Admissions Requirement

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited U. S. college or university or a similarly recognized international university is required for admission to and completion of a graduate program.

Time Limit

A master’s degree must be completed within eight years of entering the degree program. Additional time may be requested by the student’s committee and submitted to the Vice Provost of Graduate Studies for review.

Course and Credit Requirements

60 credit hours (minimum) [including minimum 18 hours dissertation research (course)] are required beyond a bachelor's degree, or

30 credit hour (minimum) [including minimum 12 hours dissertation research (course)] are required beyond a master’s degree.

Graduate students are required to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA for degree-program courses. Grades of C− or lower will not be accepted for a graduate degree.

Courses at the 6000 level and above are acceptable. Up to 12 credits at the 5000 - 5990 level may be used for the degree.

Credits in the following areas are not acceptable in a degree program: foreign languages (unless included in an approved Program of Study), continuing graduate advisement, individual home study, military science, and courses numbered below 3000.

Coursework Validity

Class credits must be revalidated if more than 8 years have elapsed before completion of degree. The student’s supervisory committee (SC) is responsible for developing and submitting the revalidation plan to the Vice Provost of Graduate Studies for approval. The plan and determination must be verified in writing and include the Vice Provost of Graduate Studies and the student’s major professor.

Required Exams

Qualification: Each student enrolled in the PhD program is evaluated for qualification for PhD work. In order that the totality of the student’s first year in the program can be evaluated, consideration of qualification occurs at the beginning of the fall semester of the second year. Qualification of the student is primarily based on coursework, although the qualification process may also include an evaluation of the student’s work as a teaching assistant or research assistant.

Candidacy Exam: The Candidacy Exam consists of a written report an oral presentation, followed by deliberation and voting by the faculty. The examination topic is typically set (by the student's Supervisory Committee) during the fourth semester of the student’s program; the examination takes place during the student’s fifth semester. Details of the examination can be found in the Department's Guide to the Candidacy Exam.

Dissertation Requirements

A PhD degree requires the preparation and defense of a dissertation. The dissertation is to be a contribution to the field of knowledge based on the student’s own research.

Seminar Requirement

The Physics Department requires each PhD student to present at least two research seminars associated with his/her research (neither of which can be the Candidacy Examination oral presentation). One of these is associated with the dissertation defense, the other seminar can be a local seminar given to members of a local research group, a presentation at a regional, national, or international conference, or an invited talk at another institution.

Required Training

All graduate students are required to complete the online CITI-Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR) training.

Required Forms

Physics Department Forms

Application for Qualification
Intent for Candidacy

School of Graduate Studies Forms

Supervisory Committee Approval Form
Program of Study
Full Time at Three Credits
Application for Candidacy for a Doctoral Degree
Appointment for Examination
Authorship and Copyright
Format and Style and Electronic Publication Approval
Title Page
Record of Examination
Graduation Application

Further Information

Further details regarding Physics PhD degrees can be found in the Physics Department PhD Handbook

Physics - PhD

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Program Overview

Program Requirements

Program Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes