Doctor of Philosophy in Physics

Core Courses

A minimum of 21 semester credit hours in the graduate core sequence are required for the Ph.D. degree, plus 3 additional courses (with at least one outside the student's speciality area) specified by the Graduate Advisor and the student's research advisor. The required core courses must include:

• PHYS 5301 Mathematical Methods of Physics I
• PHYS 5302 Mathematical Methods of Physics II
• PHYS 5311 Classical Mechanics
• PHYS 5313 Statistical Physics
• PHYS 5320 Electromagnetism I
• PHYS 5322 Electromagnetism II
• PHYS 6300 Quantum Mechanics I

Students in space sciences must also take:

• PHYS 6383 Plasma Science

Additional courses may be required to satisfy the particular degree requirements and/or to ensure sufficient grounding in physical principles. The graduate advisor and the student's supervisory committee must approve course selections. A minimum of one year of residency after admission to the doctoral program is required.

Students are required to take and pass a qualifying examination during their first year in the Ph.D. program. The qualifying examination consisting of an examination in each of four physics subjects based on undergraduate-level material is given in early January of the first year of graduate study. Failure in any subject requires retaking the failed exam(s) in August. Students passing all four exams by August will automatically become Ph.D. candidates. Students failing only one subject exam will be evaluated and may be allowed to stay one semester and repeat the exam the following January. Students failing more than one exam will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program but will be allowed to complete a master's degree.

Students admitted for the spring semester will take the first set of exams in August of that year.

After a student has completed the required coursework with a minimum grade of B in each core course and a minimum GPA of 3.0 for all courses, passed the qualifying examination and decided upon his/her field of specialization, the student is required to identify a dissertation topic and form a Supervising Committee to guide the student's dissertation work. The student must submit a proposal that outlines the present state of knowledge of the field and presents the research program the student expects to accomplish for the dissertation. This proposal must be approved by the Supervising Committee and the department head. A seminar on the dissertation proposal must be presented, followed by an oral examination conducted by the faculty on the proposed area of research and related topics. The Supervising Committee shall determine by means of the exam and any ancillary information whether the student is adequately prepared and has the ability to conduct independent research. The approved dissertation proposal is then filed with the Dean of Graduate Education. An approved dissertation proposal is normally expected no later than the end of the student's third year.

Before the final dissertation defence, a Ph.D. student should have demonstrated his/her original and significant contribution to his/her research field. This requirement may be most easily met by having at least one paper either accepted or under review by a peer-reviewed journal. The Ph.D. student, in the opinion of the dissertation committee, should make substantial contributions to the paper that should compose a major part of his/her dissertation. Alternative proof of this contribution must be approved by the dissertation committee and the graduate curriculum committee.

Graduates of the program seek positions such as researcher, physicist, professor, and various positions in academia, government, and industry.