The UMD Physics Department is ranked #14 among national physics graduate programs by the US News & World Report. With over 70 full-time faculty and 275 graduate students, we boast one of the largest physics departments in the nation. Our faculty members are involved in research in more than 30 areas of physics, including some of today’s most cutting-edge topics. All of our graduate students are supported through graduate assistantships, fellowships, or grants, largely provided by our department as well as through external fellowships, such as NSF. Our flexible Ph.D. program allows students to tailor their coursework and get involved in research that suits their interests.
Check here for answers to frequently asked questions.
We do not have a GradSchoolShopper listing because we feel we can provide clearer information about our graduate program on this web site.
Note that UMD also has Ph.D. programs in Astronomy, Biophysics, and Chemical Physics. Although these share a number of faculty members and research labs with Physics (for instance, students in either the Physics or the Biophysics program may do biophysics research), they have separate applications and academic program elements. Also note that the University of Maryland - Baltimore County (UMBC) is a completely independent university.
Prospective students interested in applying methods of physics to the life sciences may want to consider simultaneously applying to UMD's COMBINE (Computation and Mathematics for Biological Networks) NRT (NSF Research Traineeship) Program, which is meant to be taken alongside a UMD PhD program (http://www.combine.umd.edu/).
All application documents and credentials are subject to review.