Physics - Doctorate

The Department of Physics offers a solid foundation in the fundamentals as well as a diverse range of specializations for M.S. and Ph.D. research. Currently there are 32 faculty (including emeritus and visiting); 8 post-doctoral associates; 12 staff; and approximately 68 graduate students. The size of the physics department is sufficient to provide research opportunities in a select range of physics subspecialities without being so large that students are lost in the crowd. Opportunities for collaborative research with other departments in the university also exist and physics graduate students have worked with faculty in chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mathematics, and chemistry. Applicants are expected to have a bachelor’s degree in physics, with upper-division courses in electricity and magnetism, mechanics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and mathematical methods. Students lacking some of these courses may be admitted provisionally and will be allowed to remedy the deficiencies by taking the appropriate courses at WVU. Applicants should take the GRE general tests. We recommend, but do not require, that applicants take the physics subject test. TOEFL scores are also required of students for whom English is not their native language.