Graduate News!

Fall 2012: We are happy to announce that applications to our graduate program will remain free!

Fall 2012: Prospective graduate students may request $200 to assist them visiting us in Laramie in order to check out the department.

Fall 2012: We are happy to announce new graduate scholarships for incoming students.  See below for details.

August 2012: Welcome new graduate students: My Nguyen, Artem Pimachev, Vitaly Proshchenko, Andria Schwortz, John Sheets, Andy Yost.

August 2012: Sabrina Cales completed her PhD on the nature of post-starburst quasars and accepted a post-doctoral position in Concepcion, Chile.  Congratulations!

August 2012: Michael DiPompeo completed his PhD involving broad absorption line quasars and accepted a post-doctoral position with Adam Myers here at Wyoming.  Congratulations!

Summer 2012: Anirban Bhattacharjee, Michael Lundquist, and David Cook all passed their PhD Candidacy exams.  Congratulations!

Graduate Degree Programs

The graduate PhD program in Physics & Astronomy is a small, personal, yet challenging environment where graduate students will receive advanced instruction and guidance to grow as independent research scientists while using unique research facilities in astronomy and physics. The strengths of the program lie in a faculty committed to excellence in instruction and individual mentoring.

Unique research facilities include Wyoming's own 2.3 meter telescope, the largest solely owned and used by a single university, on nearby 9656 ft. Jelm Mountain, the 0.6 m Red Buttes Observatory, several experimental condensed matter physics laboratories, and the new National Center for Atmospheric Research Supercomputer.  WIRO is the largest optical telescope in the world owned by a single institution; our astronomy graduate students have the opportunity to carry out substantial observational thesis projects.

The physics & astronomy graduate program is designed to help students mature as research scientists and as professional teachers.  We formally offer a PhD in physics with concentrations in astronomy, solid state physics, and materials science.  The latter program brings together researchers with a materials science and engineering related focus, promoting wider collaboration and enhancing educational experiences. More information can be found here.

Specialities in sold-state physics, using both theoretical and experimental approaches, include: quantum dot sensitized solar cells, magnetic transport, heat transport in nanostructures, fast quantum nonequilibrium processes of electron transfer in solar cells, as well as spintronics.  Specialties in astronomy, using space-based and ground-based observations as well as computational approaches, include: galaxies, active galaxies and quasars, observational cosmology, planet formation and exoplanets, star-forming regions and massive binary stars.

We also offer a Master's in Science Teaching.  This program prepares future educators to teach at the high school or college level.

More details on all of our doctorate and master's programs can be found in the Graduate Student Handbook, the authoritative source with all the requirements for our students. 

How to Apply

Our application deadline was January 22, 2013 for admission for fall semester 2013, and are welcome to foreign applicants. Our department does not have minimal acceptable scores for standardized tests (e.g. general and subject GREs, TOEFL) and will review all applications on their total merits.  Prospective graduate students expecting support as teaching assistants will be expected to know English well enough to perform their duties. We normally expect to financially support all of our admitted PhD students through graduate assistantships, for teaching or conducting research with funded faculty members, assuming satisfactory progress.

For additional information, please feel welcome to email or call our
Director of Graduate Admissions,
Professor Mike Brotherton (mbrother@uwyo.edu, 307-766-6150).

Additional Funding Opportunities

While students are usually supported as teaching assistants during their first two years, and research assistants when their advisors have appropriate grant funds, there are other funding opportunities available. 

For successful U.S. applicants, NSF Science Education Fellowships  will pay $30,000/year for UW graduate students to work with local junior high school science teachers to develop integrated lesson plans. Fellowships will require approximately 15 hours/week during the academic year plus the development and implementation of a week-long summer workshop for teachers, students, and parents.  Sabrina Cales is a recent graduate student participating in this program. 

U.S. students in our deptarmtent often find support through NASA Wyoming Space Grant Fellowships.  Recent past recipients include Jessie Runnoe, Michael DiPompeo, Shawn Staudaher, Dave Cook, and others.  NASA Wyoming Space Grant is also a source of support for funds to attend science meetings.

Outstanding graduate program applicants, in addition to assistantship support, may be offered one of three new scholarships available to incoming students.  The Galileo, Newton, and Einstein scholarships will augment a standard salary with an additional $5000 the first academic year, $3000 the first summer, and an additional $5000 the second academic year.

Both the Office of Academic Affairs and School of Energy Resources (SER) support graduate students studying problems involving energy research.  The programs are intended to provide investigators and graduate students support to study topics spanning basic energy research, technology innovation in energy development, energy conversion, reclamation, and mitigation of environmental impacts associated with energy development.

Visit Us

We invite prospective students to tour our campus and facilities here in Wyoming, and often pay for outstanding applicants to visit. We are happy to offer $200 to help defray expenses for anyone interested in pursuing a graduate degree in our department and visiting us on campus here in Laramie (email request to physics@uwyo.edu).  We're happy to meet with you and give you a tour of our facilities.  Contact us for more information. Laramie's location at 7,200 ft. elevation near the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains provides excellent recreational opportunities for hiking, fishing, camping, climbing, skiing, and enjoying the breathtaking beauty of the "mountain west" all within a short drive. Its location gives Laramie a unique cultural flavor, combining elements of the rugged rural west with the cosmopolitan aspects of an intellectual center. With a population of just over 27,000 and 11,000 students, Laramie is a comfortable, friendly town having all the perks of a vibrant university community yet with a low cost-of-living. By car, Laramie is approximately 135 miles north of Denver, and 60 miles north of Fort Collins, Colorado.  Click here for more information on travel to Laramie.

Current Graduate Students

Grad Student Web Pages   coming soon

Program Alumni and their Present Positions

Alumni