Chile is a natural laboratory in many fields, but particularly so in astronomy. By 2020, about 70% of the astronomical observation capacity in the world will be located in Chile. This has contributed to the growth and solid reputation of astrophysics departments in Chile. Notre Dame physics professor Tim Beers has been to Chile more than thirty times for observation purposes. He is very enthusiastic about strengthening the research, student and faculty exchange, and other avenues of collaborative work with the PUC astronomy department, as well as with other national and international institutions in the field that are housed in Chile.
One of the highlights of the relationship between the School of Physics of Notre Dame and PUC has been in 2017, when Professor Chris Howk took his sabbatical at the astronomy department at PUC. Professor Howk’s research is the continuation of the work conducted by a group of Notre Dame astrophysics professors in October 2015.
International Doctoral Program in Science
Four world-class universities have partnered together to provide outstanding students an opportunity to pursue an International Ph.D. in Science: the University of Notre Dame (USA), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Italy), KU Leuven (Belgium), and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile). This program provides research opportunities in physics, chemistry, biology, environmental science, and mathematics through jointly supervised research projects across two of the partner universities.