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Research at the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Utrecht covers high energy physics (elementary particle physics, quantum gravity, string theory), statistical physics (granular matter, chaos theory, critical phenomena) and condensed matter physics (superconductivity, Bose-Einstein condensation, quantum Hall effect, quantum computing, quantum magnetism). The institute offers the opportunity to students to enter a PhD program in theoretical physics. A PhD generally takes four years. PhD students are required to take a number of courses, almost always in the context of the Dutch Research School for Theoretical Physics. They act as teaching assistants for about ten percent of their working time (usually some form of tutoring in the theoretical courses) and are paid by the institute.

Undergraduate students who are interested in joining one of the research groups as a PhD student (OIO/AIO), should not write to the secretariat, but contact the individual ITP staff member(s) in their field of interest directly. For further information, check out recent preprints, publications and the latest annual report on our research webpage. Note that PhD students can only be hired when an ITP staff member agrees to act as their thesis advisor.
When writing a letter, please state the area of research you are interested in and provide a short curriculum vitae.

The Delta-Institute for Theoretical Physics, a consortium uniting the existing institutes for theoretical physics of the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Amsterdam, Leiden ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, and Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, has regular openings for postdoctoral and PhD positions. .

The D-ITP unites the existing institutes for theoretical physics at the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Amsterdam, Leiden ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, and Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ. In 2013, the consortium has been awarded 18.3 million euros from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). Every year the D-ITP has a significant number of openings for postdoctoral and PhD positions. Furthermore a nation-wide cosmology research program of the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) has recently been funded under the name "Observing the big bang: the quantum universe and its imprint on the sky". Ten additional postdoc and PhD positions in Theoretical Cosmology are being filled. The program involves researchers from five Dutch institutions (A. Achucarro (PI), A. Boyarsky and K. Schalm from Leiden ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, B. Freivogel and J.P. van der Schaar from Amsterdam ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, E. Pajer and T. Prokopec from Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, D. Roest from Groningen ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ and M. Postma from Nikhef). More recent hires are D. Baumann (Amsterdam ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ) and A. Silvestri (Leiden ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ).

The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ has a strong theoretical physics group, whose current faculty member in high energy physics are Bernard de Wit (Nikhef/UU), Thomas Grimm, Umut Gursoy, Eric Laenen (adjunct professor), Enrico Pajer, Tomislav Prokopec, Gerard ’t Hooft and Stefan Vandoren.