The Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Science has a very active and diverse research group on Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology. The research interests of the group have a wide spectrum covering computational, observational and theoretical aspects.
The faculty members are engaged in active research on Solar Physics, Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics and Plasma Astrophysics, Stellar Evolution, Compact Objects (White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars, Black Holes) and Accretion, Interstellar Medium and Star Formation, Galactic Dynamics and Kinematics, Galaxy Evolution, Intergalactic and Circumgalactic Medium, Galaxy Clusters, Observational and Theoretical Cosmology, Gravitational Lensing, Large Scale Structure, Nuclear Astrophysics and Astroparticle Physics, Gravitational Waves, Dark Matter and Dark Energy, Inflationary Cosmology and Early Universe Physics, etc. Prospective students can join the group through the Physics PhD programme, the Physical Sciences Integrated PhD programme, or the Joint Astronomy Programme (JAP).
Indeed, the Physics Department of IISc has a long history in astrophysics through the four decades old Joint Astronomy Programme (JAP). Running together with the current participating institutes – Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Raman Research Institute (RRI) – JAP is one of the most successful Astronomy and Astrophysics graduate programmes in the country. The JAP courses, accessible to the BS, MS and PhD students, attract students to pursue astrophysics.
The members of this vibrant group are part of various collaborative projects and initiatives like the Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA), the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and the SKA-India Consortium, Indian Sub-mm-wave Astronomy Alliance (ISAA), the multiwave length satellite AstroSat, Space based Gravitational-wave observatory LISA, CMB-Bharat etc. The group members routinely use large national and international supercomputers to carry out multiphysics simulations of astrophysical systems.