The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers has a single graduate
program whose course requirements can be fulfilled via either a physics
or an astronomy "option." Most (but not all) students who end up doing
astrophysics Ph.D. theses satisfy the requirements for the astronomy option,
which comprises:
- Physics 501: Quantum Mechanics I (offered every fall)
- Physics 503: Electricity and Magnetism I (offered every fall)
- Physics 507: Classical Mechanics (offered every fall)
- Physics 514: Radiative Processes (offered every spring)
- Physics 606: Stars and Planets (offered fall 2026, 2028, ...)
-
Physics 607: Galaxies and Galaxy Dynamics (offered spring
2026, 2028, ...)
-
Physics 608: Cosmology (offered spring 2025, 2027, ...)
- Physics 610: Interstellar Matter (offered fall
2025, 2027, ...)
- two other courses in other areas of physics (e.g., Physics 613:
Particles, and Physics 617:
General Relativity)
Advancement to candidacy requires grades of B or better in Physics 501, 503,
507, 514, and either 607 or 608. If you have already taken a course that
covers material similar to one of these, you have the option of testing out
of the requirement via "challenge exam" at the start of the semester in which
it is offered. You will also take a placement exam at the beginning of
graduate school to assess whether you'd benefit from taking a refresher
course at the advanced undergraduate level in some area.
In addition to course requirements, the department requires that each
student pass a research-oriented candidacy exam, in which you demonstrate
your ability to grasp the relevance, goals, and techniques of a current area
of research. The candidacy exam has three components: a written paper, an
oral presentation, and an oral exam. In the first semester of your second
year of graduate school, working with a faculty mentor, you will write a
10-12 page paper in the form of a review or a research proposal that is a
clear and well-referenced summary of your topic at the level of articles
in Physics Today. After submitting your paper, you will give a
20-30 minute talk on its contents in the style of a conference presentation to
a committee of department faculty members, who will then examine you for
at least an hour on your understanding of the topic and the basic physics
that is related to it.
A complete description of the graduate program requirements can be found
here.
Within the astrophysics group, our students have additional opportunities
that are not in the "required" category, but rather in the "strongly
encouraged because they make graduate school more fun and educational"
category. Examples include:
- submitting your own proposals for SALT observations, even if you're mostly
a theorist
- serving on the committee that reviews SALT proposals (including your
professors') and decides who gets how much time
- taking "special topics" seminars dedicated to discussion of
hot-off-the-press research on dark matter, dark energy, galaxy evolution,
etc.
- attending weekly astrophysics seminars, which (when we are not obliged to
socially distance!) come with free refreshments, heavily subsidized dinners,
and the chance to talk one-on-one with visiting speakers
- discussing papers with your fellow graduate students and postdoctoral
fellows (free of pesky professors!) at a weekly journal club
- presenting the most recent results of your own projects at our informal
Tuesday research discussion
Last edited October 23, 2023.