The International Max Planck Research School for Ultrafast Imaging and Structural Dynamics (IMPRS-UFAST) is a joint venture of the Max Planck Research Department for Structural Dynamics at the University of Hamburg (MPSD), the Max Planck Advanced Study Group (MP-ASG)] at the Center for Free Electron Laser Science , the University of Hamburg, the Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY) and European XFEL GmbH. It was established in 2011 and is located in Hamburg, Germany.
The school offers an interdisciplinary PhD programme focussing generally on research on structural changes of atoms, molecules, condensed, biological, or warm dense matter at femtosecond time scales, with the ultimate goal of discovering the primary events governing these processes. Research areas include the theoretical and practical aspects of condensed matter and atomically resolved dynamics, fundamental light-matter interaction, accelerator-based light sources, coherent imaging, coherent controlled molecular and solid state dynamics, molecule imaging, extreme timescale spectroscopy, ultrafast optics, free-electron lasers and x-ray, and their applications in chemistry, biology and medicine.
The programme builds on the infrastructures and scientific expertise in the area of synchrotron light sources available in the Hamburg area. The program takes in approx. 10 students annually, who are fully funded for the duration of their doctoral studies.