The Department of Physics at UVM offers a master of science degree in physics. In addition, the department participates in the Materials Science Program in which students can get either an M.S. or a Ph.D. Almost all of the graduate students in physics are supported through Graduate Teaching Fellowships (GTF). This includes a stipend for nine months and a tuition scholarship covering up to 10 credits per semester. Beginning graduate students are assigned to teach laboratory classes in the introductory physics courses. In later years, these students may continue to teach laboratory classes or recitations, but often are increasingly supported through research grants as they focus on thesis research.<br><br>Research within the department is broadly defined in three categories: Theoretical and Experimental Condensed Matter Physics, which includes dynamics of quantum systems with application to electronic, magnetic, optical, structural, and thermal properties of nanomaterials (eg. fullerene-derived solids and nanotubes), quantum many-body physics, superconductivity and superfluidity, electronic properties of graphene and its derivatives, strongly-correlated electronic systems and quantum magnetism, spintronics, optical properties and magnetism of thin films, organic semiconductors and nanostructures (professors: Clougherty, Del Maestro, Kotov, Headrick, Furis), Astrophysics, the use of radio astronomy to study pulsars (Professor: Rankin), and Biological Physics, which includes use of Atomic Force Microscopy to study DNA, lipid membranes, and viruses, studies of the application of ultrasound to biological systems, protein crystallography to study the shapes of proteins and how function follows form. (Professors: Vanegas, Wu, Yang)