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Program Details

Graduate Program: Astronomy and Astrophysics (PHD)

General Information

Request Information
Program/Degree
Astronomy and Astrophysics (PHD)  
Program Description

The Astronomy Department's graduate program emphasizes research at the frontiers of astrophysics. Areas of concentration are theoretical, observational, and instrumentational astronomy.

 
Department/Academic Unit(s)

Astronomy

The Graduate Program of the University of Arizona Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory trains students to become independent scientists with the knowledge and skills to conduct and communicate world-class astronomical research. A Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of Arizona signifies a student’s excellence in research, which is demonstrated through a significant, original, and scholarly contribution to astrophysical knowledge. We admit graduate students who have met high standards of achievement and shown potential for conducting original research, with the expectation that they will succeed in attaining a doctoral degree in astronomy and astrophysics. The academic program is structured in support of this goal, emphasizing research throughout the graduate career; providing mentoring from individual advisors and our interactive community of students, postdocs, scientists, and faculty. Students will gain firsthand experience with the tools and facilities that define the state of the art in our field.

 
College

College of Science

 
Campus where offered

University of Arizona - Main - Tucson

 
Contacts
Admissions Contact
Hector Manuel Rico
520-621-2288
Graduate Program Coordinator
Michelle Cournoyer
520-621-2289
Director of Graduate Studies
Kaitlin Kratter
520-621-0260
Graduate College Degree Counselor
Kristi Davenport
520-626-1930
 
Tuition and Fees
Please refer to the UA Bursar's Office Tuition and Fees Calculator for up-to-date information about tuition and fees. 
Please refer to the UA Registrar's's Office Special Course Fees for up-to-date information about special course fees. 

Admissions Information

Admissions Requirements

3 letters of recommendation. Recommender name, title, and contact information including e-mail address required as part of the online application.
Transcripts from all Colleges and Universities attended. Unofficial transcripts are required to be scanned and uploaded to the online application.
Statement of Purpose uploaded to the online application. (Page Requirements: 1-2 pages)
Resume or Curriculum Vitae uploaded to the online application.
International Students must submit an English Proficiency Exam. The exams can be found at the following link: https://grad.arizona.edu/admissions/requirements/international-applicants#english-proficiency 

 
Standardized Tests

Required test(s): None
Recommended GRE Subject tests: None

Minimum English Proficiency Exam scores: 79 iBT TOEFL, 7 IELTS, 60 Pearson PTE, or 110 CESL
(English Proficiency tests must be dated within two years of the enrollment term to be considered valid.

 
Funding Opportunities

Full support as a Teaching or Research Assistant is guaranteed for five years at least, as long as the student makes satisfactory progress toward their degree.

 
Admissions Deadlines

Domestic Applicants:

  • Fall: December 9

International Applicants:

  • Fall: December 1
 
International Conditional Admission

International applicants will not be considered for conditional admission by this program.

Other Information
The GRE Institution Code for The University of Arizona is 4832

ETS Major Field Code(s) for this program: 4832

Completion Requirements

Minimum Credit Units

63 

Core Coursework Requirements
18 units of graded core courses

ASTR 589 (3 units): Physics of Astrophysics

ASTR 501 (1 unit): Introduction to Computing

ASTR 541 (3 units): Cosmology

ASTR 545 (3 units): Stars and Planets

ASTR 513 (3 units): Statistical and Computational Methods

ASTR 540 (2 units): Structure & Dynamics of Galaxies

ASTR 515 (2 units): Interstellar Medium & Star Formation

ASTR 518 (2 units): Instrumentation

8-9 units of graded elective/seminars (see below)
 
19-20 units of Independent Research (Astronomy 900)
 
18 units of dissertation credits (Astronomy 920)

 
 
Elective Coursework

Example Electives and Seminars
 

ASTR 502. Data Mining and Machine Learning in Astronomy (2)

ASTR 503. Physics of the Solar System (3 units)

ASTR 516. Modern Astronomical Optics (3)

ASTR 520. Seminar on Advanced Extragalactic Astronomy (2)

ASTR/PTYS 550. Planets (3)

ASTR 553. Solar System Dynamics (3)

ASTR 560. Seminar with a Focus on Stellar Evolution from an Observational Perspective (2)

ASTR 569. Introduction to General Relativity (3)

ASTR 575. Astrobiology (3)

ASTR 578. Writing in Astronomy (3)

ASTR 582. High Energy Astrophysics (3)

ASTR 585. Radio Astronomy (3)

ASTR 588. Astrochemistry (3)

ASTR 589. Topics in Theoretical Astrophysics (3)

ASTR 596B. Methods in Computational Astrophysics (3)

PTYS 558. Plasma Physics with Astrophysical and Solar System Applications (3)

as well as other related courses in Planetary Sciences, Optics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Engineering, and Computer Sciences.

 

 
Additional Requirements

By the end of the third semester, the student should have completed the core Ph.D. qualification requirement, which consists of seven graduate astronomy core courses, with a grade of C or better in each course. The student's overall GPA must remain 3.0 or above to hold either a research or teaching assistantship. A GPA of 3.0 is also a graduation requirement for either a Masters or Ph.D. in Astronomy.

Core courses will always be taken for letter grades by Astronomy students, but may be taken for Pass/Fail credit, with instructor approval, by students from other departments. Electives and seminars may be taken for Pass/Fail credit, subject to the limitation of no more than two Pass/Fail courses per semester and the overall constraint of having taken a sufficient number of credits in letter-graded courses.

 
Minor Requirements for Doctoral Students in this Program
Formally, all Ph.D. students in our program select both a major and a minor subject. For most, both are astronomy. However, it is possible for the minor to be in one of the other science or engineering disciplines. The course requirement is set by the minor department, but usually at least three of the required elective courses are graduate courses in the minor department. At least one representative from the minor department should participate on the preliminary and final oral (thesis defense) exams.

The astronomy department allows graduate students whose Ph.D. major is in another department to minor in astronomy. We require that they pass nine units of coursework that the department considers acceptable for this purpose, preferably "core" courses, and that one astronomy faculty member participate in the preliminary and final oral exams.

See the Graduate Catalogue and the "Handbook for Completing the Steps to Your Degree" for more information. These publications also contain requirements involving the dissertation, as does also the Manual for Theses and Dissertations.

 
Student Handbook

Please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for students who are pursuing this program of study.

 

Program StatisticsInformation about these numbers

Program-level Information
Application Acceptance Rate 7.38%
Avg. Time-to-degree (years) 6.02
 
Department-level Information
Enrollment Percent Male 50%
Enrollment Percent Female 50%
Enrollment Percent International 32.69%
Enrollment Percent URM 7.69%

Back to statistics
  • All application, admit, and enrollment data are from Fall 2022.
  • Average Time to Degree calculates how long graduates in the last 5 years (2018-2022) took to complete their degrees, counting back to the first semester entering their program.
  • Underrepresented Minorities (URM) includes domestic students of ethnic groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education: African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders.

Persistent link: https://grad.arizona.edu/catalog/programinfo/ASAPPHD
Last revised 05 Oct 2020
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