Sir Steve Cowley and the students in the program.
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.
With over 300 graduates since 1959, the Program in Plasma Physics has provided many of today's leaders in the field of plasma physics. Students in the program, presently 50, engage in active research, attend conferences, and publish their findings in scientific journals. Graduates of the program find employment in research in industry, in national laboratories, and in academia.
Research Project Opportunities for Students (requires pppl.gov or princeton.edu email address for access)
Academics & Research
The faculty responsible for the teaching program hold positions within the Department of Astrophysical Sciences. Recognizable on the list of faculty are many names associated with classic textbooks or research papers in the field of plasma physics. Students can pursue research with the teaching faculty, associated faculty in other departments, or any of the nearly one hundred scientists at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). The Program in Plasma Physics emphasizes both basic physics and applications. There are opportunities for research projects in the physics of the very hot plasmas necessary for controlled nuclear fusion; projects in plasma astrophysics and solar, magnetospheric, and ionospheric physics; projects in plasma processing, plasma devices, plasma-laser interactions, materials research, and nonneutral plasmas; and projects in other emerging areas of plasma physics such as applications of artificial intelligence to the study of plasma turbulence and disruptions in fusion devices, and the extreme plasma physics essential to multi-messenger astronomy. With the field of fusion energy entering an exciting phase of burning plasma and technological implementation, increasing attention is paid to the practical engineering issues that will allow fusion reactors to become economically competitive.
Graduate students entering the Program in Plasma Physics spend the first two years in classroom study, acquiring a foundation in the many disciplines that comprise plasma physics: classical and quantum mechanics, electricity and magnetism, fluid dynamics, hydrodynamics, atomic physics, applied mathematics, statistical mechanics, and kinetic theory. The curriculum is supplemented by courses offered in other departments of the University and by a student-oriented seminar series in which PPPL physicists share their expertise and graduate students present their research.
In addition to formal classwork, 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. Students must take and pass the Physics Department’s preliminary examination typically during their first year of study and the program’s general examination at the end of their second year of study. Upon passing the general exam, students concentrate on the research and writing of a doctoral thesis.