Salary Support for Students

Essentially all graduate students accepted into our Department are offered financial support in the form of a graduate assistantship. (A fraction of incoming students are offered scholarships in various forms, which cover salary at similar levels but with no requirement of being a TA or RA.) The graduate assistantships are either in the form of a Teaching Assistantship (TA) or a Research Assistantship (RA). A detailed description can be viewed by visiting the link at the bottom of the page. A TA will help in running undergraduate labs, grading, recitation sections and such. An RA will be doing research under some professor, generally doing their own research towards a PhD. Typically, incoming students start out as TAs until they pass their Qualifying Exam, whereupon they will join some research group or start working with a particular professor as an RA. In general, it is a good idea to get some experience as a TA, but to start the RA work on your thesis as soon as is reasonable. In general, all students are covered by a graduate assistantship for their entire time at LSU.

The dollar amount of the salary depends in detail on various circumstances and the year, so no set figure can be expected or quoted. However, to give the scale, for August 2023, the average annual salary was $32,112 for incoming students. In addition, all tuition is covered. However, university fees are the responsibility of the student. You may find current fees rates here. Since there are a wide variety of circumstances that affect the salary, the only rock solid knowledge will be the dollar amount that we quote to you in our offer letter. The policies and salaries in our Department are essentially identical to those of all other top-level Physics Departments at research Universities throughout the USA. The salaries that you earn will not make you rich, but you will live comfortably.

Job Descriptions for Graduate Assistants

Graduate Assistants (GA's) provide support for the teaching and research programs of the Department. The duties of a GA require up to a maximum of 20hours of work per week during the regular semester, and if the appointment extends through the summer, the appropriate corresponding amount which may be slightly higher than the nominal 20 hours per week figure due to the condensed summer schedule and extended intercession break periods. Minimum qualifications for a GA are:

  1. A Bachelor's Degree in Physics, Astronomy, Engineering, or other Physics Science.
  2. Good academic standing in pursuit of an advanced degree in Physics or Astronomy.

Details of the responsibilities will be determined by the Graduate Advisor and the specific faculty member assigned as a supervisor. In addition to making satisfactory progress towards their degree, the duties of GA's will in general include one or more of the following:

 

Teaching Assistants - Typle I (SA's - Service Assistants)

Type I Teaching Assistants (TA-I) are assigned to students who have not received "Certification of Proficiency in Spoken English for Faculty/Teaching Assistants" by the Graduate (Act 756 of the Louisiana Legislature - LSU Policy Statement 81). Their duties will in general include the following:

  • grade homework and exams for assigned courses and maintain written records of all grades earned by students in consultation with the course instructor;
  • proctor for tests, including mid-term and final exams which may be given at various times and locations about the campus;
  • participate in the consulting of students when necessary outside regular classroom hours;
  • provide support for lecture setup and demonstrations;
  • attend all meeting and training sessions scheduled by the supervisor.
     

Teaching Assistants - Type II (TA's)

Type II Teaching Assistants (TA-II) are required to teach 1 or 2 laboratory courses under the supervision of a faculty laboratory supervisor. Their duties include:

  • prepare and present brief lecture/review to introduce each laboratory procedure;
  • supervise students in performance of procedures to ensure safety, completeness and accuracy of results;
  • grade mid-term final exams;
  • attend meetings scheduled by the supervisor;
  • render 1 to 2 hours a week tutoring/consulting students.
     

Research Assistants - Type I (RA's)

Full-time Research Assistants are normally not assigned TA/SA duties, instead they are to:

  • concentrate on providing support to a faculty member's research program;
  • conduct independent research under the supervision of a faculty member.

NOTE:  All international graduate students not specifically exempted will be interviewed to test their English speaking skills. In the event the interview test is not passed, they must enroll in and complete the ENGL 2021 class (during the first semester at LSU) in order to qualify for a Type II assistantship.