Prospective Students
How to Apply
The application deadline for Fall 2027 Astronomy Ph.D. admission is December 3, 2026 at 11:59pm CST. If you have any questions after reviewing this page, please do not hesitate to contact our Graduate Program Manager, Heather Sauer, hsauer@wisc.edu.
Our Astronomy Ph.D. Program comes with a four year commitment of financial support, pending satisfactory progress and funding availability. The Department of Astronomy plans to admit a smaller than normal cohort of students for Fall 2027.
Application Information
Application Criteria and Admission Requirements
Our admissions process is highly competitive. An applicant should have undergraduate preparation in:
- Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above
- Mathematics through differential equations
- Three years of college physics
The Graduate School’s Requirements for Admission website provides information on Grade and Degree Requirements, International Student requirements, Application Fee Grants, and more. Please note that admission to the doctoral program requires admission to both the Department of Astronomy and UW–Madison’s Graduate School.
Review the information to ensure that all materials required by the Department and the Graduate School have been submitted.
- Scanned unofficial transcripts from all institutions attended.
- Astronomy courses for Fall and Spring, if not listed in the transcript.
- Statement on ‘Reasons for Graduate Study in Astronomy’.
- Three letters of recommendation from those well acquainted with your academic work (email addresses are required for all recommenders).
- Résumés should also be submitted within the Graduate School Electronic Application.
- Please note, neither general GRE nor physics GRE scores are required and, if submitted, will not be considered in our evaluation of the applicant.
Statement Submission Advice
The personal statement is an important component of your application. It is your opportunity to highlight your preparation and motivation for graduate school in astronomy and what unique strengths you would bring to our program. Below is some advice for things to address in your personal statement. You are encouraged to find reference letter writers who can speak to these things as well.
- Motivation: What motivates you to earn a PhD in astronomy? What excites you the most?
- Leadership: Discuss examples of your resilience, initiative, and community engagement
- Research Involvement: Discuss your research experiences, posters/publications, and outreach activities. If you have not had prior research experience, you can discuss your independent scholarly activities.
- Perspective: What life experiences do you have that have contributed to the development of your goals? We are particularly interested in how your experiences and perspective may enrich the department.
- Alignment: Why do you consider the astronomy program of UW–Madison as a good match for your goals? Why Madison as a city?
- Academic merit: Your transcript will show us what physics and astrophysics courses have you taken, but your personal statement should demonstrate your writing abilities and explain your academic trajectory.
An effective personal statement is approximately 1,000 words.
Review of Applications and Research Interests:
Applications are read by the graduate admissions committee. You do not need to have an advisor lined up before you apply, and you do not need a commitment from anyone.
During the review we share applications with faculty who are recruiting students for the coming year. Your application is strongest when your interests overlap with someone who is actively recruiting students, so describe your research interests clearly and name more than one faculty member you would be glad to work with. You are welcome to email faculty before you apply. A short note about your background and what you want to work on is fine.
Faculty potentially interested in recruiting a student are: Amy Barger, Nick Stone, Susanna Widicus-Weaver, Rich Townsend, and Ke Zhang.
Explore the breadth of research conducted by our faculty on our Research Areas page.
International Applicants
If your degree granting institution was not primarily taught in English, international applicants must also submit the following:
- Scanned unofficial documentation of all courses taken and grades received (transcripts), with an English translation.
- Scanned unofficial certification of degrees and dates granted, with an English translation.
- Proof of English proficiency
Please Note: All components of the application are essential for consideration of your application for admission.
How to Apply Online
General Process: Apply using the UW–Madison Graduate School Electronic Application. Allow 30 to 60 minutes to complete the application. Prepare all materials to be uploaded beforehand. You may wish to consult the graduate admissions FAQ and application guide.
- Create a user profile
- Enter/update all relevant personal information
- Submit application fee or apply a fee waiver code at the end of the application process
Information about general UW–Madison application fee waivers and the Big Ten Academic Alliance can be found here.
The Astronomy Department gives out a few fee waivers to students who are not eligible to receive the ones the UW provides above. The form to apply is open until November 22, 2026. You will be notified by November 25, 2026 if you receive a department specific fee waiver.
A Note on the UW–Madison Astronomy Ph.D. Program
The goal of the UW–Madison Astronomy Graduate Program is to prepare capable and creative astronomers for careers in research and education. The granting of a Ph.D. degree indicates that the recipient has a mastery of the knowledge and techniques of modern astrophysics. In addition, the recipient is expected to be familiar with problems that are at the frontiers of astrophysical research.
More generally, and most importantly, a successful Ph.D. is proof that a person can identify an interesting problem, set about solving it, in the process acquiring the necessary skills and tools, and to make a significant contribution to a field in a largely self-directed and self-motivated way, under the general guidance of a Ph.D. advisor. This is the skill that sets Ph.D. students apart.
If you accept the challenges of a Ph.D., you will find a welcoming and inspiring work environment at the UW–Madison Astronomy Department that will allow you to achieve these goals.
A note for UW–Madison undergraduate students: We highly recommend that UW–Madison astronomy undergraduate students seek graduate school opportunities beyond UW–Madison. Typically, the Department of Astronomy does not admit students from our astronomy undergraduate program. This is because attending different institutions as an undergraduate and graduate student is an important part of widening one’s intellectual breadth and is in the interest of students’ long-term growth as scientists and as people.
If a potential applicant has a strong family, personal, or other scientific reason to remain in Madison for graduate school, they are encouraged to discuss this with their research advisor (or other faculty) before applying and to highlight this reason in their application.