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

Program-Specific Requirements

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. Associate 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
Applebaum Ian Full Member B.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1997, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003 Associate 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 Assistant 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 Full Member B.S., University of Pisa, Italy, 1993; Ph.D., University of Pisa, Italy, 1996; Professor, Physics
Butch Nicholas Full Member B.S., Rutgers University-New Brunswick, 2001; M.S., University of California-San Diego, 2003; Ph.D., 2008. Adjunct Assistant Professor, Physics
Campbell Gretchen Full Member B.A., Wellesley College, 2001; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006. Adjunct Assistant 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. Associate 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 Adjunct Member 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
Senior 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 Assistant 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
Research Professor, 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, 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
Franco Sevilla Manuel Full Member B.S., Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, 2004; Ph.D., Stanford University, 2012 Assistant Professor, Physics
Fuhrer Michael Full Member Currently at Monash University, Australia) Ph.D., Univ. of CA - Berkeley, 1998 Research 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. Associate Professor, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation
Associate Professor, Physics
Associate Professor, Biophysics
Goodman Jordan A. Full Member B.S., University of Maryland-College Park, 1973 M.S., 1975; Ph.D., 1978. Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Physics
Professor, Physics
Gorshkov Alexey Full Member A.B., Harvard University, 2004; A.M., Harvard University, 2006, Ph.D., Harvard University, 2010. Adjunct Assistant 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, Physics
Greene Richard L. Full Member B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1960; Ph.D., Stanford University, 1967. Professor, Physics
Gromov Andrey Adjunct Member BSc, Saint-Petersburg State University, 2009; Ph.D., Stony Brook University, 2015 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, Physics
Hall Carter R. Full Member B.S., Virginia Tech, 1996; Ph.D. Harvard University, 2002; Associate Professor, Physics
Hamilton Douglas C. Full Member A.B., University of Kansas, 1969; S.M.,University of Chicago, 1971; Ph.D., 1977. Professor, 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, 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; Director, Physics
Associate Professor, Physics
Hook Anson Full Member B.A., Princeton University, 2008; Ph.D., Stanford University, 2012 Assistant 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
Professor, Physics
Jarzynski Christopher Full Member 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
Professor, Physics
Ji Xiangdong Full Member B.S., Tongji University/Tungchai University, 1982; M.S., Drexel University, 1985; Ph.D., 1987. 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, Physics
Lathrop Daniel P. Full Member B.A., University of California-Berkeley, 1987; Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin, 1991. Professor, Geology
Professor, Physics
Professor, Chemical Physics
Lett Paul Adjunct Member Ph.D. University of Rochester; 1986 - NIST Adjunct Professor, Physics
University Affiliate, Chemical Physics
Linke Norbert Full Member D.Phil., Oxford University, 2013 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; Adjunct 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
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Professor, Physics
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
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 B.S., ITMO University, 2008; M.S., 2010, ITMO University; Ph.D., ITMO University; 2013 Assistant Professor, Physics
Orozco Luis A. Non-Member B.S., Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, 1980; Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin, 1987. Professor, Physics
Osborn Kevin Full Member B.S., University of Mary Washington, 1992; M.S., University of Tennessee-Knoxville, 1995; Ph.D., University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, 2001. Adjunct 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
Ouyang Min Full Member B.S., Peking University, 1995; M.S., Peking University, 1996; A.M., Harvard University, 1999; Ph.D., Harvard University, 2001; Associate 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. Associate 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, 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 Full Member 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
Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership
Professor, Physics
Professor, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership
Affiliate Professor, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership
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. Non-Member Ph.D. SUNY, Stonybrook, 1986. Laser cooling of neutral atoms;ultra cold plasmas; Bose-Einstein condensation; quantum information. Co-Director, 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, Physics
Professor, Chemical 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, Physics
Sau Jay Deep Full Member B.Tech., Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, 2002; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2008. Assistant 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; Associate Chair, Physics
Associate 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. 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. Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Affiliate Professor, Physics
Taylor Jacob Full Member B.A., Harvard University, 2000; Ph.D., 2006. Adjunct Assistant 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; Associate Professor, Physics
Assistant 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, Physics
Williams Carl Full Member B.A., Rice University, 1981; Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1987. Adjunct Professor, Physics
University Affiliate, Chemical 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