About the Program

Introduction

The Plasma Physics Program was first offered at Princeton University in 1959 and two years later was incorporated into the Department of Astrophysical Sciences. In an environment that, over the past few decades, has seen enormous changes in the fields of plasma physics and controlled fusion, the Program has consistently focused on fundamentals in physics and mathematics and on intense exposure to contemporary experimental and theoretical research in plasma physics.

Graduate students entering the Plasma Physics Program at Princeton spend the first two years in classroom study, acquiring a foundation in the many disciplines that make up plasma physics: classical and quantum mechanics, electricity and magnetism, fluid dynamics, hydrodynamics, atomic physics, applied mathematics, statistical mechanics, and kinetic theory. Courses offered in the Program are taught by the members of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's research staff who also comprise the plasma physics faculty. The curriculum is supplemented by courses offered in other departments of the University and by a student-run seminar series in which PPPL physicists share their expertise and graduate students present their research.

Most students hold Assistantships in Research at PPPL through which they participate in the Laboratory's experimental and theoretical research programs. In addition to formal class work, first- and second-year graduate students work directly with the research staff, have full access to Laboratory and computer facilities, and learn firsthand the job of a research physicist. First-year students typically assist in experimental research areas, and second-year students usually undertake a theoretical research project. There are two exams that must be passed as a graduate student in the Program, the Physics Department Preliminary Exam, usually in the first year, and the Program's General Examination, usually in the second year. After passing the General Exam, students concentrate on the research and writing of a doctoral thesis.

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