The plan of study is the set of courses that a student will take to complete the Advance Physics Requirement and any courses needed as preparation to pass the Written Candidacy Exams (see below). Any additional courses the student plans to take as part of their graduate curriculum may be included in the plan of study but are not required. Students should consult with their Academic Advisor on their Plan of Study and discuss any exception or special considerations with the Option Representative.
Log in to REGIS and navigate to the Ph. D. Candidacy Tab of your Graduate Degree Progress page. Add you courses into the Plan of Study section. When complete, click the "Submit Plan of Study to Option Rep" button. This will generate a notice to the Option Rep to approve your plan of study. Once you complete the courses in the Plan of Study, the Advanced Physics Requirement is completed.
Physics students must demonstrate proficiency in all areas of basic physics, including classical mechanics (including continuum mechanics), electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, statistical physics, optics, basic mathematical methods of physics, and the physical origin of everyday phenomena. A solid understanding of these fundamental areas of physics is considered essential, so proficiency will be tested by written candidacy examinations.
No specific course work is required for the basic physics requirement, but some students may benefit from taking several of the basic graduate courses, such as Ph 106 and Ph 125. In addition, the class Ph 201 will provide additional problem solving training that matches the basic physics requirement.
Exam I: Classical Mechanics and Electromagnetism Topics include: TBA
Exam 2: Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics Topics include: TBA
Both exams are offered twice each year (July and October) Email [email protected] to sign up
Nothing additional. Sign up for the exam by emailing Mika Walton. The Student Programs Office will update your REGIS record once you pass the exams.
Students must establish a broad understanding of modern physics through study in six graduate courses. The courses must be spread over at least three of the following four areas of advanced physics. Many courses in physics and related areas may be allowed to count toward the Advanced Physics requirements. Below are some popular examples. Contact the Physics Option Representative to find out if any particular course not listed here can be used for this requirement.
Physics of elementary particles and fields (Nuclear Physics, High Energy Physics, String Theory)
Ph 139 Intro to Particle Physics Ph 205abc Relativistic Quantum Field Theory Ph 217 Intro to the Standard Model Ph 230 Elementary Particle Theory (offered every two years) Ph 250 Intro to String Theory (offered every two years)
Quantum Information and Matter (Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics, Condensed-Matter Physics, Quantum Information)
Ph 127ab Statistical Physics Ph 135a Intro to Condensed Matter Physics Ph 136a Applications of Classical Physics (Stat Mech, Optics) (offered every two years) Ph 137abc Atoms and Photons Ph 219abc Quantum Computation Ph 223ab Advanced Condensed Matter Physics
Physics of the Universe (Gravitational Physics, Astrophysics, Cosmology)
Ph 136b Applications of Classical Physics (Elasticity, Fluid Dynamics) (offered every two years) Ph 136c Applications of Classical Physics (Plasma, GR) (offered every two years) Ph 236ab Relativity Ph 237 Gravitational Waves (offered every two years) Ay 121 Radiative Processes
Interdisciplinary Physics (e.g. Biophysics, Applied Physics, Chemical Physics, Mathematical Physics, Experimental Physics)
Ph 77 Advanced Physics Lab Ph 101 Order of magnitude (offered every two years) Ph 118 Physics of measurement Ph 129 Mathematical Methods of Physics Ph 136a Applications of Classical Physics (Stat Mech, Optics) (offered every two years) Ph 136b Applications of Classical Physics (Elasticity, Fluid Dynamics) (offered every two years) Ph 229 Advanced Mathematical Methods of Physics
Nothing additional. Once you complete the courses in your approved Plan of Study, the Advanced Physics Requirement is complete.
The Oral Candidacy Exam is primarily a test of the candidate's suitability for research in his or her chosen field. Students should consult with the executive officer to assemble their oral candidacy committee. The chair of the committee should be someone other than the research adviser.
The candidacy committee will examine the student's knowledge of his or her chosen field and will consider the appropriateness and scope of the proposed thesis research during the oral candidacy exam. This exam represents the formal commitment of both student and adviser to a research program.
See also the Physics Candidacy FAQs
After the exam, your committee members will enter their result and any comments they may have. Non-Caltech committee members are instructed to send their results and comments to the physics graduate office who will enter the information on their behalf. Once all "pass" results have been entered, the Option Rep will be prompted to recommend you for admission to candidacy. The recommendation goes to the Dean of Graduate Studies who has the final approval to formally admit you to candidacy.
Thesis advisory committee (tac).
After the oral candidacy exam, students will hold annual meetings with their Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC). The TAC will review the research progress and provide feedback and guidance towards completion of the degree. Students should consult with the executive officer to assemble their oral candidacy committee and TAC by the end of their third year. The TAC is normally constituted from the candidacy examiners, but students may propose variations or changes at any time to the option representative. The TAC chair should be someone other than the research Adviser. The TAC chair will typically also serve as the thesis defense chair, but changes may be made in consultation with the Executive Officer and the Option Rep.
What to do in REGIS?
Login to Regis, navigate to the Ph. D. Examination Tab of your Graduate Degree Progress page, and scroll down to the Examination Committee section. Enter the names of your Thesis Advisory Committee members. Click the "Submit Examination Committee for Approval" button and this will automatically generate notifications for the Option Rep and the Dean of Graduate Studies to approve your committee. Enter the date, time and location of your TAC meeting and click "Submit Details." Your committee members will automatically be sent email reminders with the meeting details.
The final thesis examination will cover the thesis topic and its relation to the general body of knowledge of physics. The candidate should send the thesis document to the defense committee and graduate office at least two weeks prior to the defense date. The defense must take place at least three weeks before the degree is to be conferred. Please refer to the Graduate Office and Library webpages for thesis guidelines, procedures, and deadlines.
Zanvyl krieger school of arts and sciences, admission requirements.
To obtain admission, a student is expected to submit evidence that they have a good chance to succeed.
Note: submission of General GRE and Physics GRE scores is optional.
Successful applicants applying in the last year of their Bachelor’s program will need to demonstrate the completion of their Bachelor’s degree program before they can begin the Ph.D. program at JHU.
The Ph.D. program has strong emphasis on early and active involvement in graduate research. Thus, students are required to have a research advisor and file a research summary every semester they are enrolled in the program, starting with the first one. Furthermore, students must complete the required courses with a grade of B- or better; the coursework is typically done over the first two years. In the beginning of the second year, students complete the research examination, and in the beginning of the third year – the University’s Graduate Board Oral examination, both of which are based on completed or proposed research. During the first two years, students are typically involved in introductory research projects, which may or may not be related to their thesis work, and sometimes work with several different advisors, but they must identify (and have an agreement with) a thesis advisor no later than the beginning of their third year in the program, after which point students focus on their thesis research. The thesis is to be completed by no later than the end of the 6th year, ending with an oral presentation of the thesis to a faculty committee.
Ph.d. in physics.
Students must complete the following courses:
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Electromagnetic Theory | 3 | |
& | Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Mechanics | |
Advanced Statistical Mechanics | 3 |
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Stellar Structure and Evolution | 3 | |
Interstellar Medium and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics | 3 | |
Radiative Astrophysics | 3 | |
Astrophysical Dynamics | 3 | |
Language Of Astrophysics | 1 |
Students in both programs must receive at least a B- in each required course, or they will be required to retake the specific course once more and pass it. Graduate courses may only be retaken once.
The department offers a wide range of graduate physics, astrophysics, mathematical methods and statistics classes, and while only five are required, the students are encouraged to use the flexibility of the graduate program and the available classes to design programs of study that best prepare them for their chosen area of research. In addition to the required courses listed above, below is the list of the graduate courses that have been taught in recent years:
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Numerical Methods for Physicists | 4 | |
Observational Astronomy | 3 | |
Soft Matter Physics | 3 | |
Condensed Matter Physics | 3 | |
Experimental Particle Physics | 3 | |
Atomic and Optical Physics I | 3 | |
Group Theory in Physics | 3 | |
Exoplanets and Planet Formation | 3 | |
General Relativity | 3 | |
Physics of Cell Biology: From Mechanics to Information | 3 | |
Astrophysical Plasmas | 3 | |
Quantum Field Theory | 3 | |
Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena | 3 | |
Gravitational Waves | 3 | |
Elementary Particle Physics | 3 | |
Cosmology | 3 | |
Black Hole Astrophysics | 3 | |
Fourier Optics and Interferometry in Astronomy | 3 | |
Advanced Condensed Matter | 3 | |
Black Hole Physics | 3 | |
Advanced Particle Theory: Dark Matter | 3 | |
Machine Learning for Scientists | 3 | |
Experimental Techniques in Condensed Matter Physics | 3 |
The principal goal of graduate study is to train the student to conduct original research. Therefore, physics and astronomy graduate students at Johns Hopkins are involved in research starting in their first semester in the program.
By the end of September, the student chooses their first research advisor among the professorial faculty and starts working on the first-semester research project. If the proposed research advisor does not hold a primary appointment as a tenure-track or research faculty member in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the form must be co-signed by a PHA faculty member, who will provide mentorship (relevant department faculty members list) . This requirement holds for all semesters of research. The first-semester project continues through intersession in January. The spring-semester research project continues until the end of the spring semester. The summer semester lasts from June through August. Students may continue with one advisor through the entire first year, or they may choose to cycle through several different research advisers from one semester to the next.
This system of semester projects continues during the first two years of the program, when students also complete required coursework. The nature of these first- and second-year research projects varies from student to student, from advisor to advisor and from one sub-field of physics to another. Some may be self-contained research projects that lead to published scientific papers and may or may not be related to the thesis research in later years. Others may comprise reading or independent-study projects to develop background for subsequent research. In other cases, they may be first steps in a longer-term research project.
This system accommodates both the students who have chosen the direction of their thesis work before graduate school and those who would like to try a few different things before committing to a long-term project. As students get more familiar with the department and the research opportunities, they zero in on their thesis topic and find a thesis advisor. This may happen any time during the first two years, and students are required to find a thesis advisor by the beginning of the third year.
Securing a mutual agreement with a thesis advisor is one of the most important milestones of our graduate program. Students must find a thesis advisor and submit the thesis advisor form before the first day of their 3rd year. The form represents a long-term commitment and serious efforts in planning and communication between the student and the advisor. If the proposed thesis advisor does not hold a primary appointment as a tenure-track or research faculty member in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the form must be co-signed by a PHA faculty member, who will serve as the departmental advisor of record (relevant department faculty members list) .
After the student chooses a thesis advisor, the student forms their Thesis Committee consisting of three faculty members in the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy (PHA). At least two should be tenure track faculty with primary appointments in PHA. An external advisor may be added as the fourth member of the committee. These committees function as extended advisory bodies; students have the opportunity to discuss their progress and problems with several faculty. They also conduct one formal annual review of each student’s progress.
Research leading to the dissertation can be carried out not only within the Department of Physics and Astronomy, but with appropriate arrangements, either partly or entirely at other locations if necessitated by the project goals. At the conclusion of thesis research, the student presents the written dissertation to the faculty committee and defends the thesis in an oral examination.
Although the department does not admit students who intend to pursue the master’s degree exclusively, students in the department’s Ph.D. program and students in other Ph.D. programs at Johns Hopkins may apply to fulfill the requirements for the M.A. degree in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Students from other JHU departments must seek approval from their home department and from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Before beginning their M.A. studies, students must have mastered the undergraduate physics material covered by the following courses:
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Classical Mechanics II | 4 | |
& | Quantum Mechanics I and Quantum Mechanics II | 8 |
Statistical Physics/Thermodynamics | 4 |
Students must receive at least a B- in each required course, or they will be required to retake the specific course once more and pass it. Graduate courses may only be retaken once.
Courses taken elsewhere may qualify at the discretion of the Graduate Program Committee (normally this requirement is satisfied by the Ph.D.-track students before they arrive at JHU as they have completed a B.A. or B.Sci. in Physics at another institution).
To qualify for the M.A. degree in Physics, students must complete eight one-semester 3-credit graduate-level courses in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and pass the departmental research exam. For the M.A. degree in Astronomy, students must complete eight one-semester 3-credit graduate-level courses in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, plus the seminar “Language of Astrophysics” and pass the departmental research exam. The student must receive a grade of B- or above in each of the courses; graduate courses can be retaken once in case of failure.
Of the eight one-semester courses, four must be the core courses listed above in the Ph.D. requirements and two must be Independent Graduate Research courses. The remaining two course requirements for the M.A. degree may be fulfilled either by 3-credit graduate electives or by additional Independent Graduate Research. The research courses must include an essay or a research report supervised and approved by a faculty member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Under most circumstances students pursuing their Ph.D. qualify for the M.A. degree by the end of their second year if they have taken all four core courses in their discipline at JHU, the “Language of Astrophysics” seminar (for M.A. in Astronomy), four semesters of Independent Graduate Research, and passed the research exam. Graduate courses taken at another institution or in another department at JHU in most cases do not count toward the M.A. requirements (therefore, students who are interested in the M.A. degree, but are planning to waive any graduate courses because they have passed a comparable graduate course at another institution, should discuss their eligibility for the M.A. degree with the Academic Program Administrator as soon as they arrive at JHU). Students should expect that no M.A. requirements can be waived; that the minimal research requirement is two semesters; and that at most one of the core courses can be substituted by another (non-research) graduate course in exceptional circumstances. Any requests for M.A. course substitutions must be made to the Graduate Program Committee at least a year before the expected M.A. degree so that the committee can recommend an appropriate substitution.
Please do not send transcripts or other documents to the “admiss@upenn” email address., information for applicants to the graduate program:.
The graduate program in physics and astronomy is directed primarily towards the PhD degree, emphasizing completion of an original and significant research investigation. The department will, however, award a M.S. degree signifying a knowledge of physics well beyond the undergraduate level but without the comprehensive background and intensive research effort of the Ph.D.
The departmental research program presently emphasizes experimental and theoretical works in particle physics, nuclear physics, condensed matter physics, astrophysics, and astronomy.
Further information about the online application process may be obtained by clicking on the link below:
https://www.applyweb.com/upenng/ (Codes: School 2926, Department 0808)
A Bachelor's degree in physics, astronomy, or a related science is required. If the Bachelor's degree is not in physics or astronomy, a strong physics minor is necessary. Prior research experience is strongly encouraged.
For applicants whose native language is not English, the TOEFL exam is required to demonstrate proficiency in English. We do not require GRE scores as part of our admissions process, but like many other items of a student’s application—transcript, letters, statement—they may provide information about you as a student that might otherwise be missed. If you have chosen to take the GREs and feel that they demonstrate an ability that is not shown otherwise by your record, please note this in your research or personal statements .
In the personal statement, all Ph.D. applications within the Graduate Division of Arts & Sciences should address the following:
Please describe how your background and academic experiences have influenced your decision to pursue a graduate degree and led you to apply to Penn. Your essay should detail your specific research interests and intellectual goals within your chosen field. Please provide information about your educational trajectory, intellectual curiosity and academic ambitions. If you have overcome adversity and/or experienced limited access to resources or opportunities in your field of study, please feel free to share how that has affected the course of your education. We are interested in your lived experiences and how your particular perspective might contribute to the inclusive and dynamic learning community that Penn values and strives to create.
Admission statistics.
Students may receive credit for graduate courses taken at other institutions, though no more than 8 credits may be transferred. For more information, contact the Graduate Chair with your transcript and a description of the topics covered in the class.
The Cal-Bridge program has the mission of creating opportunities for traditionally underrepresented groups to participate and advance in physics, astronomy, computer science, and computer engineering and to increase their numbers in PhD programs in those fields. The Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania is a dedicated partner of the Cal-Bridge program. Learn more about the Cal-Bridge program here.
The APS Bridge Program is a post-baccalaureate program lasting one to two years that provides students with research experience, advanced coursework, and coaching to prepare them for a graduate school application. Through the Bridge Program, APS is working to increase the number of physics PhDs awarded to underrepresented minority (URM) students, identified as Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, by creating sustainable transition programs and a national network of doctoral-granting institutions. The Bridge Program also provides students with the opportunity to receive mentoring so that they can successfully complete PhD programs, build and strengthen their professional networks, and explore new career paths.
Graduate programs in physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University are among the top programs in the field. Students engage in original research starting in their first semester and have flexibility in choosing their course of research and designing their path through the program. A wide range of research projects—both theoretical and experimental—are available in astrophysics, atomic, molecular & optical physics, biological physics, condensed matter physics, and particle physics. Graduate students can work toward a PhD in either physics or astronomy and astrophysics. Our doctoral students are prepared for careers in physics and astronomy research, teaching, or in applications such as biophysics, space physics, and industrial research.
Graduate students at Johns Hopkins study and work in close collaboration with a world-renowned, award-winning physics and astronomy faculty , whose research is truly global. Students have access to state-of-the-art laboratories, and they are full participants in the vibrant intellectual life of the department. Research leading to the dissertation can be carried out not only within the Department of Physics and Astronomy, but also in collaboration with other research centers. Recent dissertation research has been conducted with members of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory , Space Telescope Science Institute , and the Goddard Space Flight Center .
Graduate students are involved in research projects beginning in their first semester at JHU. Students are free to explore different areas of research by working on short research projects with different advisers. A series of seminars, presentations and orientation events held in the fall semester help introduce students to the faculty in the department so that they can choose their first project. Such projects may last a semester or a year; they might become the prelude to their thesis work or may focus on a completely separate topic. In many cases, the projects lead to published research papers. By the end of their second year, students have typically completed their required graduate classes, have explored several different research directions and are in a good position to choose a thesis topic and a thesis advisor. Students start thesis research no later than fall of their 3rd year and graduate at the end of the 5th or 6th year.
It is departmental policy that all graduate students in good standing are supported through fellowships, research assistantships and / or teaching assistantships for up to six years. The financial package covers the tuition and student health insurance, and provides a stipend commensurate with that of other leading research institutions. We have designed our graduate program in such a way that indeed most students earn their PhD in six years or less.
We strongly encourage prospective and enrolled students eligible for external fellowships to apply for them. For graduate students already enrolled, research and academic advisors provide assistance and support in applying for NSF fellowships, NASA fellowships, etc. Faculty and staff nominate graduate students for departmental and university fellowships, and applications are reviewed by the graduate program committee and / or the department chair.
The University Research Office maintains an up-to-date list of graduate student funding opportunities .
Teaching and research assistantships are equivalent in terms of stipend and benefits. Most students are supported by teaching assistantships during their first year. In subsequent years, they may be supported by teaching assistantships or research assistantships depending on availability of external funding and research performance. Students should discuss funding options with their advisors well in advance of the semester in question. Teaching assistantships in year six and beyond should be requested by the student and the advisor by application to the graduate program committee. Continuation in the program and financial support of any kind in year seven and beyond should also be requested by the student and the advisor by application to the graduate program committee. In evaluating these requests, the graduate program committee takes into consideration whether the student is on a clear path to graduation, whether the student is making good progress and whether the extension is necessitated by the scope of the thesis.
Statement of the rights and responsibilities of phd students at johns hopkins university.
Ph.D. education is fundamental to the University’s teaching and research mission. For an intellectual community of scholars to flourish, it is important to acknowledge the principles that underlie the compact between Ph.D. students, the faculty, and other members of the University community.
It is in this spirit that the Doctor of Philosophy Board, in collaboration with faculty and students from across the University, has articulated a statement of rights and responsibilities for doctoral students at Johns Hopkins. The principles described in this document are to be realized in policies established by the various Schools of the University; the Schools will also develop mechanisms to monitor and enforce such policies.
The Homewood Graduate Board is a subcommittee of the Academic Council of the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering, and is responsible for the administration of policies and procedures for the award Doctor of Philosophy, PhD of the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering, and for master’s degrees in the School of Arts and Sciences.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) prohibits discrimination with a basis on sex in any federally-funded education program or activity. Title IX affects almost every facet of JHU.
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Physics has been taught at the University of Michigan since the autumn of 1843, under the name of "Natural Philosophy." At the time, the program consisted of eleven college juniors and two faculty members. The Physics Department, understandably, looks a lot different today. Housed in Randall and Homer A. Neal Laboratories on U-M Central Campus, the department's faculty of over fifty professors and lecturers instruct thousands of students a term under a diverse catalog of courses. Our graduate program, typically consisting of about 150 students, is central to the service, education, and community the program provides. Physics PhD students undergo five years of academic and professional training to earn their degree, all while participating on the frontline of new and exciting research.
Rackham Graduate School Doctoral Program Statistics
View this workbook to find more about the Physics graduate program student demographics, admissions, enrollment, funding, milestones, completion rates, and career outcomes.
APS “How does your institution compare?” tool
Use this tool to see how the UM Physics Department compares nationally for both bachelors and doctoral degrees. This tool combines demographics from both the Physics and Applied Physics graduate programs.
We fully recognize that our current gender and racial demographics are influenced by and reflect historical inequities both inside and outside our physics community. While our demographics are comparable to or slightly more equalized than that of the general physics community, we are still far from our goal. To this end, we are constantly working towards making our physics community more accessible, equitable, and inclusive. See our Physics DEI webpage for more information about some of these initiatives.
The above data set categories are influenced by U.S. Census categories. As a result, many marginalized groups are unaccounted for in these data sets. This lack of recognition does not reflect the views of the department as we strive to fully recognize and support all members of our community. Additionally, the definition of underrepresented minorities (URM) is not specified in the Rackham data set, but includes historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in higher education.†
† “Underrepresented minorities” (URM) category: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians/Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders (excluding Asian Americans), and multi-racial (i.e. “two or more races”) students identifying at least one of previously listed URM categories.
About the university, research at cambridge.
Postgraduate Study
The PhD in Physics is a full-time period of research which introduces or builds upon, research skills and specialist knowledge. Students are assigned a research supervisor, a specialist in part or all of the student's chosen research field, and join a research group which might vary in size between a handful to many tens of individuals.
Although the supervisor is responsible for the progress of a student's research programme, the extent to which a postgraduate student is assisted by the supervisor or by other members of the group depends almost entirely on the structure and character of the group concerned. The research field is normally determined at entry, after consideration of the student's interests and the facilities available. The student, however, may work within a given field for a period of time before their personal topic is determined.
There is no requirement made by the University for postgraduate students to attend formal courses or lectures for the PhD. Postgraduate work is largely a matter of independent research and successful postgraduates require a high degree of self-motivation. Nevertheless, lectures and classes may be arranged, and students are expected to attend both seminars (delivered regularly by members of the University and by visiting scholars and industrialists) and external conferences. Postgraduate students are also expected to participate in the undergraduate teaching programme at some time whilst they are based at the Cavendish, in order to develop their teaching, demonstrating, outreach, organisational and person-management skills.
It is expected that postgraduate students will also take advantage of the multiple opportunities available for transferable skills training within the University during their period of research.
By the end of the research programme, students will have demonstrated:
The Postgraduate Virtual Open Day usually takes place at the end of October. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions to admissions staff and academics, explore the Colleges virtually, and to find out more about courses, the application process and funding opportunities. Visit the Postgraduate Open Day page for more details.
See further the Postgraduate Admissions Events pages for other events relating to Postgraduate study, including study fairs, visits and international events.
3-4 years full-time, 4-7 years part-time, study mode : research, doctor of philosophy, department of physics, course - related enquiries, application - related enquiries, course on department website, dates and deadlines:, lent 2024 (closed).
Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.
Michaelmas 2024 (closed), easter 2025, funding deadlines.
These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2024, Lent 2025 and Easter 2025.
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For the Department of Physics, our graduate students under semesters are required to take:
You need to have an average GPA across the 6 core courses of 3.3 (B+) and any core course in which a student receives a B- or lower grade is required to be repeated for a better grade. This is referred to as the "Physics core course requirement."
Some students may have already taken an equivalent graduate level core course at another university or institution. In this case the student may request consideration that the core course be waived from the core course requirement. Please email the Graduate Studies Chair and provide a course syllabus, books used and copy of transcript showing the grades. This information will be discussed with the relevant core course instructors and then the student will be notified once a determination is made.
Physics Advanced Topics courses are typically numbered 68xx or 88xx. In addition to the core course requirement students are required to take at least three semesters of Advanced Topics courses, with at most one of these at the 68xx level. Physics 5810 "Computational Methods" does count as a 68xx level advanced topics course. For 5810 students will need to contact the Graduate Studies Program Coordinator to request manual enrollment in the course before the start of the semester.
If a student's advisor recommends that the student takes a course outside of Physics and the student wants this course to count as one of the three required Physics Advanced Topics courses, the student’s advisor should send an email to the Graduate Studies Chair confirming that this non-physics course is important for the student’s research. With this process, one non-physics course at the 4000-level or above will generally be approved to count as one of the required Physics Advanced Topics courses. If a student wants to have a non-physics course below the 4000 level count as a Physics Advanced topics course, or if the student would like more than one non-Physics course to count towards the Physics Advanced Topics requirement, they should discuss this with the Graduate Studies Chair, who may ask the student to prepare a petition that will be discussed with the Graduate Studies Committee.
After you complete your 6 Core Courses, 2 of the 3 Advanced Topics courses and meet the GPA requirements, you are eligible to schedule and complete your candidacy exam. Candidacy can be scheduled concurrently with your 2nd Advanced Topics course and/or with retaking a core course but should be scheduled late at the end of the term or between terms to verify that you meet the course completion, grade and GPA requirements. You will need to complete your 3rd Advanced Topics course within 1 year after passing candidacy.
By this point most students would have earned 18 credit hours of Physics Core Courses, 6 hours or more of Advanced Topics Courses, 2 hours of Physics seminars (Physics 6780 and 7891a) and at least 21 hours of Physics 7998 non-thesis independent research for a 2 year, 6 semester total of 47 credit hours. The Graduate School requires students to have completed a minimum of 30 credit hours to be eligible for taking their candidacy exam and this schedule of courses insures that is met.
Selecting your 4 member candidacy committee from the Physics faculty:
Example: Student is in condensed matter experiment the committee will need to be the student's advisor in CM Experiment, 2nd faculty member in CME, 3rd faculty member in CM Theory and the 4th member from outside of Condensed Matter.
Note that if your advisor recommends a faculty committee member that does not hold any appointment in Physics, you will need to email and petition the Graduate Studies Office for permission to have that faculty member as part of your 4 person committee. Please email your petition request directly to the Vice Chair of Graduate Studies (Prof. Pelz) with copy to your advisor and the Grad Studies Program Coordinator (Kris Dunlap).The Graduate Studies Office encourages most of our Physics grad students to schedule their candidacy exam during their 2nd summer. There are some research areas that this may not be possible and that should be discussed with the Vice Chair of Graduate Studies during the annual review conducted during spring terms. All students are required to pass candidacy by the end of their 3rd year.
The candidacy exam process is 6 weeks and needs to be scheduled to be completed during a current term in order to change your student status from Pre-candidacy to Post-candidacy. Please see the Candidacy Exam Info page for detailed instructions for how the exam is conducted.
Students should file an Application to Graduate form on gradforms.osu.edu to have a Master's degree recorded on their student file. The Application to Graduate online form will have an option for Master's degree for passing Candidacy and you should select that option.
At this point most students pass into their thesis research with their research advisor. Students begin the term immediately following candidacy registering for Physics 8999 Thesis Research for 3 credit hours only with their research advisor and are now subject to the Graduate School's rule for continuous enrollment for subsequent Autumn and Spring semesters. Post Candidacy students who may wish to take a term off or need to leave to work on a summer internship could do so during summer term but this should be discussed in advance with the advisor and the Physics Graduate Studies office.
Most students will need to spend another 4 years or 12 semesters (36 credit hours) working on their thesis research and earning enough credit hours to meet the 80 credit hour minimum to graduate. (Some students will need longer but on average most Physics student complete their PhD in 6 years.) Note that there is not a minimum number of Physics 8999 Thesis Research hours required for students who started their graduate program with Physics, but a reasonable number should have been earned in the years following passing candidacy. (Students transferring or starting the program with their Master's degree do have different requirements and these will be outlined in the Physics Handbook currently under revision as well as these students are subject to some additional Graduate School rules.)
Your post candidacy period to work on your PhD is limited to 5 years from the date of your candidacy exam but can be extended with a petition form "Committee and Examination Petition" sent to the graduate school using gradforms.osu.edu.
Some students may wish to take a graduate course sometime between passing candidacy and graduating and in those situations, students should register for the course for 3 credit hours and NOT Physics 8999 Thesis Research. Students should always discuss in advance the course they are interested in with their advisor before signing up for it and if the course is over 3 credit hours, students must have their advisor's permission to exceed 3 credit hours as this does mean a higher tuition cost to the professor.
Students need to have a minimum of 80 total graduate credit hours to apply for graduation. (Undergraduate courses do not count toward the 80 credit hours.) Note that as only 30 hours are required for the candidacy exam as well as for applying for your Master's degree, the balance of hours from pre-candidacy will need to be transferred to count toward earning your PhD. The Graduate School has a form for transferring graduate credit hours in excess of 30.
OSU Travel Policy
This policy covers that if you would need to travel related to your research for a conference, seminar, workshop or summer school, you MUST enter your travel into the e-Travel system and have it approved PRIOR to your leaving for your trip. Please consult with your research group’s administrative support person when planning your trip.
Office of Research - Research Compliance
American Institute of Physics - Statement of ethics and responsibilities of authors submitting to AIP journals: https://publishing.aip.org/authors/ethics