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Graduate Program

The Graduate Program in the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Rutgers University is part of the School of Graduate Studies at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy of Rutgers University is one of the largest in the country, with about 60 faculty members based in the department, and over 70 members of the Graduate Program. With approximately 110 graduate students, the department has one of the best student/faculty ratios of any PhD granting program in the nation.

Major research efforts in the department are devoted to astronomy, biophysics, theoretical and experimental condensed matter physics (including surface physics), theoretical and experimental nuclear physics, and theoretical and experimental high-energy physics.

Related pages

Statement on Ethical Behavior

Some information mainly for prospective students:

• Program description
• Why come to Rutgers?
• Admissions information
• Graduate student support

Additional information for current students:

• Special awards and prizes
• Information on registering each term
• How to graduate

The official Rutgers catalog site listings are being updated. The new versions are not yet available, but you can see the old listings for the Physics and Astronomy graduate program (750):

• Faculty
• Description of program
• Courses

The "Redbook" is the Handbook for Physics and Astronomy graduate students. It includes both information on policies and degree requirements, as well as on the faculty and their research interests.

• Current (2019-20) Handbook for physics graduate students ("Redbook")
• Old versions of the redbook:
• 2017-2018 Handbook for physics graduate students ("Redbook")
• 2016-2017 Handbook for physics graduate students ("Redbook")
• 2010-2011 Handbook for physics graduate students ("Redbook")
• 2009-2010 Handbook for physics graduate students ("Redbook")
• 2008-2009 Handbook for physics graduate students ("Redbook")
• 2006-2007 Handbook for physics graduate students ("Redbook")
• 2005-2006 Handbook for physics graduate students ("Redbook")
• 2000-2004 Handbook for physics graduate students ("Redbook")
• The bylaws adopted on 10/16/2018, amended 11/19/2019, in accordance with new School of Graduate Study policies are here. The old bylaws from Feb 2018 are here.

Forms:

• Many needed forms can be found under the School of Graduate Studies website here
• Select forms and policies can also be found here
• International students may need to work with Rutgers Global Services - see the Academic Status and Changes web page

Learning:

• Catalog descriptions of the graduate courses
• Home pages of graduate courses
• Learning goals and assessment for the PhD and Masters degrees

Student led activities:

• Graduate Student Organization (GSO)
• Developing Educational Leaders among TAs in Physics (DELTA-P)
• Seminar In Graduate Mentoring in Astronomy and Physics (SIGMA-P)

Qualifier and Placement Exams:

• The current qualifier procedure is described in the Redbook here. Additional documents can be found here. (The qualifier is given typically to second year students admitted for Ph.D. study.)
• Past qualifying exams - this has nothing to do with the qualifier system now in place!
• Placement / challenge exams (These are the exams giving to entering students and those who wish to place out of core courses.)

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Reports of broken links or other technical comments about this Web page should be reported to rgilman@physics.rutgers.edu.

All correspondence about the Graduate Program in Physics and Astronomy should be addressed to graduate@physics.rutgers.edu.

Last revised November 30, 2019