Ioonos

A career as an Astrophysicist

Astrophysicist

 

Astrophysicists, who are still sometimes referred to as astronomers, are top scientists who never stop dreaming with their heads up in the stars. Their passion? Planets and stars! Their obsession? Understanding how the Universe has formed and works, and studying the life of stars and galaxies…

Research

An astrophysicist’s job is all about research. As top scientists who are often specialised their work consists mainly in observing the movements of the stars and planets using terrestrial or space telescopes. They analyse their measurements and observations with the help of experimental models. Like all researchers, an astrophysicist writes and publishes his/her findings in his/her research, gives colloquia and conferences all over the world. They sometimes teach and train new generations of astronomers.

But also...

Astrophysicists dream, research and think.  They travel a lot too: there are different sites high up in the world where terrestrial telescopes can be found. The progress of computing enables them to accomplish a majority of their work from their laboratory.
They also participate, in international teams, in implementing computer programmes, as well as developing new observation and measurement tools.

Tough training

You’ve probably already guessed that to become an astrophysicist you’ll need to study science for a long time. You can only specialise once you have reached a master’s degree. A good command of English and computing is crucial, a taste for dreaming, precision and the capacity to work in a team are vital. But above all, places are scarce: as an example, in France, there are only 700 astronomers and less than twenty positions per year in the research field. When some astrophysicists finish their training, some are likely to choose other paths, notably in the space technology application industry. 

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