Accepting applications for our two-year M.S. in physics with teaching assistantship support at University of Minnesota Duluth
We’re a small, M.S. only physics program (12 to 15 students total) at one of the top research universities in Minnesota. This means
exceptional opportunities for starting research projects right away. Our curriculum offers core graduate-level courses in classical and quantum physics. Importantly, we offer (and require) students take from a selection of methods courses plus two advanced courses outside the department, with electrical engineering, computer science, chemistry, and mathematics the most popular. This provides an opportunity for continued, interdisciplnary work not always encouraged by Ph.D. programs. Finally, students gain experience driving a modest research project or larger thesis. Students who complete the M.S. and these experiences prepare them for a Ph.D. program in physics, sometimes more so than two years of a traditional Ph.D. program. Other students report they can differentiate themselves from other applicants to start positions in industry or business or take their physics skills and to an advanced degree in another science or engineering discipline.
In addition to teaching and research assistantships, the most qualified applicants to our program are eligible for fellowships
and/or support to start research the summer before their first semester. We have research specialties in experimental neutrino
physics, experimental astrophysics, theoretical cosmology and particle/nuclear physics, experimental solid state physics, and a
major group working on the physics of large lakes and oceans and the environments that surround them. Recently some students crafted an interdisciplinary research project that is joint with a faculty member in another department such as electrical engineering, medical and biophysics, and mathematics. We begin to review applications on 1 March, but applications that arrive through late March will still receive full consideration. Visit http://www.d.umn.edu/physics/grad/ for more information, a link to the application procedure, and how to contact us with questions.
—
Dr. Rik Gran,
Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Minnesota Duluth