due time

Lecture notes

Lecture notes of the IMPRS courses can be found here: lecture notes.

Overview of the general IMPRS course program

Introductory Course

The course consists of approximately 30 lectures (2 hours each) that provide a broad brush overview of astrophysics with emphasis on basics, key physics, phenomenology, and order of magnitude estimates. The contents are an abridged version of the program of the IMPRS Advanced Courses.

Outline of the IMPRS Introductory Course:

• Introduction and overview (telescopes, instruments, slide show...)
• Matter and radiation
• Stars: global properties and spectra
• Stellar structure, evolution and final stages
• Interstellar medium, star formation and exo-planets
• Galaxies: phenomenology
• Stellar dynamics
• Stellar populations, chemical evolution and star formation
• Dark Matter, Gravitational lensing
• Groups and clusters of galaxies
• Active galactic nuclei and massive black holes
• Cosmological standard model
• Formation of structure in the universe
• Galaxy formation and evolution

Every IMPRS student is supposed to pass an exam at the end of the course (usually in early February). The exam mostly provides an evaluation of the student's general astronomy background and should indicate where further learning is desirable. Students will be graded in categories A (very good), B (good), C (acceptable),D (sufficient), F (failed). Students with grade F can repeat the exam if they fail the first time.

IMPRS Advanced Courses

• Advanced course 1-3:
  Three one-week courses, each of 5 times 3 ½ hours a day, on Observational Astrophysics from Radio to Gamma-rays, Physics of Accretion Discs and accretion on Black Holes


• Advanced course 4-6:
  Three one-week courses, each of 5 times 3 ½ hours a day, on Galaxy and Galaxies & Interstellar Matter and Star Formation & Stellar Atmospheres


• Advanced course 7-9:
  Three one-week courses, each of 5 times 3 ½ hours a day, on Cosmology & Large Scale Structure & Stellar Structure and evolution & Active Galactic Nuclei