StudyQA — PhD: Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences — University of Colorado at Boulder

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The APS department offers an MS and PhD degree, as well as an undergraduate minor and major; however, only students planning to earn their PhD will be considered for admission. Graduate students generally specialize in the areas of astrophysics or planetary science.

The Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS) at the University of Colorado has a reputation of excellence, both nationally and internationally. Consistently ranked among the top programs in the country, the department enjoys a diversity of research interests with 22 rostered faculty, 50 research and affiliated faculty and 47 graduate students.

The program successfully integrates astrophysics, planetary science, solar physics and space instrumentation, with strong observational and theoretical components. These assets facilitate interaction and collaboration between the disciplines and enable students to explore a wide variety of research areas. In addition, the SommersBausch Observatory on campus provides excellent handson experience with telescopes and observing, and the department supports the worldclass Fiske Planetarium, which offers a unique opportunity for public outreach. These campus resources are complemented by other affiliated research organizations in Boulder.

The curriculum and research in the department emphasizes three major areas: astrophysics, planetary sciences and solar and space physics.

Departmental Requirements. Those wishing to pursue graduate work in APS leading to candidacy for an advanced degree should carefully read requirements for advanced degrees in the Graduate School section. The following are special departmental requirements.

Prerequisites. A thorough undergraduate preparation in physics and mathematics is necessary for graduate study. Courses should include thermodynamics, mechanics, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, atomic physics and mathematics at least through complex variables and differential equations.

Qualifying Examination. The Graduate Record Examination aptitude tests and advanced test in physics are used in place of a qualifying examination, and this examination should be taken before the time of application to the department.

Preliminary Interview. Students in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences are given an oral interview prior to the beginning of the fall semester of their first year. This oral interview examines fundamental knowledge in undergraduate physics and mathematics. Students are required to overcome any academic deficiencies within a year in order to remain in the program.

Course Requirements. Under Plan I, a student must present a thesis for 6 credit hours plus 24 credit hours of course work, at least 12 of which must be APS courses numbered 5000 or above. Under Plan II, additional hours of approved graduate courses must be presented for a total of 30 credit hours, of which at least 16 must be APS courses numbered 5000 or above. The master’s examination under Plan I covers the thesis and related topics. The examination under Plan II is more comprehensive and may be either written or oral or both. Master’s examinations are given after other degree requirements have been completed, but may be given during the last semester of residence if the student is making satisfactory progress on required courses.

Course Requirements. A minimum of 39 semester hours of work (including 4 hours of graduate seminars) in courses numbered 5000 or above is required; however, the overall emphasis is on independent study and research. A minimum of 30 semester hours of PhD dissertion credits are required.

Language Requirement. None.

Examinations. Students in the PhD program are required to remove any deficiencies identified at the preliminary interview, to pass a two-part comprehensive examination composed of a written test on graduate course material and an oral exam on a research paper based on a semi-independent research project, and satisfactorily defend the thesis before a faculty committee.The department offers the PhD degree. During the first year of graduate study, students generally obtain a broad background in courses regarded as basic to all three areas in addition to more specialized studies. Many students take graduate-level courses in other departments (e.g., Departments of Physics, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Geological Sciences, Applied Mathematics or Aerospace Engineering), depending upon their particular interests or participation in interdisciplinary programs (see below). The departmental core courses in the three areas are:

ASTR 5110 Atomic and Molecular Processes
ASTR 5120 Radiative and Dynamical Processes
ASTR 5400 Introduction to Fluid Dynamics
ASTR 5540 Mathematical Methods
ASTR 5550 Observations, Data Analysis and Statistics

Descriptions of more specialized courses follow. Students interested in applying to this department are invited to write to Graduate Program Assistant, Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, 391 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0391.

Astrophysics

The department offers a broad range of courses and research in this area, leading to the PhD degree. Graduate-level courses are offered in the following subjects:

ASTR 5140 Astrophysical and Space Plasmas
ASTR 5700 Stellar Structure and Evolution
ASTR 5710 High-Energy Astrophysics
ASTR 5720 Galaxies
ASTR 5730 Stellar Atmospheres and Radiative Transfer
ASTR 5740 Interstellar Astrophysics
ASTR 5760 Astrophysical Instrumentation
ASTR 5770 Cosmology
ASTR 6000 Seminar in Astrophysics

Research in observational and theoretical astrophysics is conducted in the following areas:

Stellar atmospheres, radiative transfer, stellar winds of hot/cool stars
Formation of stars and planetary systems
Solar physics
Interstellar and intergalactic medium
Cosmology and large-scale structure of the universe; galaxy formation
Stellar interiors, black holes and neutron stars
Gravitational physics
Cosmic X-ray sources, supernovae and their remnants and accretion phenomena, jets and clusters of galaxies
Galactic evolution, quasars and active galaxies
Radio and sub-millimeter astronomy, microwave background
Plasma astrophysics and MHD
Astrophysical fluid dynamics
UV, optical, IR, submillimeter, radio and X-ray instrumentation
Instrument and detector development
Sounding rocket and balloon astronomy

Departmental Equipment and Research. Research is carried out with the ARC 3.5m Apache Point telescope and with national telescopes and laboratories and international collaborators: High Altitude Observatory (HAO) in Boulder (solar physics), National Optical Astronomical Observatories in Tucson and Chile (optical astronomy), Caltech Sub-Millimeter Observatory, National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the Very Large Array (VLA), the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Chandra, SWIFT, and XMM X-ray telescopes, the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope and the National Solar Observatory (NSO). CU-Boulder also is involved with the Messenger (Mercury), MAVEN (Mars), JUNO (Jupiter), Cassini (Saturn) and New Horizons (Pluto) missions, and the HST Cosmic Origins Spectrograph.

Locally, APS operates a 24-inch Cassegrain-Coude and 16- and 18-inch Cassegrain telescopes through Sommers-Bausch Observatory, available for photographic, photometric and spectrographic observations, as well as for instrument and detector development. Opportunities for graduate research also are found with the university’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA) and JILA. See Graduate School for more information.

Planetary Sciences

As planetary sciences is an interdisciplinary field, students can obtain degrees from the Departments of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Geological Sciences, Physics or Aerospace Engineering. Boulder is also home to a division of the Southwest Research Institute, with over 25 planetary scientists, many of whom work with CU students. Research and courses related to the physics and dynamics of the atmospheres of other planets, planetary surfaces and interiors and other solar system studies are available in programs leading to the MS and PhD degrees. Courses related to the physics and dynamics of the Earth’s atmosphere are offered through ATOC. Graduate-level courses in these areas are:

ASTR 5140 Astrophysical and Space Plasma
ASTR 5300 Introduction to Magnetospheres
ASTR 5330 Cosmochemistry
ASTR 5410 Fluid Instabilities, Waves and Turbulence
ASTR 5800 Planetary Surfaces and Interiors
ASTR 5810 Planetary Atmospheres
ASTR 5820 Origin and Evolution of Planetary Systems
ASTR 5830 Topics in Planetary Science
ASTR 5835 Seminar in Planetary Science
ATOC 5050 Physical Processes of the Atmosphere and Ocean
ATOC 5560 Radiative Processes in Planetary Atmospheres
ATOC 5960 Theories of Climate and Climate Variability

Research in theoretical, observational and laboratory atmospheric and planetary science is conducted in the following areas:

Planetary disks, Kuiper Belt objects, extra-solar planets;
Dynamics and chemistry of planetary atmospheres, planetary clouds and planetary climates; evolution of planetary atmospheres; and comparison of planetary and terrestrial atmospheres;
Planetary aeronomy, airglow and aurora, UV and IR spectroscopy, noctilucent clouds, structure and composition of planetary atmospheres (Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto), planetary magneto-spheres and cometary physics;
Satellite monitoring of the Earth’s atmosphere and environment, including remote sensing of mesospheric ozone, stratospheric trace species, convection, outgoing radiation and magnetospheric dynamics; and
Planetary geology, planetary interiors and surfaces and planetary geophysics.

Graduate research opportunities exist with individual faculty members, as well as jointly with academic and research units such as the Departments of Geological Sciences, Physics and Aerospace Engineering, as well as the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). The latter is involved in space investigations of the Earth, Sun and planets. Financial support is available in connection with all of the above research activities

Requirements

Hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.
Have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.00.
Submit three letters of recommendation;
Submit directly from ETS test scores from the verbal, quantitative and analytical writing sections of the General Record Examination (GRE), as well as the Physics GRE.

There is no pre-application, but we strongly urge all applicants to have a strong physics and mathematics background, as well as a strong GPA, and strong GRE scores.GRE minimum scores of verbal 75 percent, quantitative 85 percent, analytical 75 percent. Advanced GRE minimum score approximately 40 percent.