Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering
Director of Graduate Studies: James F. Stubbins
216 Talbot Laboratory
104 South Wright Street
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-3598 Admissions, (217) 333-2295 Main Line
E-mail: nuclear@illinois.edu
Major: Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering
Degrees Offered: M.S., Ph.D.
Medical Scholars Program: Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering and Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) through the Medical Scholars Program.
Graduate Degree Programs
The Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering offers programs leading to Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering. The graduate degree programs are centered around three theme areas: nuclear power engineering, fusion and plasma science and engineering, and radiological engineering and medical physics. Advanced course work and active research programs are offered in all of these areas. The Faculty of the Department are internationally recognized experts in these areas of nuclear science and engineering, radiation processes and transport, materials science, thermal sciences, systems engineering, energy conversion processes and systems, plasma sciences and processing, radiation-based medical imaging and therapy, dosimetry and radiation protection, systems control and risk analysis, and international security. Graduate students in the Department are active participants and contributors to these areas of education and research and typically pursue careers in one of these areas. Graduate students in the Department are also encouraged to take part in course work and research activities in other engineering and science departments to complement their professional development in the nuclear engineering field. Opportunity also exists for specializing in (i) computational science and engineering and (ii) energy and sustainability engineering within the department's graduate programs via the Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) Option and the Energy and Sustainability Engineering (EaSE) Option. The Medical Scholars Program permits highly qualified students to integrate the study of medicine with study for a graduate degree in a second discipline, including Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering.
Admission
Application for admissions to the master's and doctoral degree programs is open to all graduates in engineering, mathematics, and the physical sciences with a grade point average of at least 3.00 (A = 4.00) for the last two years of undergraduate work and any graduate work completed. Prerequisites for admission include a course in ordinary differential equations plus one other mathematics course beyond calculus; an intermediate course in atomic and nuclear physics or interaction of radiation with matter; a course in electrical circuit theory; a course in thermodynamics; a course in fluid mechanics or continuum mechanics; and a course introducing nuclear engineering. A student may be admitted before completion of these prerequisites, but he or she must allow additional time to make up for these deficiencies; courses taken to make up such deficiencies will not count toward the number of units required for the graduate degree. Transcripts and letters of recommendation are required. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is not required but is recommended. Information such as undergraduate class rank is also recommended.
For full consideration of fall admission with financial aid, application receipt deadline is January 15. Students who wish to enter in the spring term should contact the Department before applying.
All applicants whose native language is not English are required to have a minimum TOEFL score of 79 (iBT), 213 (CBT), or 550 (PBT); or minimum International English Language Testing System (IELTS) academic exam scores of 6.5 overall and 6.0 in all subsections. Applicants may be exempt from the TOEFL if certain criteria are met. For those taking the TOEFL or IELTS, full admission status is granted for scores greater than 102 (TOEFL iBT), 253 (TOEFL CBT), 610 (TOEFL PBT), or 6.5 (IELTS). Limited status is granted for lesser scores and requires enrollment in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses based on an ESL Placement Test (EPT) taken upon arrival to campus.
Students may apply to the Medical Scholars Program prior to beginning graduate school or while in the graduate program. Applicants to the Medical Scholars Program must meet the admissions standards for and be accepted into both Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering and the College of Medicine. An application to the Medical Scholars Program will also serve as the application to the Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering graduate program. Further information on this program is available by contacting the Medical Scholars Program (125 Medical Sciences Building, 217-333-8146, mspo@illinois.edu).
Degree Requirements
*For additional details and requirements refer to the department’s printed handbook and the Graduate College Handbook.
Master of Science
| Requirements | |
|---|---|
| Credit Hours: | 32 |
| Total Credit for the Degree | 4-8 |
| Thesis Research – NPRE 599 (min-max applied toward degree) | 4-8 |
| Course Work | 24-28 |
NPRE 501 and 521 |
8 |
NPRE 596 – registration (1 hour) every semester while in residence; credit does not apply toward the degree. |
0 |
Two or more NPRE courses in an area of concentration |
8 |
Additional 500-level courses |
8 |
Elective courses (subject to Other Requirements and Conditions below) |
0-4 |
| Other Requirements and Conditions:* | |
| Credit in NPRE 402 or NPRE 446 does not count toward the degree. | |
| The minimum program GPA is 2.75. | |
The M.S. degree takes at least two semesters and a summer session to complete and normally takes three semesters and a summer session. The curriculum requires courses covering the fundamentals of nuclear engineering and radiation interaction with matter, plus two or more courses in an area of concentration chosen by the student in consultation with an advisor. Typical areas are: fission engineering including reactor physics, radiation transport, thermal hydraulics and reactor safety, fuel cycles, shielding and radiation effects and radioactive waste management and site remediation; fusion engineering and technology; plasma engineering and processing; nuclear materials, corrosion, and irradiation damage; neutron scattering; neutron activation analysis; nuclear nonproliferation and public policy issues; MRI applications, radiation protection, radiation-based therapy, biomedical imaging and health physics; and computational methods including Lie Group, integral-differential equation, Monte Carlo, and fuzzy logic applications.
Doctor of Philosophy
| Requirements | |
|---|---|
| Credit Hours: | Hours |
| Total Credit for the Degree | 64 |
| Thesis Research – NPRE 599 (min-max applied toward degree) | 32 |
| Course Work | 32 |
NPRE 501 and 521 (if not taken while completing the M.S. degree) |
0-8 |
NPRE 596 – registration (1 hour) every semester while in residence; credit does not apply toward the degree. |
0 |
Departmental minor consisting of one of the following: |
12 or 16 |
Elective courses (subject to Other Requirements and Conditions below) |
8-20 |
| Other Requirements and Conditions:* | |
| Consult department for details of minimum hours required within the unit. | |
| Credit in NPRE 402 or NPRE 446 does not count toward the degree. | |
| The minimum program GPA is 2.75. | |
| A Masters degree or equivalent is required for admission to the Ph.D. program. | |
| Ph.D. exam and dissertation requirements: Qualifying exam Preliminary exam Final exam or dissertation defense Dissertation deposit |
|
Course requirements for the Ph.D. degree include at least 32 graduate hours of course credit beyond that required for the M.S. degree. In addition, 32 or more graduate hours of doctoral thesis credit are required and typically take two or more additional years to complete. Students desiring to work toward the Ph.D. degree must pass the departmental qualifying examination to be admitted to doctoral study. The doctoral candidate must complete course work, pass a preliminary doctoral examination, write a doctoral thesis, and successfully defend the thesis at a final examination before a doctoral faculty committee. A doctoral student typically takes several courses in nuclear engineering plus additional courses that support a specialized research area and provide background in mathematics and science and that satisfy a minor in a related discipline. Under exceptional circumstances and by approved petition, doctoral research may be undertaken off campus.
Medical Scholars Program
Students in the Medical Scholars program must meet the specific requirements for both the medical and graduate degrees. On average, students take eight years to complete both degrees. The first year of the combined program is typically spent meeting requirements of the Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering graduate degree.
Faculty Research Interests
Faculty research interests cover a wide range including, but not limited to, those listed above under the Master of Science section. Faculty in other related fields are available to supervise research for students through formal "affiliate faculty" appointments.
Facilities and Resources
A wide range of major research resources are available for nuclear engineering research. A dense plasma focus fusion-related device for high-temperature plasma studies and an ultrahigh-vacuum laboratory for plasma-material interaction studies are available. Graduate students often perform interdisciplinary research work in the Materials Research Laboratory, Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Coordinated Science Laboratory, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. The mechanical behavior program provides a variety of facilities for studies of nuclear materials, including the Advanced Materials Testing and Evaluation Laboratory. Other radiological laboratories are also available for environmental studies and nuclear spectroscopy, health physics and radiation studies, nuclear-waste management, thermal hydraulics and reactor safety, reactor physics and reactor kinetics, controlled nuclear fusion, direct energy conversion and lasers and plasma physics. The Department is a participant in the Computational Science and Engineering Program on campus. In addition, a wide array of microcomputers and workstations are available.
Financial Aid
Most graduate students receive some form of financial aid. Fellowships are available to support the best applicants. Other students are supported as graduate research, teaching, or general assistants. Financial aid includes federally sponsored traineeships and fellowships and University and industry fellowships. The University is approved for several fellowships including those from the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the National Science Foundation, Hertz, and the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations. Part- and full-time assistantships include exemption from tuition and partial fees. All applicants, regardless of U.S. citizenship, whose native language is not English and who wish to be considered for teaching assistantships must demonstrate spoken English language proficiency by achieving a minimum score of 50 on the Test of Spoken English (TSE), 24 on the speaking subsection of the TOEFL iBT, or 8 on the speaking subsection of the IELTS. For students who are unable to take the TSE, iBT, or IELTS, a minimum score of 50 is required on the SPEAK test, offered on campus. All new teaching assistants are required to participate in the Graduate Academy for College Teaching conducted prior to the start of the semester.