Graduate students in this department are actively engaged in frontier research with their faculty mentors, publishing articles in the top physics and astronomy journals and presenting their work at national and international conferences. At present, the Department has active experimental, theoretical, and computational research programs in a wide range of areas, including astronomy and astrophysics; atomic, molecular, and chemical physics; computational physics; condensed matter and statistical physics; and nuclear and elementary particle physics; nanotechnology; and biophysics. The department has numerous state-of-the-art computational and experimental research facilities. In addition, the Department is home to the Center for Simulational Physics.  Several faculty members work in nanoscale technology, collaborating with faculty from other disciplines at the UGA NanoSEC.  Several other interdisciplinary research efforts in the Department involve ongoing collaborations with researchers in other UGA departments, including Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Genetics, Geology, Instructional Technology, Physiology, and Statistics.

All graduate students must fulfill specific degree requirements. At the masters level, students must maintain a 3.0 grade-point average and take eight graduate-level courses, including at least three of the following four courses: Methods of Mathematical Physics I, Classical Mechanics I, Quantum Mechanics I, and Advanced Electromagnetic Theory I. To complete their degree, masters students must successfully defend a written thesis based on original research.

At the doctoral level, students must maintain a 3.0 grade-point average and take 6 courses Methods of Mathematical Physics, Classical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics I & II, Electromagnetic Theory, and Statistical Mechanics. Students are also required to earn 6 credits of PHYS 8990 (Introduction to Research) and 2 credits of PHYS 6000 (Colloquium), the details of which are given in the Graduate Student Handbook.  In addition, all doctoral students must satisfactorily complete both a written and an oral comprehensive exam. The written exam covers material considered part of the typical undergraduate physics curriculum, whereas the oral exam has a somewhat tighter focus, centering on a timely topic selected by the student's advisory committee. To complete their degree, doctoral students must successfully defend a written thesis based on original research.

In the Department of Physics and Astronomy, we pride ourselves on the nurturing environment we provide for our graduate students through close interactions between students and faculty. We achieve this goal by maintaining a student-to-faculty ratio between one and two. As a result, we are able to address the needs of each student on an individual basis. Upon earning their degree, our students are well trained for careers in diverse areas, including basic and applied research, teaching, high-tech industry, and business. To illustrate this point, visit our Alumni page and see what our former students are doing now.

For further information and to find out how to apply to our graduate program, continue browsing our website or contact our graduate coordinator, Prof. Loris Magnani: