College: College of Letters and Science
Designation: Department
Major: Physics
Degrees Offered: M.A. (academic program), M.S. (professional program with research project, thesis), Ph.D. (research degree)
Other: Ph.D. Minor
Faculty: Professors Coppersmith (chair), Balantekin, Barger, Bruch, Carlsmith, Chubukov, Cox, DeLuca, De Stasio, B. Durand, Eom, Halzen, Han, Himpsel, Huber, Joynt, Karle, Knutson, Lagally, Lawler, Lin, McCammon, Morse, Nickles, Ogelman, Onellion, Pondrom, Prager, Prepost, Reynolds, Roesler, Rzchowski, L. Smith, W. Smith, Sprott, Terry, Timbie, Uhlenbrock, Walker, Winokur, Wu, Zweibel; Associate Professors Blick, Eriksson, Forest, Klemm, Pan, Saffman; Assistant Professors Chung, Dasu, Hashimoto, Herndon, Montaruli, Nitschke, Petriello, Shiu
The department offers the master of arts and master of science degrees in physics, and the doctor of philosophy degree with a major in physics.
The master of arts degree is a purely academic degree, requiring 24 credits of graduate work and passage of the qualifying examination. It is designed to strengthen the student's physics background and enhance the opportunities for employment as a physicist or in physics education.
The master of science degree is a professional program that requires the completion of a directed master's project and thesis in the student's area of interest, 18 credits of graduate work, and passage of the qualifying examination. It is designed to strengthen the student's background and experience in physics, and enhance the opportunities for employment as a physicist or in physics education.
The Ph.D. degree requires successful completion of advanced course work in physics, completion of a minor, and passage of the qualifying and preliminary examinations. However, the Ph.D. is primarily a research degree, awarded only upon completion of substantial original research in some subfield of physics. The program provides the background, experience, and credentials needed for employment as a professional physicist in research or education.
The research program in physics is unusually broad in scope with active experimental and theoretical research programs in astrophysics and space physics; atomic, molecular, and optical physics; biophysics; condensed matter physics; elementary particle physics; nuclear physics; particle physics theory; phenomenology; and plasma physics. This broad range of research opportunities makes the department especially attractive to beginning students who have not yet chosen a field of specialization.
Research specialties include:
The Department of Physics has a diverse group of graduate students who come from many countries around the world. There are typically 130-150 graduate students in the department. Virtually all students admitted receive financial support in the form of teaching or research assistantships and fellowships.
The information on courses and examinations provided in this catalog is only a brief summary of the procedures for graduate work in the department. Entering graduate candidates are supplied with additional details when they arrive. More complete information on the graduate program, the faculty, and research groups is available at the department Web site (listed below).
Admission is competitive. All applicants are reviewed and evaluated on the basis of previous academic record, three letters of recommendation, statement of purpose for graduate studies, resume, and Graduate Record Exam (GRE) general and subject scores. The physics subject GRE exam is required. For applicants whose native language is not English, the department requires a minimum score of 600 (paper-based), 250 (computer-based) or 100 (internet-based) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam, or under a 7 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam. All eligible applicants with complete files are considered for teaching or research assistantships and fellowships. To be considered for admission, students must submit all application materials (including test scores) to the physics department office by January 1.
For more information: Graduate Program, Department of Physics, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706; Phone 608/262-9678; FAX 608/262-3077; physgrad@physics.wisc.edu; www.physics.wisc.edu.