Facts and Figures

About the University of Toronto

• University of Toronto was founded in 1827 and it is Canada’s largest University with over 80,000 students (20% graduate students).
• UofT is consistently regarded as Canada’s top research university – 22nd in Natural Sciences according to Times Higher Education – 23rd internationally according to Shanghai Jiao Tong rankings

About the Department of Physics

• Physics faculty at UofT are highly distinguished: Among currently active faculty members are
  • 14 Fellows of American Physical Society, 8 Fellows of Royal Society of Canada, 7 Canada Research Chairs
  • 9 Fellows or Scholars of CIFAR, 7 Sloan Fellowships, 4 RSC Rutherford Medalists, 3 CAP Herzberg Medalists, and 5 CAP Lifetime Achievement Awards
• Our current graduate enrollment (2019/2020) totals 193 students in programmes leading to the M.Sc. and Ph.D.
• Typically about 20%-25% of our graduate students are women. For more information about women in physics research at U of T, see Women in Physics.
• Typically about 20% of our graduate students are international students.
• 70% of MSc students continue to Ph. D. program at UofT
• Median time to Ph. D. is 5.5 years (after BSc)
• 85% of students who begin a Ph. D. finish it.
• For more information about some of our distinguished alumni, see Nobel Prize Winners and the History of the Department of Physics.
• For the list of our recent graduates and their Ph. D. thesis title, see List of recent Ph. D.'s awarded.

2019: 24 PhDs. 2019 PhD graduate students

2018: 16 PhDs. 2018 PhD graduate students

2017: 21 PhDs. 2017 PhD graduate students

2016: 19 PhDs. 2016 PhD graduate students

2015: 27 PhDs. 2015 PhD graduate students

2014: 24 PhDs.

Admissions Statistics

• Typical number of applications each year: 250-350
• Typical size of the incoming class (M. Sc. and Direct-Entry Ph. D.): 40-50
• Note that the composition of domestic vs international students each year varies significantly.

Building on the strong tradition of the last 100 years, the Department of Physics at U of T is continuing with great energy. Many new young, world-class physicists are being hired in tenure-track positions and setting up exciting research programmes. It is a great time to come to Toronto to do your graduate studies in Physics. For more information about life as a graduate student, see the Graduate Student Handbook.

We welcome the following new students who have decided to join us for graduate studies in September 2020. This new group of students continues the tradition of selecting the best applicants from all parts of the world.