Physics (PHYS)
Graduate Degree Program
College: Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
Abstract
A fuller picture of the Department of Physics can be found on the department’s home page, http://umdphysics.umd.edu; only a summary is provided here. The Department of Physics offers graduate courses on general and specialized topics in advanced physics, and has active research programs in many areas of current interest. The various research groups can be browsed at http://umdphysics.umd.edu/research/research-areas.html.
Financial Assistance
The Department offers both teaching and research assistantships. Combined with fellowships in some cases, virtually all Ph.D. students have full financial support for the duration of their graduate studies. In a typical semester, approximately 50 teaching assistants and 160 research assistants work in the Department, while some others are supported by nearby government and industry facilities at which they are doing their research. Summer research stipends for advanced graduate students are customary, and a few summer teaching assistantships are available.
Contact
Graduate Admissions
Department of Physics
1309 John S Toll Physics Building
4150 Campus Drive
The University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Telephone: 301.405.5982
Email: grad@physics.umd.edu
Website: http://www.umdphysics.umd.edu
Courses: PHYS
Relationships: Biophysics (BIPH) Chemical Physics (CHPH)
General Requirements
- Statement of Purpose
- Transcript(s)
- TOEFL/IELTS/PTE (international graduate students)
Program-Specific Requirements
- Letters of Recommendation (3)
- GRE Subject (Physics) (optional)
- CV/Resume
- Supplementary Application
The University of Maryland Department of Physics has a strong national and international reputation, and receives a large number of applications each year from well-qualified students. Consequently, admission to the graduate degree program is quite selective.
Students who enter the graduate program are normally expected to have strong backgrounds in physics, including intermediate-level courses in mechanics, electricity and magnetism, physical optics, quantum physics, and thermodynamics. Prior research experience and strong letters of recommendation are highly valued. Good preparation in mathematics is also desirable, especially for students who may pursue theoretical physics research.
Application Deadlines
| Type of Applicant | Fall Deadline |
|---|---|
| Domestic Applicants | |
| US Citizens and Permanent Residents | December 13, 2024 |
| International Applicants | |
| F (student) or J (exchange visitor) visas; A,E,G,H,I and L visas and immigrants | December 13, 2024 |
RESOURCES AND LINKS:
Program Website: http://www.umdphysics.umd.edu
Application Process: https://gradschool.umd.edu/admissions
Current research in the Department spans an immense range of theoretical and experimental work on the forefront of knowledge, far too large to describe here. Details of current research in the various fields, faculty, and facilities involved can be found at the Departmental web site, http://umdphysics.umd.edu.
There are close academic ties with the Institute for Physical Science and Technology on the campus; members of the Institute supervise graduate research and also teach physics courses. Faculty members in the departments of Astronomy and Electrical & Computer Engineering also frequently direct thesis research.
The University of Maryland is located within the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., where it enjoys the proximity of a large number of outstanding institutions, such as NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the Naval Research Laboratory, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the Library of Congress, and other federal institutions. The Department works closely with certain research groups at some of these institutions, and a significant fraction of graduate students do their primary research at off-campus facilities, co-directed by a member of the graduate faculty in the Department. In order to facilitate graduate study in the Washington area, the Department of Physics also has adjunct professors from certain government laboratories.
| Last Name | First/Middle Name | Graduate Faculty Status | Academic Credentials | Positions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agashe | Kaustubh | Full Member | B.Tech., Indian Institute of Technology, 1993; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1998. | Professor, Physics |
| Anlage | Steven | Full Member | B.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1982; M.S., California Institute of Technology, 1984; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 1988 | Professor, Materials Science and Engineering Professor, Physics Affiliate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering |
| Antonsen | Thomas M., Jr. | Full Member | B.S., Cornell University, 1973; M.S., 1976; Ph.D., 1977. | Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor, Physics |
| Baden | Andrew R. | Full Member | B.A.,University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1975; B.A., San Francisco State University, 1981; Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley, 1986. | Chair, Physics Professor, Physics |
| Banavar | Jayanth | Full Member | B.Sc,Bangalore University,1972 M.Sc., Physics, Bangalore University; 1974; Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, 1978 | Dean, Physics Professor, Physics |
| Bedaque | Paulo | Full Member | B.S., Universidade de Sao Paulo, 1985; M.S., Universidade de Sao Paulo, 1989; Ph.D., University of Rochester, 1994; | Professor, Physics |
| Beise | Elizabeth J. | Full Member | B.A., Carleton College, 1981; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988. | Associate Provost, Physics Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Professor, Physics |
| Belloni | Alberto | Full Member | B.S., University of Pisa and Scuola Normale Superiore, 2002; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007 | Associate Professor, Physics |
| Boyd | Derek A. | Full Member | B.Sc., University of Capetown, 1964; B.Sc., 1965; M.Sc., 1967; Ph.D., Stevens Institute of Technology, 1973. | Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Buonanno | Alessandra | Associate | B.S., University of Pisa, Italy, 1993; Ph.D., University of Pisa, Italy, 1996; | Research Professor, Physics |
| Butch | Nicholas | Associate | B.S., Rutgers University-New Brunswick, 2001; M.S., University of California-San Diego, 2003; Ph.D., 2008. | Adjunct Professor, Physics |
| Campbell | Gretchen | Associate | B.A., Wellesley College, 2001; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006. | Adjunct Professor, Physics |
| Chacko | Zackaria | Full Member | B.S., Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, 1992; M.S., 1994; Ph.D., University of Maryland-College Park, 1999. | Professor, Physics |
| Childs | Andrew | Full Member | B.S., California Institute of Technology, 2000; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004 | Professor, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation Professor, Computer Science Affiliate Professor, Physics |
| Clark | Brian | Full Member | B.A., Washington University in St. Louis, 2014; M.S., Ohio State University, 2016; Ph.D., 2019 | Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Clark | Charles | Associate | B.A., Western Washington University, 1974; Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1979. | Adjunct Professor, Physics Adjunct Professor, Chemical Physics |
| Cohen | Thomas D. | Full Member | A.B., Harvard University, 1980; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1985. | Associate Chair, Physics Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Professor, Physics |
| Currie | Douglas | Full Member | B.E.P., Cornell University, 1958; Ph.D.,University of Rochester, 1962. | Professor Emeritus, Physics Research Scientist, Physics |
| Das Sarma | Sankar | Full Member | B.S., Presidency College-Calcutta, 1973 Sc.M., Brown University, 1976; Ph.D., 1979. | Distinguished University Professor, Physics |
| Davoudi | Zohreh | Full Member | B.Sc., Sharif University of Technology, 2007; M.Sc., Sharif University of Technology, 2009; Ph.D., University of Washington, 2014 | Associate Professor, Physics |
| Dorfman | Jay Robert | Full Member | B.A., Johns Hopkins University, 1957; Ph.D.,1961. | Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Dorland | William D. | Full Member | B.S.,University of Texas, 1988 M.A., Princeton University, 1990 Ph.D., Princeton University, 1993 | Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Professor, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation Professor, Physics |
| Drake | James F. | Full Member | B.S.,University of California-Los Angeles, 1969; M.S., 1972; Ph.D., 1975. | Distinguished University Professor, Physics |
| Drew | H. Dennis | Full Member | B.S., University of Pittsburgh, 1962; Ph.D., Cornell University, 1968. | Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Einstein | Theodore L. | Full Member | B.A., Harvard University, 1969; M.A., 1969; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1973. | Professor, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Eno | Sarah C. | Full Member | B.A., Gettysburg College, 1984; M.A.,University of Rochester, 1986; Ph.D., 1990. | Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Professor, Physics |
| Fisher | Michael E. | Full Member | B.S., King's College-London, 1951; Ph.D., 1957; S.C.D., Yale University, 1987; Ph.D. Honoris Causa, Tel Aviv University, 1992. | Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Fox | William D. | Full Member | B.A., Princeton University, 2001; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009 | Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Franco Sevilla | Manuel | Full Member | B.S., Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, 2004; Ph.D., Stanford University, 2012 | Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Gates | Sylvester James, Jr. | Full Member | B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1973; Ph.D.,1977. | Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Distinguished University Professor, Physics Regents Professor, Physics Affiliate Professor, Mathematics |
| Girvan | Michelle | Full Member | B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999; Ph.D., Cornell University, 2003; Ph.D., 2004. | Professor, Physics Professor, Biophysics Associate Professor, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation |
| Goodman | Jordan A. | Full Member | B.S., University of Maryland-College Park, 1973 M.S., 1975; Ph.D., 1978. | Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Distinguished University Professor, Physics |
| Gorshkov | Alexey | Associate | A.B., Harvard University, 2004; A.M., Harvard University, 2006, Ph.D., Harvard University, 2010. | Adjunct Professor, Physics |
| Greenberg | Oscar Wallace | Full Member | B.S., Rutgers University-New Brunswick, 1952; M.A.,Princeton University, 1954; Ph.D., 1957. | Professor, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Greene | Richard L. | Full Member | B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1960; Ph.D., Stanford University, 1967. | Distinguished University Professor, Physics |
| Gromov | Andrey | Associate | BSc, Saint-Petersburg State University, 2009; Ph.D., Stony Brook University, 2015 | Adjunct Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Hadley | Nicholas John | Full Member | Ph.D.,University of California, 1983 M.A., University of California, 1978 B.S., Yale University, 1976 | Professor, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Hall | Carter R. | Full Member | B.S., Virginia Tech, 1996; Ph.D. Harvard University, 2002; | Professor, Physics |
| Hamilton | Douglas C. | Full Member | A.B., University of Kansas, 1969; S.M.,University of Chicago, 1971; Ph.D., 1977. | Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Hamilton | Phoebe M. | Full Member | B.S., Youngstown State University, 2007; M.S., University of Maryland-College Park, 2011; Ph.D., 2013 | Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Hassam | Adil B. | Full Member | M.A.,Princeton University, 1976; Ph.D., 1978. | Professor, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Hill | Wendell T., III | Full Member | B.A.,University of California-Irvine, 1974; M.S., Stanford University, 1976; Ph.D., 1980. | Affiliate Professor, Physics |
| Hoffman | Kara D. | Full Member | B.S., University of Kentucky, 1992; M.S., Purdue University, 1994; Ph.D., Purdue University, 1998; | Professor, Physics |
| Hook | Anson | Full Member | B.A., Princeton University, 2008; Ph.D., Stanford University, 2012 | Associate Professor, Physics |
| Hu | Bei-Lok | Full Member | A.B., University of California-Berkeley, 1967; M.A., Princeton University, 1969; Ph.D., 1972. | Professor, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation Professor, Physics |
| Jacobson | Theodore A. | Full Member | B.A., Reed College, 1977; Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin, 1983. | Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Distinguished University Professor, Physics |
| Jarzynski | Christopher | Full Member | Distinguished University Professor, Physics Professor, Biophysics Professor, Chemical Physics Professor, Chemistry | |
| Jawahery | Abolhassan | Full Member | B.S., Tehran University, 1976; M.S., Tufts University, 1977; Ph.D., 1981. | Distinguished University Professor, Physics |
| Ji | Xiangdong | Full Member | B.S., Tongji University/Tungchai University, 1982; M.S., Drexel University, 1985; Ph.D., 1987. | Distinguished University Professor, Physics |
| Julienne | Paul S. | Full Member | B.S., Wofford College, 1965; Ph.D., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1969. | Adjunct Professor, Physics |
| Kirkpatrick | Theodore R. | Full Member | B.S., University of California-Los Angeles, 1977; Ph.D., Rockefeller University, 1981. | Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Lathrop | Daniel P. | Full Member | B.A., University of California-Berkeley, 1987; Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin, 1991. | Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Professor, Geology Professor, Chemical Physics |
| Lett | Paul | Associate | Ph.D. University of Rochester; 1986 - NIST | Adjunct Professor, Physics University Affiliate, Chemical Physics |
| Linke | Norbert | Full Member | D.Phil., Oxford University, 2013 | Adjunct Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Lobb | Christopher J. | Full Member | B.A., Rutgers University-New Brunswick, 1974; S.M., Harvard University, 1976; Ph.D., 1980. | Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Professor, Physics |
| Losert | Wolfgang | Full Member | M.S., University of Munich, 1995; Ph.D., City College of New York, 1998 | Professor, Physics Professor, Biophysics Associate Professor, Chemical Physics Affiliate Professor, Bioengineering |
| Manucharyan | Vladimir | Full Member | B.S., Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 2003; Ph.D., Yale University, 2012. | Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Mather | John C. | Full Member | B.A., Swarthmore College, 1968; Ph.D. UC Berkeley, 1974; | Professor, Physics |
| McEnery | Julie | Full Member | B.S., University of Manchester, 1993; Ph.D., University College Dublin, 1997. | Adjunct Associate Professor, Physics |
| McKinney | Jonathan | Full Member | 1997 B.Sc., Texas A&M Univ.,1997; B.S., University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, 1999; Ph.D., 2004. | Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Migdall | Alan | Full Member | B.S. University of Maryland, 1978; Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1984 | Adjunct Professor, Physics |
| Milchberg | Howard M. | Full Member | B.S., McMaster University-Hamilton, 1979; Ph.D., Princeton University, 1985. | Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Distinguished University Professor, Physics Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor, Chemical Physics |
| Mohapatra | Rabindra N. | Full Member | B.Sc.,Utkal University, 1964; M.Sc., University of Delhi, 1966; Ph.D., University of Rochester, 1969. | Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Distinguished University Professor, Physics |
| Monroe | Christopher | Full Member | B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1987; Ph.D., University of Colorado-Denver, 1992 | Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor, Physics |
| Mukhina | Maria | Full Member | Assistant Professor, Physics Assistant Professor, Biophysics | |
| Orozco | Luis A. | Full | B.S., Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, 1980; Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin, 1987. | Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Osborn | Kevin | Associate | B.S., University of Mary Washington, 1992; M.S., University of Tennessee-Knoxville, 1995; Ph.D., University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, 2001. | Adjunct Associate Professor, Physics |
| Ott | Edward | Full Member | B.S., The Cooper Union, 1963; M.S., Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, 1965; Ph.D., 1967. | Distinguished University Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Distinguished University Professor, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation Distinguished University Professor, Physics Distinguished University Professor, Chemical Physics Professor Emeritus, Electrical and Computer Engineering |
| Ouyang | Min | Full Member | B.S., Peking University, 1995; M.S., Peking University, 1996; A.M., Harvard University, 1999; Ph.D., Harvard University, 2001; | Professor, Physics Associate Professor, Chemical Physics Affiliate Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering |
| Paglione | Johnpierre | Full Member | B.S., Queen's University at Kingston, 1999; M.S., University of Toronto, 2000; Ph.D., 2004. | Professor, Physics Associate Professor, Chemical Physics |
| Palmer | Christopher Allan | Full Member | B.S., University of Southern California, 2007; M.S., University of California-San Diego, 2009; Ph.D., 2014 | Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Papadopoulos | Konstantinos Dennis | Full Member | B.Sc, University of Athens-Greece, 1960; M.Sc, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1965; Ph.D.,University of Maryland-College Park, 1968. | Professor Emeritus, Physics Professor Emeritus, Astronomy |
| Philippov | Alexander | Full Member | M.S., Moscow Inst of Physics & Technology, 2012; M.A., Princeton University, 2014; Ph.D., 2017 | Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Phillips | William D. | Adjunct Member | B.S., Juniata College, 1970; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1976. | Distinguished University Professor, Physics Distinguished University Professor, Chemical Physics |
| Porto | Trey | Associate | B.S., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1990; Ph.D., Cornell University, 1996. | Adjunct Professor, Physics |
| Redish | Edward F. | Full Member | B.S., Princeton University, 1963; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1968. | Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Professor, Physics Affiliate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction |
| Roberts | Douglas A. | Full Member | B.S., California Institute of Technology, 1988;M.S., University of California-Los Angeles, 1992; Ph.D., 1994. | Associate Professor, Physics |
| Rolston | Steven L. | Full | Ph.D. SUNY, Stonybrook, 1986. Laser cooling of neutral atoms;ultra cold plasmas; Bose-Einstein condensation; quantum information. | Chair, Physics Professor, Physics Professor, Chemical Physics |
| Roy | Rajarshi | Full Member | B.S., University of Delhi, 1973; M.S., 1975; M.A., University of Rochester,1977; Ph.D., 1981. | Professor, Chemical Physics Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Sagdeev | Roald Z. | Full Member | B.S., University of Moscow, 1955;Ph.D., Institute of Physical Problems-Moscow, 1960; D.S.,U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences-Siberia, 1962. | Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Sau | Jay Deep | Full Member | B.Tech., Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, 2002; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2008. | Professor, Physics |
| Schine | Nathan Alexander | Full Member | B.A., Williams College, 2013; Ph.D., University of Chicago, 2019 | Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Seo | Eun-Suk | Full Member | B.S., Korea University-Seoul, 1984; M.S., 1986; Ph.D., Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge, 1991. | Professor, Physics Professor, Chemical Physics |
| Shawhan | Peter S. | Full Member | A.B., Washington University in St. Louis, 1990; M.S., University of Chicago, 1992; Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1999; | Professor, Physics |
| Skuja | Andris | Full Member | B.Sc., University of Toronto, 1966; Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley, 1972. | Professor, Physics |
| Solomon | Glenn | Full Member | B.O., Duke University, 1980; M.O., 1983; M.O., Stanford University, 1995; Ph.D., 1997. | Adjunct Professor, Physics |
| Spielman | Ian | Full Member | B.S., University of Oklahoma, 1998; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 2004. | Adjunct Professor, Physics |
| Sprangle | Phillip | Full Member | B.E.E., Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, 1967; M.A., University of Puerto Rico; 1969; Ph.D., Cornell University, 1974. | Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor, Physics |
| Sternbach | Aaron | Full Member | Assistant Professor, Physics | |
| Sullivan | Gregory W. | Full Member | B.S., Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, 1983; M.S., 1985; M.S., University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, 1986; Ph.D.,1990. | Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics Professor, Physics |
| Sundrum | Raman | Full Member | B.Sc., University of Sydney, 1984; Ph.D., Yale University, 1990. | Distinguished University Professor, Physics |
| Takeuchi | Ichiro | Full Member | B.S.,California Institute of Technology, 1987; Ph.D., University of Maryland-College Park, 1996. | Chair, Materials Science and Engineering Professor, Materials Science and Engineering Affiliate Professor, Physics |
| Taylor | Jacob | Full Member | B.A., Harvard University, 2000; Ph.D., 2006. | Adjunct Professor, Physics |
| Tiesinga | Eite | Full Member | B.S./M.S., University of Groningen, 1988; Ph.D., Eindhoven University of Technology, 1993. | Adjunct Professor, Physics |
| Upadhyaya | Arpita | Full Member | B.E. & M.S., Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India, 1994; Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, 2000; | Co-Director, Biophysics Professor, Physics Professor, Biophysics Assistant Professor, Chemical Physics |
| Walsworth | Ronald | Full | B.S., Duke University, 1984; Ph.D., Harvard University, 1991 | Professor, Physics |
| Weeks | John D. | Full Member | B.A., Harvard University, 1965; Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1969. | Distinguished University Professor, Biophysics Distinguished University Professor, Chemical Physics Distinguished University Professor, Chemistry Affiliate Professor, Physics |
| Wellstood | Frederick C. | Full Member | A.B., University of California-Berkeley, 1979; Ph.D., 1988. | Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Williams | Ellen D. | Full Member | B.S., Michigan State University, 1976;Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 1981. Currently on leave) | Distinguished University Professor, Physics Distinguished University Professor, Chemical Physics |
| Williams | James R. | Full Member | B.S., Santa Clara University, 2002; Ph.D., Harvard University, 2009 | Assistant Professor, Physics |
| Yakovenko | Victor M. | Full Member | M.S., Moscow Physical-Technical Institute, 1984; Ph.D., Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, 1987. | Professor, Physics |
| Yorke | James A. | Full Member | A.B., Columbia University,1963; Ph.D., University of Maryland-College Park, 1966. | Distinguished University Professor, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Mathematics Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Physics |
| Zhao | SY Frank | Full Member | Ph.D., Harvard University, 2021; M.A., Columbia University, 2014; B.Sc., University of Toronto, 2012 | Assistant Professor, Physics |