About

The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Washington State University is built around a small but highly productive faculty whose research expertise provides students a wide variety of research experiences.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy master’s program at Washington State University is designed to produce leaders in industry, in academia, and at national laboratories. The department’s progressive environment seeks to provide an atmosphere that fosters intellectual growth and quantitative reasoning. The program engages students in teaching and research activities that provide the skills, knowledge, and ability for critical thinking that will enable them to be productive members of society. In the process, our goal is to lay the foundations for technological advances that improve our quality of life.

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Program Requirements

Foreign students taking the TOEFL: the Graduate School requires a minimum TOEFL score of 80 (IBT) or 214 (Computerized test). IELTS may be substituted if score is 7 or higher. The TOEFL score must be less than two years old at time of admission.

To apply for an official TOEFL and/or GRE to be sent to the Graduate School at Washington State University:

School code = 4705

Department of Physics and Astronomy code = 0802
GRE Requirements: Not Required
Physics GRE Requirements: Recommended
TOEFL Requirements: Required

Description of your department culture

While the Department of Physics and Astronomy conducts research in the traditional areas of physics, it has enhanced its program by focusing on three areas of research excellence: Astrophysics, Extreme Matter, and Materials and Optics. Astrophysics seeks to answer some of the most basic questions about the universe and space-time and is in high demand from the students. Materials and Optics, and Extreme Matter are at the forefront of important technological advances. These research areas are supported by two WSU research units, the Center for Materials Research (CMR) and Institute for Shock Physics (ISP) as well as unique regional facilities such as the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory (LIGO).