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DEGREE Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, PhD

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Doctoral degree in nuclear engineering

As a PhD student in nuclear engineering and engineering physics, you’ll gain deeper experience studying the interaction of radiation with matter. With a strong emphasis on engineering and applied science, you’ll be able to focus on any of several areas, including researching, designing, developing and deploying fission reactors; fusion engineering; plasma physics; radiation damage to materials; applied superconductivity and cryogenics; and large-scale computing in engineering science.

View department Graduate handbook

At a glance

Nuclear engineering and engineering physics department

Facts & stats
2
undergraduate ranking among public universities in nuclear engineering
2
graduate ranking among public universities in nuclear engineering
93
undergraduate students licensed to operate the UW Nuclear Reactor

Learn more about what information you need to apply.

Admissions

Please consult the table below for key information about this degree program’s admissions requirements. The program may have more detailed admissions requirements, which can be found below the table or on the program’s website.

Graduate admissions is a two-step process between academic programs and the Graduate School. Applicants must meet the minimum requirements of the Graduate School as well as the program(s). Once you have researched the graduate program(s) you are interested in, apply online.

Fall Deadline December 15
Spring Deadline September 1
Summer Deadline December 15
GRE (Graduate Record Examinations) Not required but may be considered if available.*
English Proficiency Test Refer to the Graduate School: Minimum Requirements for Admission policy: https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1241.
Other Test(s) (e.g., GMAT, MCAT) n/a
Letters of Recommendation Required 3
*

GRE scores are optional. Applicants may submit GRE scores, but are not required to do so. Applications without scores are not placed at a disadvantage.  However, received scores will be considered as part of our holistic evaluation of applications.

Applicant Considerations

Applicants to our program should have the following:

  1. Degree
    1. ​Bachelor of Science in engineering, mathematics, or physical science and an undergraduate record that indicates an ability to successfully pursue graduate study. 
    2. International applicants must have a degree comparable to a regionally accredited US bachelor’s degree. Review the Graduate School webpage to learn more about comparable degrees by country. 
  2. GPA​
    1. The minimum required GPA is 3.0/4.0 on the equivalent of the last 60 semester hours from the most recent bachelor’s degree or a completed master’s degree with a minimum of 3.0/4.0. 
  3. Faculty Advisor​
    1. Applicants are encouraged to seek out a faculty advisor as part of the application process. This may be done prior to, during, and/or after submission of the online application. (This is not a requirement.)
    2. To seek out a faculty advisor, review the department Research and People websites. Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, and Professors are eligible to be graduate advisors. Please do not contact Emeritus faculty, lecturers, Research Scientists, or Faculty Associates. 
    3. You are encouraged to inquire about possible funding opportunities. (See Funding tab in the right-side column on this page for funding information.)
  4. Recommended Preparatory Courses
    1. It is highly recommended applicants take courses that cover the same material as these UW-Madison courses before entering the program. 
    2. Applicants may be admitted without having taken these courses, however, in such cases the applicant must inform their faculty advisor who will then help them select the correct courses to include the required background for the program.
Differential Equations
MATH 319Techniques in Ordinary Differential Equations3
or MATH 320 Linear Algebra and Differential Equations
Advanced Mathematics
MATH 321Applied Mathematical Analysis 1: Vector and Complex Calculus3
Nuclear Physics
N E 305Fundamentals of Nuclear Engineering3
Materials Science, Metallurgy, or Solid-State Physics
M S & E 350Introduction to Materials Science3
or M S & E 351 Materials Science-Structure and Property Relations in Solids
Heat Transfer or Fluid Mechanics
CBE 320Introductory Transport Phenomena4
Mechanics
PHYSICS 311Mechanics3
or E M A 202 Dynamics

Application Materials

In addition to the items listed in the table above, a complete application includes the following uploaded to the online application. The submitted application and all application items are due by the deadline above. 

  1. Unofficial Transcripts (PDF)
    1. ​Most up-to-date unofficial transcript(s) from all previous higher education institutions, regardless of whether a degree was earned. Official transcripts are only requested of recommended applicants.
    2. International academic records must be in the original language accompanied by an official English translation. Review the minimum requirements link above to learn more. 
  2. Statement of Purpose: The University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School and the Department of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics have the following guidelines for the Statement of Purpose:​
    1. Be specific about your interest and knowledge particular to this program:
      • Have you read an article by one or more faculty members?
      • Has your advisor specifically directed you to this program?
      • Do you have other ties to this program and/or school?
    3. Pick out the pertinent facts about your academic and professional interests that make you a good fit with the program and institution to which you are applying. (A statement of purpose is not a place to list everything you have done.)
    4. Describe research experiences regardless of whether they are related to your current interests. 
    5. Being self-motivated, curiosity-driven, and goal-oriented are important qualities for aspiring PhDs in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics. To provide evidence of these qualities, you may write about relevant experiences you have had. 
    6. Perseverance and the ability to overcome adversity are also important. Again, discuss relevant experiences you may have to provide evidence. 
    7. Mention extra-curricular achievements to illustrate additional dimensions of your personality. 
    8. Explain (briefly) any incongruity in your application material, such as a low semester grade. 
    9. Our page limit is two and a half pages, but there is no obligation to write a long statement.

    10. For more information from the Graduate School, please review their webpage. 

  3. Resume​
  4. Three Letters of Recommendation
    1. ​These letters are required from people who can accurately reflect on the applicant’s academics and/or work performance. It is highly recommended these letters be from faculty familiar with the applicant.
    2. Letters of recommendation are submitted electronically through the online application.
    3. See the Graduate School FAQs regarding letters of recommendation. 
  5. GRE Scores
    1. GRE scores are optional. Applicants may submit GRE scores, but are not required to do so. Applications without scores are not placed at a disadvantage.  However, received scores will be considered as part of our holistic evaluation of applications.
  6. Application Fee
    1. ​Application submission must be accompanied by the application fee. See the Graduate School FAQs regarding fees. 
    2. Fee grants are available through the conditions outlined here by the Graduate School.

Reentry Admissions

Review the Graduate School requirements for previously enrolled students. Contact the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics Graduate Student Services (see Contact Box for link) with questions. 

Currently Enrolled Graduate Student Admissions

Students currently enrolled as graduate students at UW-Madison wishing to apply to this degree programs should contact the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics Graduate Student Services (see Contact Box for link) to inquire about the process and deadlines. 

Questions

Contact the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics Graduate Student Services (see Contact Box for link).

Tuition

Tuition and segregated fee rates are always listed per semester (not for Fall and Spring combined).

View tuition rates

Funding

Graduate School Resources

The Bursar’s Office provides information about tuition and fees associated with being a graduate student. Resources to help you afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid. Further funding information is available from the Graduate School. Be sure to check with your program for individual policies and restrictions related to funding.

Program Resources

Offers of financial support from the Department, College and University are in the form of research assistantships, teaching assistantships and fellowships.  The funding for research assistantships comes from faculty research grants.  Each professor decides on their own research assistantship offers.  International applicants must secure a research assistantship, teaching assistantship, project assistantship, fellowship or independent funding before admission is final.  Financial support is dependent on availability of funds and students maintaining satisfactory academic progress towards their degree.

Additional Resources

International Student Services Funding and Scholarships

For information regarding International Student Funding and Scholarships, visit the International Student Services website.

In the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, we strive to design and deploy unique world-class experimental and computational capabilities to translate novel discoveries into transformative technologies. Having a broad range of laboratory facilities and collaborative centers at the right scale for energy and mechanics research is a hallmark of the department. The technologies we develop can solve challenges in energy, health, space, security and many other areas.

View our research

Minimum graduate school requirements

Review the Graduate School minimum academic progress and degree requirements, in addition to the program requirements listed below.

Curricular Requirements

Minimum Credit Requirement 51 credits approved by the student’s faculty advisor
Minimum Residence Credit Requirement 32 credits
Minimum Graduate Coursework Requirement 26 credits must be in graduate-level coursework from nuclear engineering, math, physics, chemistry, computer science, or any other engineering department except E P D. Refer to the Graduate School: Minimum Graduate Coursework (50%) Requirement policy: https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1244.
Overall Graduate GPA Requirement 3.00 GPA required.
Refer to the Graduate School: Grade Point Average (GPA) Requirement policy: https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1203.
Other Grade Requirements Grades of D received in any course will not be counted as satisfying degree requirements. These grades will, however, be counted in the graduate GPA. Pass/fail grades are not counted toward degree requirements. A minimum 3.0 GPA is required.
Assessments and Examinations PhD qualifying examination is required of all students.

After acceptance of the student’s doctoral plan of study, the student must take an oral preliminary examination.

Final oral examination is required at the end of the thesis work.
Language Requirements No language requirements.
Graduate School Breadth Requirement All doctoral students are required to complete a doctoral breadth requirement. In consultation with, and approval by, the graduate faculty advisor/department, students should select one of the following options:

1. Option A (External Minor): Fulfillment of this minor requires approval of the doctoral minor program. This minor must be outside of the student’s doctoral major program. These courses may also be counted toward the Research Focus Area requirement when the courses directly support the PhD research.

2. Option B (Distributed Minor): Fulfillment of this minor requires a minimum of 9 credits, level 400 and above, from two or more departments selected for their relevance to a particular area of concentration.
– If the minor coursework includes N E coursework, then the minor courses may NOT count toward the Research Focus Area requirement. Students must briefly justify how the N E coursework counted toward this breadth requirement differ from those in their Research Focus Area requirement.
– If the minor coursework does not include N E coursework, then the minor courses may count toward the Research Focus Area requirement. This path is intended for multidisciplinary PhD’s where breadth is essentially built into the thesis topic.

3. Option C (Graduate/Professional Certificate): Requires successful completion of a graduate/professional certificate in a program outside of the student’s doctoral major program.

Required Courses

Unless specified, all courses must be numbered 400 or above in appropriate technical areas. Appropriate technical areas are: Engineering departments (except Engineering and Professional Development), Physics, Math, Statistics, Computer Science, Medical Physics, and Chemistry. Other courses may be deemed appropriate by a student’s faculty advisor. (This policy does not apply to courses satisfied by the research focus coursework).

Seminar Requirement (two semesters)
PhD students must enroll in, and successfully pass, E P 920 and/or N E/​E C E/​PHYSICS  922 for a minimum of two semesters prior to passing the PhD Preliminary Exam.0
E P 920
Engineering Physics Graduate Seminar
N E/​E C E/​PHYSICS  922
Seminar in Plasma Physics
Lecture Coursework 1
Complete all requirements (courses used to meet these requirements may overlap):36
Nuclear Engineering Courses 2
Core Area Course Requirement (4 courses): Students must complete one course in each area; courses must be numbered 400 and above and selected in consultation with faculty advisor. Refer to Core Areas Course List for options. 3
Complete minimum 18 credits of appropriate technical coursework numbered 500 and above from any department and approved by faculty advisor 4
Complete minimum 9 credits of appropriate technical coursework numbered 700 and above from any department and approved by faculty advisor 4
Complete minimum 24 credits of Research Focus coursework directly related to the student’s research (explanation on how courses contribute to research and faculty advisor approval required) 5
Remaining Credits
Complete any combination of the following:15
N E 890
Pre-Dissertator’s Research
N E 990
Research and Thesis
Additional courses from the Lecture and Seminar Coursework above
Total Credits51
1

Graduate School Breadth Requirement courses may be eligible to count toward the 36 credit Lecture and Seminar Coursework requirement (see Graduate School Breadth Requirement above).

2

The following courses, or courses with similar material content, must be taken prior to or during the course of study: 

Students who have taken courses with a similar material content, must contact the NEEP Associate Chair of Graduate Studies for approval of the specific course(s).

These Nuclear Engineering Courses will count toward the Research Focus Area.

3

The four core areas are Fission Reactors, Plasma Physics and Fusion, Materials, and Engineering Mathematics and Computation.

4

Research courses such as N E 790 Master’s Research and Thesis, N E 890 Pre-Dissertator’s Research, N E 990 Research and Thesis, and Independent Study Courses such as N E 699 Advanced Independent Study and N E 999 Advanced Independent Study may not be used to satisfy this requirement.

5

Non-technical coursework is not required within the degree. However, with faculty advisor approval, students may choose a maximum of 6 credits of non-technical coursework to satisfy credits within the 24 credits of Research Focus Requirement and/or the Graduate School Breadth Requirement.  

Core Areas Course List

These courses are examples that would meet the requirement and are not meant to be a restricted list of possible courses. The candidate is required to complete one course in each of the following areas:

Fission Reactors
N E 405Nuclear Reactor Theory3
N E 408Ionizing Radiation3
N E 411Nuclear Reactor Engineering3
N E/​MED PHYS  506Monte Carlo Radiation Transport3
N E/​M E  520Two-Phase Flow and Heat Transfer3
N E 550Advanced Nuclear Power Engineering3
N E 555Nuclear Reactor Dynamics3
N E/​M E  565Power Plant Technology3
N E/​I SY E  574Methods for Probabilistic Risk Analysis of Nuclear Power Plants3
Plasma Physics & Fusion
N E/​E C E/​PHYSICS  525Introduction to Plasmas3
N E/​E C E/​PHYSICS  527Plasma Confinement and Heating3
N E/​E C E  528Plasma Processing and Technology3
N E 536Feasibility of Fusion Power Plants based on Controlled Nuclear Fusion3
Materials
N E/​M S & E  423Nuclear Engineering Materials3
N E 541Radiation Damage in Metals3
PHYSICS 551Solid State Physics3
Engineering Mathematics & Computation
E P/​E M A  547Engineering Analysis I3
E P/​E M A  548Engineering Analysis II3
COMP SCI/​MATH  513Numerical Linear Algebra3
COMP SCI/​MATH  514Numerical Analysis3
MATH 703Methods of Applied Mathematics 13

Graduate Student Services
neepgradadmission@engr.wisc.edu
3182 Mechanical Engineering
1513 University Ave., Madison, WI 53706

Adrien Couet, Associate Chair of Graduate Studies
couet@wisc.edu

View the Graduate Guide for program-specific information on admission, coursework, policies, rules and regulations.
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