Expert: Jayendra Upadhye - 4/17/2008

Question
dear sir,
i am indraneel pole from india.i am interested in astrophysics and wants to make a carrier in this field.i have given my 12th exam this year and now planning to do B.Sc. in physics from puna university.i just wanted to ask that whether there are any courses like B.Sc. in astronomy or astrophysics in india???and if not what should i do to take addmission in abroad.
yours,
indraneel pole

Answer
Hi,
In India, opportunities existed from 1970 onwards!
I personally know very ordinary people (social status wise), who were otherwise brilliant, do their BSc and went on to have scintillating careers in the Vikram Sarabhai Space Application Center Ahmedabad.

One was a maths/stats guys who entered their Image processing center, and the other one, much senior to me, went on to work on the Indian communications satellites!

I dont see why you have to go abroad!
Just study well, score well, and you may enter
1 - TIFR Bombay
2 - IISC Bangalore
3 - ISRO (Bangalore / Ahmedabad / Trivendrum)

TIFR & IISC have been doing great research on fields concerned with Astrophysics such as Magnteo-hydro-dynamics, and Xray / Gammar rays.

But you MUST be an achiever and a scholar.

If you are, the sky is the limit, as India is planning the Chandra-yaan series of moon missions.

Please do rate the answer if it satisfies you.

best luck.
Jayen