Internships at the MPIfR
There are many opportunities
It is possible to do an internship in Bonn as well as in Effelsberg - provided that a supervisor from the relevant department of the institute is available for the respective period.
Depending on the location, you can get to know the following areas during your internship at our institute:
Bonn
Research
Observation, data analysis, calculations and much more: During an internship in one of our four research departments "Fundamental Physics in Radio Astronomy", "Millimeter and Submillimeter Astronomy", “Star Formation and Galaxy Evolution” and "Radio Astronomy/VLBI", you will support scientists in their work on current research projects.
IT
The content of an IT internship is generally based on day-to-day business. In addition to topics such as data protection and IT security, you will also be involved in networks, administration and server tasks. This could include setting up a workstation, helping to install equipment in racks, assembling and measuring cables, or installing software on a Raspberry PI. The tasks are varied and always depend on the individual interests of the interns.
Public Relations
Internship projects in the Public Relations department deal with the presentation of an astronomical topic - often from the research activities of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy - in a generally understandable way. The results are made available as a presentation on the Institute's website at the end of the internship (see also "Completed internship projects"). Over the years, a small library of information from very different areas of astronomy has been created. These internship projects are suitable for school students from the 9th grade onwards.
Engineering
In the electronics division, we offer both a programming and a high-frequency internship. Both placements include an introduction to reading datasheets, working with a soldering iron and calculating electrical values.
The programming internship lasts a minimum of 2 weeks and includes an introduction to C++ programming as well as the hardware design of a circuit board and its components.
The high-frequency internship lasts at least 1 week and includes an introduction to analogue wireless signal transmission as well as the assembly of an AM (amplitude modulation) radio circuit and its components.
Longer internships are available on request, for example for electrical, engineering or mechanical engineering students.
Workshop
An internship in our workshop will teach you the basics of working with metals. Interns work with a variety of materials: steel, stainless steel and non-ferrous metals. In addition to filing, sawing and drilling, the internship also includes an insight into mechanical production using lathes and milling machines.
Effelsberg
At the Effelsberg Radio Observatory, interns learn how radio telescopes and the associated receiving systems work. They are involved in the evaluation of radio astronomical observations and their further analysis. If possible, they will also take part in observations themselves.
After an introduction to programming in the Python language, the interns will write their own small programs to analyse the observational data, e.g. to determine the radiative temperatures of planets according to Planck's radiation law. A presentation of the results in the form of a small poster is also part of the internship.
Due to mathematical skills required, an internship is only recommended from the 10th grade onwards.
An internship in the precision mechanics workshop of the observatory in Effelsberg is also possible.