Graduate Programs

Ready to take your studies to the next level? Our graduate students have the opportunity to choose from a diverse portfolio of research topics and techniques in:

• Computational and Theoretical Physics
• Experimental Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
• Experimental Optics and Laser Physics

To prepare our students to make the future breakthroughs in research, we teach them the basics of emerging fields on quantum materials, quantum optics and quantum computation. To make our graduates more competitive for industry jobs, we provide them with hands-on experiences with high tech instruments and machine learning applications. To focus our training, we have developed four M.S. course threads:

• Materials Physics,
• Computational Physics,
• Instrumentation, and
• Spectroscopy.

Numerous Research and Training Opportunities

Our students receive training in cutting-edge technologies and computation, by pursuing one of the three focus areas of our research program, where the Department of Physics has established excellence and international recognition:

• High Performance Computing, Modeling, and Simulation of Quantum Materials
• Advanced Materials under Extreme Environments and Stimuli
• Lasers, Optics, and Photonics

In addition, the department hosts three collaborative research centers and programs:

• Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration (CNMB) directed by Yogesh K. Vohra.
• ULTRA, Ultra Materials for a Resilient, Smart Electricity Grid, a Department of Energy EFRC Center that supports a consortium of universities focused on understanding the fundamental phenomena that determine the properties of materials being developed for a resilient, smart electricity grid. The UAB component is led by Mary Ellen Zvanut.
• IRES: Nanofibers for Resource Efficiency is a UAB research & training program supported by the National Science Foundation International Research Experiences for Students program. Andrei Stanishevsky leads this global engagement training effort, where Physics students perform research in European laboratories. This UAB-wide program has been recognized with the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Education Abroad.

Physics graduate students also have the opportunity to collaborate with national laboratories, including Oakridge National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Ames Laboratory, and the Naval Research Laboratory.

Research at UAB Physics is not confined within the borders of the United States. Our Ph.D. students have the opportunity to work with prominent scientists and research centers across the world.

Contact

Any questions about our graduate programs can be directed to the graduate program director Dr. Shane Aaron Catledge.

Master's Program

Ph.D. Program

Funding