- Navigation -
Ph.D. Physics
Ph.D. Program in Physics-Optical Physics Option
Admission The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required of all applicants. Minimum requirements in order to be considered for admission to the graduate program in Physics are the standard university criteria of a 3.0 (A=4) grade point average(GPA) for the last 60 attempted semester hours of credit earned toward the baccalaureate, or a GRE score of at least 1000 on the combined verbal-quantitative sections of the General (Aptitude) Test. The GRE subject test in physics is required for admission to the doctoral program. All admissions to graduate status are competitive and based on availability of faculty for sponsoring research. Students entering the graduate program with regular status are normally expected to have completed course work generally required for a bachelor's degree in physics, including mechanics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics. International students whose native language is not English will be required to have a minimum score of 550 on the TOEFL examination.
Degree Requirements The program requires a total of 72 semester hours for completion and specify a set of six required core courses (18 hours), four electives (12 hours), and a minimum of 15 hours of dissertation. Twenty-seven hours may consist of appropriately selected research, dissertation, and elective courses. The electives are advanced courses in physics or other fields and are chosen by the student in consultation with the student's advisory committee. At least 3 hours of the electives must be outside the student's research specialty. In addition, each student is required to participate in the Physics Colloquium/Seminar program. No more than 12 semester hours of independent study may be credited toward the Doctor of Philosophy degree.
Continuation in doctoral status is contingent upon passing a qualifying examination consisting of both written and oral portions that cover all material included in the core courses and undergraduate preparation in physics. Students are required to take the qualifying exam after three semesters (excluding summers). A second and final opportunity must follow at the next available exam. A student failing at the second attempt may continue toward a master's degree. The student writes a proposal of the research planned for the dissertation and then is orally examined on it and the general research area by the dissertation committee. This examination can be attempted anytime after passing the qualifying examination, and after the student has begun research. Typically it should be taken a semester or two after the qualifying examination. After passing the candidacy examination, the student can register for official dissertation hours. The final oral defense of the dissertation is administered by the student's dissertation committee following completion of a written dissertation describing the student's research.
For complete details see graduate catalog entry for the Physics Ph.D. Program.
