Expert: Daniel Mazur - 12/1/2009

Question
I did Master of sciences in Physics from IIT-Delhi INDIA. I am interested in condensed matter physics,  mostly in BEC, Graphene and Quantum hall effect.
So i want to know the good university's name in Europe?
And also about stipend, process of joining?
What is the basic requirements to join phd on europe?

Answer
Dear Mohammad,
capitals of all European countries have good universities, there is no best one. Other large cities have them as well: Goettingen, Zuerich, Grenoble, Hamburg, Dresden, Krakow, Barcelona, Trieste, Sibiu... you need to do the searching by yourself, look through their physics/condensed matter departments web pages, find who is doing the kind of research you'd like AND has a job vacancy (it is often best to simply write the question to the research group heads). The application and admissions procedure is different everywhere, you need to read the university websites.
Eventually, when you've got an interview, you need to give a presentation of your Master's thesis work, which is a kind of oral exam as well. And, naturally, you'll have a one-to-one interview with the professors. You simply must show, that you know the physics you will need, that you can work in a diverse team (people of different cultures, ethnicities, religions, men and women), and all in all complement well your potential future team members (a good balance between overlapping with their skills and having additional skills others don't have). It is all about the match between what kind of person the group needs and what you can offer. Naturally, you have some expectations as well and you need to use the interview to see, if they can fulfill them. Nevertheless, it is completely up to them, whether they offer you a job afterward or not.
One word of advice: Do not ask them to pay your travel expenses for the interview! Only AFTER the whole interview, in case they offer you a job, it is time to ask for a full or partial refund.
About the stipends: It is customary that the department pays a stipend to their doctorate students. How much, that depends on the country, town, school and department. The stipend should be enough to cover your tuition and basic life expenses. Where the universities are underfunded, people need to do extra work for extra money to support themselves. You need to ask each university's student's or admissions office about this.

A wish you good luck with your search.
Daniel