The Graduate Studies Program

The Graduate Program in Physics at Oklahoma State University provides an excellent mix of both pure and applied research on a wide variety of significant problems ranging from developing new optical materials to unraveling the mysteries of neutrinos.

There are approximately sixty graduate students in the Physics Department, in addition to eight postdoctoral fellows and approximately thirty undergraduate majors. The Department is large enough to do first-class research, yet small enough to pay close attention to each individual.

Degrees Offered

Cost of Study

Graduate students typically take six or nine credit hours during the Fall and Spring semesters and three credit hours during the Summer. Current Tuition and Fees information is available from The Office of the Bursar .

The University provides a variety of on-campus housing and meal plan options. Current Housing and Dining Rates are available from The Department of Residential Life .

Out-of-state tuition waivers are provided for all Teaching Assistant's and Research Assistant's. Most students also receive complete waivers of the remaining in-state tuition.

Financial Support

Most students enter the graduate program with a Teaching Assistantship (TA) but often accept a Research Assistantship (RA) in one of the research groups during the second year. Current TA and RA stipends are competitive. In addition, the Graduate Committee actively pursues national fellowships for outstanding individual students.

Among the duties performed by the TA's are teaching recitation sections, instruction in the General Physics laboratories, and occasionally a grading assignment. The typical TA duties require 20 hours or less per week.

The TA appointments are usually made for the academic year, August 15 through May 15; a few summer school TA's are also available along with a greater number of temporary RA's. In recent years the department has provided year-round support -- as a TA, RA or Graduate Fellow -- for all its students. Research Assistantships are funded for the entire calendar year from research grants and contracts; thus they are awarded by the individual faculty members. The assistantship salaries are competitive with those of other Physics Departments in regions with comparable costs-of-living and generally increase from year to year. In addition, all non-residential tuition and fees as well as six credit hours of residential tuition are completely waived for teaching and research assistants.

Ph.D. Incentive Stipend Program

In addition to an Assistantship, exceptionally qualified applicants to our Physics or Photonics Ph.D. programs for Fall 2008 will be considered for a special Arts and Sciences Doctoral Excellence Award, which provides a stipend enhancement of up to an extra $6,000 per academic year. This Award will be renewable in succeeding years for students who fulfill our expectation of excellence in the doctoral program. We plan to make at least five such Doctoral Excellence Awards to students entering the program in Fall, 2008.

Graduate Coordinator

Particular questions concerning the application procedures or the status of your current application may be directed to the Director of Graduate Studies.

Dr. Robert J. Hauenstein
Graduate Coordinator
Department of Physics
145 Physical Sciences Building
Stillwater, OK 74078-3072
Telephone: 405-744-5812
Email: physics.grad.coordinator@okstate.edu