Physics and Astronomy

Suspending graduate admissions for Fall 2024 and Spring 2025

Due to multiple circumstances, the Department of Physics and Astronomy will not be accepting applications for any new graduate students, for either doctoral or Master’s programs, for Fall 2024 or Spring 2025.

We will resume admissions for the 2025-2026 academic year in the Fall of 2024.

If you have questions, please contact the Graduate Coordinator, James McClymer (mcclymer@maine.edu).

Welcome to the Graduate Program of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. We offer Doctorate (Ph.D.) and Masters (M.S.) degrees along with the Master of Engineering (M.E.) degree in Engineering Physics. Please see Graduate Degree Programs for more details on each degree.

Calendar year Teaching Assistantships pay $21,333 to $24,000, and include tuition waiver and subsidized health insurance (total value in excess of $50,000).

Graduate Programs

• First Year Grad Student Information Packet
• Ph.D. Examination Requirements
  • NIH Proposal Format
  • NSF Proposal Format

Research Centers

• Frontier Institute For Research in Sensor Technologies (FIRST)
  • Interdisciplinary research projects and technology transfer activities in the areas of surfaces and interfaces, thin films, microelectronic devices, sensor technology, and nanotechnology.
• BioPhysics Research Group
  • High Resolution Microscopy & Spectroscopy/FPALM
• Physics Education Research Laboratory

Students can choose their research topics from a wide range of theoretical or experimental areas, including, but not limited to the following:

• Astronomy (We are not accepting any graduate students in Astrophysics for Fall 2024)
• Biophysics
• Chemical Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Physics Education
• Statistical Mechanics
• Surface Physics

Multidisciplinary research projects available with faculty in the Departments of Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, Biochemistry, Computer Science and Geological Sciences.

For more information, contact
James McClymer , Graduate Coordinator
(email contact preferred)
Rm. 206 Bennett Hall
(207) 581-1034

MST Program
The Maine Center for Research in STEM Education (RiSE Center) hosts an interdisciplinary Master of Science in Teaching program for prospective science and mathematics teachers; the physics concentration includes a research thesis on the learning and teaching of physical science.  For more information about the MST Program, contact
Susan McKay, RiSE Center Director
Rm. 111 Estabrooke Hall
(207)581-1019/(207)581-4678