Admission to these graduate programs is competitive and decided by separate Applied Physics and Materials Science admissions committees that review all applications. The admission process takes place once each year for enrollment during the fall. Applicants must submit applications by the December 15 deadline and are responsible for ensuring that all associated credentials are submitted by the deadline. Applications will not be reviewed until all credentials and official copies of test scores have been received.

Upon reviewing an application, the admissions committee of the option to which it has been submitted may recommend that it also be reviewed by another option which is deemed more suitable. If your application is referred to another option, you will not be charged additional fees nor be asked to submit a duplicate application.

The PhD program begins with a year or two of coursework with simultaneous initial research activity, followed by a candidacy examination, and then typically three or four years of concentrated research culminating in writing a PhD thesis and presenting the results of this thesis orally at a final examination.