Students in the Physics or Applied Physics Ph.D. program are required to complete 90 graduate credit hours of coursework and a minimum of 30 credits of research (Directed Research, PH 598 or Ph.D. Dissertation, PH 699). These students also must complete and defend their Ph.D. thesis. Courses taken to satisfy M.S. degree requirements will be counted toward the Ph.D. credit requirements, but completion of an M.S. degree is not required. All full-time students are required to register for the zero-credit graduate seminar (PH 580) each term.
Students entering the Physics or Applied Physics Ph.D. program who already have been granted an M.S. degree in Physics, Applied Physics, or Engineering Physics may be promoted to Ph.D. 60 status. Ph.D. 60 students are required to complete 60 graduate credit hours, including a minimum of 30 credits of research (Directed Research, PH 598 or Ph.D. Dissertation, PH 699). Coursework requirements for the students in Ph.D. 60 status will be determined by the PDGC upon review of student’s previous graduate coursework.
The PDGC reviews each student’s academic work on an annual basis, and the committee and the academic or research advisor may require additional coursework to address specific deficiencies in the student’s background. Students must maintain a minimum of a 3.0 GPA to be in good standing. One year of residency in the program is required.
A description of other Ph.D. program requirements follows below.
Comprehensive Written Examination
Students entering the Ph.D. program in Physics or Applied Physics are required register for and pass the Comprehensive Written Examination (PH 798) no later than the end of their second year. No more than 3 attempts to pass this exam are allowed. This exam is offered twice a year during Fall and Spring semesters. The exam consists of four areas depending on the degree program, as follows:
- Ph.D. in Physics: Classical Mechanics; Quantum Mechanics; Electrodynamics; Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics
- Ph.D. in Applied Physics:
- Biophysics and Soft Condensed Matter Concentration: Classical mechanics; Statistical Mechanics; Biophysics and Soft Condensed Matter; and an additional area chosen in consultation with the student’s thesis committee and approved by PDGC (examples: Microscopy and Imaging, Computational Biophysics, AFM)
- Medical Physics Concentration: Radiation Biology, Health Physics, Diagnostic Medical Physics, Radiation Therapy Physics.
- Nanoscience and Technology Concentration: Quantum Mechanics; Classical Mechanics or Electrodynamics, and two additional areas such as another core Physics area, Solid State Physics, Atomic Force Microscopy, Nanomaterials, Spectroscopy, or an alternative topic chosen in consultation with the student’s thesis committee and approved by PDGC
- Photonics Concentration: Quantum Mechanics; Electrodynamics; Photonics, and additional area chosen in consultation with the student’s thesis committee and approved by PDGC
- Radiological Sciences Concentration: Nuclear Instrumentation, Health Physics, Radiation Biology and a core physics area chosen in consultation with the student’s thesis committee and approved by the PDGC
Ph.D. Qualifying Examination
Students enrolled in the Physics or Applied Physics Ph.D. program are required to register and pass, no later than the end of the third year after formal admittance to the Ph.D. program, the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam (PH 799). Here, the student is required to write and defend an original research proposal before a committee representative of the area of their specialization, approved and appointed by the PDGC. The students are allowed only two attempts to pass this exam. The examination is used to evaluate the ability of the student to pose meaningful scientific questions, to propose experimental or theoretical methods for answering those questions, and to interpret the validity and significance of probable outcomes of these theoretical conjectures, models or experiments. The committee will consist of a minimum of three physics faculty members including the advisor, and at least one faculty member from outside the department, and will administer and evaluate the exam. The research advisor may not be the chair of this committee. The students are also required to take and pass a one-credit scientific writing course (PH 585) prior to their first attempt at taking the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam.
Ph.D. Dissertation
To fulfill the final Ph.D. degree requirement, the candidate must submit and defend a satisfactory dissertation to the dissertation committee formed in consultation with the research advisor and approved by the PDGC. This committee will consist of a minimum of three physics faculty members including the advisor, and at least one faculty member from outside the department. The research advisor may not be the chair of this committee.
Transferring between Ph.D. program options:
Students may petition the PDGC to switch between a Physics and Applied Physics programs, or to change the concentration. Such petition must include justification, and a letter of support from student’s advisor.