Prospective students

Graduate students in Physics and Astronomy at UCLA participate in various research areas. These areas embraced span the range from the well-established disciplines of "big science", e.g. the search for the Higgs boson at the LHC, and frontier plasma science underpinning fusion energy, to newly emerging fields such as the physics of hearing and neuroscience.

In astronomy, UCLA faculty are pioneers in the areas of extra-solar system planets, galactic astronomy, and cosmology. This effort is uniquely enabled by the world-renowned capabilities in design and construction of infrared instrumentation by our Infrared Laboratory.

Graduate Admissions

The Department only considers graduate applications for the fall quarter. Applications are evaluated when all of the materials listed below are received. You may only apply to one program.

We require:

  • Online graduate admissions application.

  • Statement of purpose.

  • Three letters of recommendation: enter names & information of recommenders in the online application; they will receive an email with link to upload their letter. If letters have already been mailed, enter names of recommenders online or the application will not be considered complete for submission.

  • One set of official transcripts: although you may upload unofficial copies with the application (for application review purposes), official transcripts are required for admission. These should be sent to:

          UCLA Department of Physics & Astronomy
          Graduate Office, 430 Portola Plaza, Box 951547
          Los Angeles CA 90095-1547

  • GRE Physics and GRE general scores: request official report from ETS, UCLA institution code 4837, Physics Department/major code 0808 / Astro 0801. If test not yet taken, enter expected test dates on the online application.

  • TOEFL/IELTS scores (international). Request official report from ETS Physics Department/major code: 76 / Astro 61. Send TOEFL scores to the department and IELTS scores to both the Department & Grad Division:

          UCLA Department of Physics & Astronomy
          Graduate Office, 430 Portola Plaza, Box 951547
          Los Angeles CA 90095-1547

          UCLA Graduate Division: Diversity, Inclusion, and Admissions
          1248 Murphy Hall
          Los Angeles, CA 90095-1419


  • Fellowship application: we encourage all U.S. citizens and permanent residents to submit the fellowship application.

  • Deadline to submit application is December 15. Scores and letters should reach us by the first week in January. Note: only the required application items will be evaluated. Do not mail or upload any other supplemental documents or any duplicates of uploaded application items.

Questions? Contact us by email or phone (310) 206-6994.

Graduate resources