Curriculum

The Accelerator Science and Engineering Traineeship (ASET) program curriculum consists of courses, practical training at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) and National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at MSU and at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories, and thesis requirements.

The ASET program is part of MSU’s nuclear physics graduate program, which is nationally top-ranked according to the U.S. News & World Report. Additionally, each year MSU awards 10 percent of nuclear physics doctorate degrees.

PhD and master's graduate students in the ASET program will take a new orientation course (Accelerator Systems), existing core graduate courses (Accelerator Physics and Accelerator Technology), and at least two electives emphasizing at least one of the four major areas where there are critical workforce needs:

• Physics and engineering of large accelerators
• Superconducting radio frequency accelerator physics and engineering
• Radio frequency power engineering
• Large-scale cryogenic systems

Topics such as project management and radiation safety are also covered in the curriculum. Existing colloquia with regular ASET content and monthly "Accelerator Science Forum" talks will familiarize the students with a broad range of ASET topics in the core areas where there are critical workforce needs. The full curriculum is outlined in the below table.

The graduate certificate in Accelerator Science & Engineering (AS&E) consists of at least three courses comprising a minimum of nine credit hours.

The core graduate course in AS&E is PHY862, and it is mandatory for the AS&E certificate. The remaining six credits can be earned from the list of available courses below. The primary targets for this certificate program are graduate students in College of Natural Sciences and College of Engineering that are performing research supported by the ASET program. However, it is open to graduate students in any discipline that are interested in learning about accelerator science. Students can apply for the certificate at any time prior to receiving their degree (either master’s degree or PhD) after taking all of the necessary courses.  

Students will be trained at MSU facilities including FRIB/NSCL (centrally located on campus), the Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Engineering departments and the U.S. Particle Accelerator School. Additionally, students will attend at least two conferences or workshops and complete a thesis meeting their home department requirements.

Upon completion of the program, students will receive ASET certification, and will be specialized in one of four critical-workforce-needs areas.

Ready to apply or have questions? Please apply and inquire through our FRIB graduate studies page at frib.msu.edu/grad. 

Support for several kinds of graduate fellowships in ASET is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) Office of High Energy Physics, DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics, and the National Science Foundation.