Sunming Qin, NERS PhD student, studies buoyant jets in a stratified environment.

Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences

#1

GRADUATE PROGRAM

US News & World Report

8:1

STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO

Harness nuclear energy to diagnose, treat, and problem-solve.

Our research is at the forefront of sustainable energy solutions, nuclear security, and plasmas for water treatment. We aim to advance the benefits of nuclear, radiological, & plasma technology to improve society in the 21st Century.

Research

sara pozzi in the lab

Sara Pozzi

Professor

  • Director, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, College of Engineering
  • Consortium Director, Consortium for Verification Technology
  • Consortium Director, Consortium for Monitoring, Technology, and Verification

Specialty: Development of new methods for nuclear materials identification and characterization for nuclear nonproliferation and homeland security applications;  Monte Carlo code development; passive and active interrogation; inverse problems; neutron spectrum unfolding; imaging.

RESEARCH NEWS

illustration of radiation detectors on a truck

Nuclear nonproliferation: gamma-ray vision for ports and border crossings

The low-energy nuclear reaction could see through heavy containers hiding materials that could be turned into nuclear weapons.

careers

You may have predicted that we are responsible for the development and maintenance of nuclear reactors, but we’re also doing vastly different, incredible things: performing and maximizing the success of nuclear fusion to be a sustainable energy source; studying the effect of radiation on materials and on the human body to improve patient care and worker safety; using plasma to purify water; and protecting regular people like you and me from the threat of nuclear weapons.

Career paths 

  • National Laboratories
  • Nuclear Power Plants
  • Medicine
  • Medical Physics
  • Water Treatment
  • Environmental Studies
  • Agricultural Research

Career outlook

Nuclear Engineer

Median salary (2020) $116,140


Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook

ciara sivels is given a stole at graduation

Michigan Engineering news

June 18, 2019

Ciara Sivels: Becoming the representation she wishes she’d seen

Ciara Sivels is the first African American woman to earn a PhD from the University of Michigan nuclear engineering and radiological sciences program, an accomplishment that drew attention from national media such as the Huffington Post and Blavity.

Degrees and specializations

Undergraduate

Degrees

  • Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences BSE
  • Engineering Physics BSE
  • Computer Science
  • Physics
  • Math

Master’s

Degrees

  • Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences BSE
  • Engineering Physics BSE
  • Computer Science
  • Physics
  • Math

Doctoral

Degree

Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences PhD

Graduate chair: Igor Jovanovic, ijov@umich.edu

Graduate Program Manager: Garnette Roberts, garnette@umich.edu


Undergraduate program | Graduate program

Get your Master’s faster


Sequential Undergraduate Graduate Studies

This program allows current U-M students to complete an undergraduate and Master’s degree in five years. Find out more on the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences website.

Contact: Garnette Roberts, garnette@umich.edu