Graduate Programs

The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers both master's and doctoral programs with a full range of graduate-level courses and research opportunities in astronomy, biophysics, condensed matter physics, cosmology, elementary particle physics, and quantum information. In addition to a Physics track and an Astrophysics track, the department offers a Chemical Physics track and a Physics Education track. Our students also pursue research in related departments, such as biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, and mathematics.

The members of our faculty have international reputations in a broad range of subjects, and collaborations between department members and members of other departments with differing research interests are common. Close interaction between faculty and students is the norm.

Last, but not least, Tufts and its close proximity to Boston offers incredible opportunities for cultural, gastronomical, and extra-curricular activities. See what some of our alumni have to say about their experiences!

Programs

MS in Physics

Summary of course requirements for students completing the stand-alone primary MS in Physics.

MS in Physics: Astrophysics

Learn about the requirements for the MS in Physics: Astrophysics, and possible courses of study.

MS in Physics: Physics Education

Learn about the requirements for the MS in Physics: Physics Education, and possible courses of study.

PhD in Physics

Learn about the requirements for the PhD in Physics, and possible courses of study.

PhD in Physics: Astrophysics

Learn about the requirements for the PhD in Physics: Astrophysics, and possible courses of study.

PhD in Physics: Physics Education

Learn about the requirements for the PhD in Physics: Physics Education, and possible courses of study.

PhD in Physics: Chemical Physics

Learn about the requirements for the PhD in Physics: Chemical Physics, and possible courses of study.

Joint PhD in Physics and Materials Science and Engineering

Learn about the requirements for the Joint PhD in Physics and Materials Science and Engineering.

Graduate Student Fellowships

Burlingame Physics Fellowship
The Burlingame Physics Fellowship was established by Mr. John F. Burlingame, A43 in 2005. The fellowship is awarded to physics students completing research toward their doctoral degrees.

Kathryn A. McCarthy Graduate Fellowship in Physics
The Fellowship is named for former Tufts Provost and Professor emerita of Physics Kathryn A. McCarthy, who was a devoted mentor to many graduate students and a pioneer in the entry of women into physics. The Fellowship is awarded to a female physics student pursuing research towards a doctoral degree.

Admissions

Please visit our admissions website for comprehensive information on our admissions processes and requirements, deadlines, financial and merit aid options, forms and instructions.

Graduate Admissions Tuition and Aid Request Information Departmental Admissions Info

Director of Graduate Studies

Pierre-Hugues Beauchemin

Associate Professor

Experimental High Energy Physics My research focuses on the discovery of new fundamental particles of nature, as well as on the understanding of the behavior of the known particles. To do this, I participate in the ATLAS experiment, one of the two general-purpose detectors at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. My work currently consists in analyzing data in order to: Perform precision measurements leading to a better understanding of the strong interaction within the QCD theoretical framework; Search for new physics in events involving large amount of missing energy, typical signature of new particles that interact very weakly with normal matter such as dark matter candidate; Develop and estimate the performance of the ATLAS trigger system. This last aspect of my work also involves software development and a participation in the detector operation. I'm focusing my efforts on the Missing Energy trigger. The Standard Model of particle physics, despite being very successful, cannot be the end of the story. It contains a certain number of theoretical dissatisfactions. Of all the possibilities, I believe that dark matter is one of our best guess. Its existence is based on experimental facts, and the mass scale of dark matter particles, in the case where it is the right explanation, should be accessible at the LHC. Its existence would be inferred by the observation of missing energy in subset of all collected events. Looking for excesses of events involving large amount of missing energy over expectations is a promising way to look for dark matter at the LHC. My approach is to carry such search by performing precision measurements of Standard Model quantities, to optimize the sensitivity of the analysis to such new particles. Predictions using quantum chromodynamics (QCD) implies many approximations, assumptions or simplifications at various levels. These could lead to large systematic uncertainties on various Standard Model predictions, possibly leading to significant limits in our sensitivity to new phenomena. My research try to determine which of the simplifications and approximations are acceptable at the level of precision needed for a new physics discovery. To this end, I investigate events that contain a vector boson and jets, as they are sensitive to such physics and yet provide a clean enough environment to allow for high precision measurements. These are also the most important background to a wide range of new physics signature. As a side, I am also interested in the philosophy of physics, focusing on epistemological aspects of experiments and simulations as used in High Energy Physics.