Doctor of Philosophy in Astrophysical Sciences - Stellar Astrophysics

Stellar astronomy and astrophysics have a long tradition at Princeton, inaugurated by the pioneering work of Martin Schwarzschild and Bohdan Paczynski in the early years of detailed stellar modeling. The Department maintains this tradition and conducts cutting-edge research across a broad spectrum of modern topics. These include supernova theory (Burrows), compact objects, such as neutron stars, pulsars, magnetars, and black holes (Burrows, Goodman, Quataert, Spitkovsky), star formation (Draine, Kunz, Ostriker, Stone), massive-star evolution, asteroseismology, and stellar mass loss (Quataert), the stellar IMF (Ostriker), gamma-ray bursters (Goodman, Spitkovsky), X-ray bursters (Spitkovsky), brown dwarfs (Burrows, Knapp), white dwarfs (Knapp, Quataert), and astrophysical disks (Draine, Goodman, Kunz, Spitkovsky, Stone). Observational programs employ the Subaru, Apache-Point, MMT, Hubble, JWST, Spitzer, Chandra, and Magellan telescopes and data, and make extensive use of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), which Princeton astronomers conceived and developed, and of the Vera Rubin Observatory/LSST. Theoretical projects involve simulations of disk, atmosphere, magnetospheric, plasma, and explosive phenomena, using state-of-the-art computational and modeling tools, detailed physical models, and high-performance computers. Many of the numerical simulations are performed on the Princeton supercomputer clusters of the Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering (PICSciE) and at NSF and DOE National supercomputer centers.

All official Transcripts. A bachelor's degree or its foreign equivalent from an accredited college or university. Official transcripts of your grades.
Three letters of recommendation. Applicants are required to upload a transcript (may be unofficial at this time) including the key from all attended colleges or universities.
The transcript must show the name of the student, name of the issuing institution, name of courses taken, and the grades received in those courses.
The Graduate School does not have a minimum TOEFL or IELTS score requirement. If you are offered admission and accept our offer and have scored below a 27 on the Speaking sub-section of the TOEFL iBT or below an 8.0 on the Speaking sub-section of the IELTS you will be required to take an English placement test at the start of the fall term. Students who do not pass the test will be required to enroll in English Language Program classes.

GRE :
General Test optional/not required, Physics Subject Test optional/not required