In such cases the thesis must be formally supervised by a scientist in the home institution who then maintains contact with the de facto supervisor on the MPA staff in order to monitor the student's progress. Interested students from any institution are encouraged to explore the MPA web-site to locate fields of interest and then to contact the scientists working in these areas. The MPA has research funds available to support the PhD work of students at the institute. These stipends are normally allocated for two years, renewable for one further year. Students are expected to complete their degree within three years.
Funds are available both for German and for non-German students and are allocated competitively.
Applications from students with external sources of funding are also welcomed. The MPA will also continue to admit students independent of the International Max-Planck Research School. Such students will normally be registered for the degree at one of the two Munich universities and are required to have good grades in the German 5-year physics degree, or its foreign equivalent. Prospective students are invited to explore the MPA web-site to find subject areas of interest. They should then contact the scientists responsible for these areas directly to find out about the availability of projects and about the detailed application procedure.