Here is a brainstormed document of some main things to remember when applying for a Physics Ph.D. program.

My search

I applied mainly to Canadian and German institutions, with a few exceptions. I was looking for more HEP-th positions, particularly in Astroparticle Theory or areas overlapping formal theory and particle physics. I was also open to adjacent fields. Most of the information here is from my personal experience during the application period.

Things to keep in mind before you start the search

• The market has been heavily saturated since COVID hit. Many people have delayed graduation for various reasons, such as attending conferences, finishing experiments, or completing collaborations. The market seems to be slowly opening up now. I think for 2023 applications, it should be much better than it was for this round.
  • Why is this relevant? For many places, especially in theory, Professors generally tend to have a finite number of graduate students.
• It's a fact that some fields have more available positions than others. Experimental roles, regardless of the field, typically have more vacancies than their counterparts. This is understandable as labs often require multiple people to carry out various tasks. Specifically, the field of condensed matter appears to have many open positions. Astrophysics also seems to have a reasonable number of vacancies, which was a surprising find during my search.
  • The point is, if you are looking for something particular position or a position in a field where openings are rare, your search will be much more exhausting than colleagues. As an example of my search, I had approximately a dozen professors I was very excited to apply to in Canada (I feel I was very, very lucky that I got one of my top 3 choices - I mean it, luck does play a very significant role)

But, where do I look for open positions?

• inspire-hep - Even though it is inspire"HEP,” you can find job offers for literally most of the fields
• hyperspace - Particularly for Relativity and Gravitation

There are a few more portals for other parts of Physics (that I didn’t apply to, I’ll update them as I see them)

That’s it?

Absolutely not. A lot of Ph.D. positions are not advertised very well.

Ph.D. programs in Canada

Most well-known Canadian Universities have a Ph.D. program that requires a Masters before. There are two types of Ph.D. students accepted in Canada.

1. Students who have already secured a Ph.D. advisor: Some departments in Canada require that you already have secured a Ph.D. advisor, and without that, you cannot enter the Ph.D. program, no matter how good of a profile you have.
   • McGill, Queens, UVic, Carleton (I am 100% sure you need an advisor telling you to apply to these), McMaster, Manitoba, UOttawa, Guelph, (I am pretty confident you need a Ph.D. advisor ready to take you on before you apply, so double check please)
2. Students who have not secured a Ph.D. advisor: There are other places where I am almost sure that there exists a possibility that you could get in without having secured a supervisor. I repeat, there exists a possibility does not mean you should apply without securing a supervisor. It just means that a possibility exists. Your best bet is to contact professors in advance and try to secure an advisor.
   • UofT, Waterloo, Alberta (I am pretty sure about the possibility of one getting accepted without having secured a Ph.D. advisor, still double check, please)

Note : “What about the scenario that the Ph.D. advisor is interested in me but has not promised me a Ph.D. position? He has told me to apply.” In this scenario, use your judgment. I would apply in most of these scenarios as I am sure my application would receive their attention. I also know that applying to Ph.D. programs in Canada costs a good amount of money and can be financially straining. In case of no financial strain, I highly encourage you to apply.

Ph.D. programs in Germany

In Germany, too, you need an M.Sc. Physics before you can apply for a Ph.D. program. Germany has two types of Ph.D. programs :

1. Individual: As the names suggest, the individual Ph.D. program is when you approach a professor of your liking and join his group from his funding. There is no formal “application portal” using which you apply for such positions. So, how do I find prospective supervisors?
   1. Google: Universities in Germany
   2. Google: Physics faculty “insert university.”
   3. Find the group/s you are interested
   4. Shortlist the professors you like
   5. Look what they are currently doing in terms of research, open their arXiv or inspire-hep
   6. Prepare all the necessary documents to contact them (CV and transcripts mainly) - In the next section, I have provided a skeleton on contacting prospective supervisors. Feel free to pick up things from there.