The IRAP PhD program intends to create conditions for high-level education in Astrophysics mainly in Europe to create a new generation of leading scientists in this field. No single university in Europe today has the expertise required to attain this ambitious goal by itself. For this reason we have identified universities which offers a very large complementarity expertise. Each student admitted to the Ph.D. program will be part of a team inside one of the laboratories of the consortium. Each year they will have the opportunity to visit the other laboratories of the consortium and enlighten themselves with new topics in the forefront research from world leading experts. In this way the students will come in direct contact with some of the leading scientists in the world working in General Relativity, Relativistic Astrophysics, Cosmology and in Quantum Field Theory.

In addition to the theoretical centers, we associate experimental and observational center as well. This will provide an opportunity to the Ph.D students to obtain a complete education in theoretical relativistic astrophysics and also an experience on how to carry out a specific astrophysical mission. All the institutions participating in IRAP PhD have an extensive experience in international collaborations including visiting professors, post-doctoral researchers and training of Ph.D. students. All of our partners have enrolled Ph.D. students inside their laboratories in various aspects of astrophysics. All the institutions participating in IRAP PhD have an extensive experience in international collaborations including visiting professors, post-doctoral researchers and training of Ph.D. students. All of our partners have enrolled Ph.D. students inside their laboratories in various aspects of astrophysics. The European universities of Berlin, Ferrara, Roma, Nice, Savoie and Stockholm have also the needed structures to organize courses at Ph.D. level through numerous qualified professors. In addition the non European partners will provide expertise in their fields and could also host Ph.D. students.

The High Energy Astrophysical Group of Ferrara University, which developed Beppo-SAX satellite, has obtained the Bruno Rossi Prize in 1998 of the American Astronomical Society and the Descartes Prize of European Committee in 2002 for their contribution in solving a mystery of gamma ray bursts. The Observatory de la Cote d'Azur is already collaborating with major European and other non-European organizations including ESA, ESO, NASA, Polar Institutes, EGU and has developed a long tradition of educating graduate students from all continents. Nice is the coordinating organization and we will use the “savoir faire” of the “Ecole Doctorale” in terms of logistic and administrative experience on the management of Ph.D. students. The official language of the course is English, but students are given the possibility to learn the languages of the host countries by attending language courses at the partner universities.