Department of Physics and Astronomy
Alvin D. Compaan, Chair
Brian G. Bagley, Graduate Adviser
For a degree of Master of Science or Master of Science and
Education, a student must complete 30 hours of graduate
credit including the following: (a) PHYS 6140 and an additional
15 hours of graduate course credit in Physics, with six
of the 15 hours numbered above 6000. Credit in PHYS 5900, 6010,
and/or 6020 will not count toward either degree; (b)
The student must present a satisfactory thesis based on directed
research for no more than eight hours of degree credit;
(c) The remaining hours within the 30 total may be chosen from
any courses approved for graduate credit not previously
elected, with the approval of the student's committee. In some
cases students working toward the Ph.D. may earn the
M.S. or the M.S.E. degree without formal presentation of the
M.S. thesis if they have passed the Ph.D. Qualifying
Examination, satisfied the course requirements for the M.S., and
completed a research project under the supervision of a
research adviser. Students meeting these requirements may
petition the department to grant the M.S. without formal
presentation of a thesis.
A Master of Science Degree in Physics with a Materials Science
Option is available. For this degree, a student must
complete 30 hours of graduate credit, including the following:
(a) PHYS 6140, 6540, 6550, and an additional 12 hours
of graduate course credit in Physics with six of the 12 hours
numbered above 6000 (no degree credit for PHYS 5900,
6010, or 6020); (b) The student must present a satisfactory
thesis based on directed research for no more than eight
hours of degree credit; (c) The remaining hours within the 30
total may be chosen from any courses approved for
graduate credit not previously elected, with the approval of the
student's committee.
For the Doctor of Philosophy Degree, a student must complete a
total of 90 hours of graduate credit including the
following: MATH 6730; PHYS 7220, 7250, 7260, 7320, 7330, and
7450; at least 18 additional hours of credit in Physics
in courses numbered higher than 6200 approved by the student's
committee; and 30-48 hours of PHYS 8960 (Ph.D.
Thesis Research). Credit in PHYS 6/8010, 6/8020, 6/7030, or
7910 will not count toward degree requirements.
The doctoral degree requirements include a Ph.D. Qualifying
Examination, a Comprehensive Examination and a Final
Oral Examination. Passing the Qualifying Examination is a prerequisite
for status as a Ph.D. candidate in physics. It is normally taken at the end of the summer, one year after entry and may normally be repeated once, the following January. After passing the
Qualifying Examination, the doctoral student must select a
field of specialization. A faculty committee is formed, chaired
by the research adviser, to evaluate the student's progress
in these matters and to establish an appropriate program of
coursework. This committee then administers the Oral
Comprehensive Examination, after which only the thesis research
requirement remains. The graduate program ends with
the presentation of the dissertation and its satisfactory
defense in an oral examination.