莱斯大学的SCI应用物理学研究生课程提供了世界上为数不多的应用物理学博士学位。由自然科学部和莱斯大学的工程部门共同努力，应用物理计划由一个联合委员会监督，研究顾问由生物工程，化学与生物分子工程，化学，电气和计算机工程系的成员组成，材料科学与纳米工程，物理与天文学和统计学。目的是在应用基础科学开发新技术方面提供跨学科的研究生教育。该学院的教授认为，通过在物理科学与工程学之间的这种智力激发界面上进行研究而获得的经验，对于在快速发展的技术领域为毕业生做好准备特别有益。
Modern research is fundamentally transdisciplinary: it cuts across science and technology and does not consider boundaries between traditional topics. Students trained in physics are in high demand across different disciplines in science and engineering, and a physicist's training adds an effective point of view to a wide variety of scientific endeavors.<br>According to Academics Analytics, the Rice University Applied Physics Graduate Program (APP) is currently ranked in the top 10 applied physics programs in the USA based on the Scholarly Research Index, in the company of Caltech and Stanford. Housed in the Smalley-Curl Institute under the aegis of the Office of Research and jointly supported by the School of Natural Sciences and the School of Engineering, Rice University APP is nevertheless unique. Based on the long tradition of combining knowledge from multiple disciplines pioneered by scientists and engineers of the Rice Quantum Institute in the 1970s, this program offers an interdisciplinary education for students who are interested in applying fundamental physics principles to cutting-edge research problems in modern science and engineering.<br><br>Through rigorous course work, APP students acquire a solid background in physics, including quantum mechanics, solid-state physics, electrodynamics, and statistical mechanics. Students then use their knowledge in physics to address and solve cutting-edge applied research problems. Currently, APP students are actively conducting research in photonics and plasmonics, nanomaterials and nanodevices, quantum and ultracold matter, neuroengineering and biotechnology, and theory and computation.