Physics Graduate Student Guide and Graduate Degree Requirements

1. Preliminary Requirements
2. General Requirements for M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees
3. Requirements for the M.S. Degree in Physics
4. Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree in Physics
5. Requirements for the Ph.D. in Physics / M.S. in Computational Science Joint Degree
6. Expectations and General Advice

1. Preliminary Requirements

Graduate Teaching Assistant Preparation
Students attend a 2.5 day teaching training workshop to qualify as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. This workshop is given by the Graduate School in the third week of August, and is required of all Emory graduate students before they teach. Domestic students attend the workshop prior to their first academic year. International students who require English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) courses attend the workshop prior to their second year.

English Proficiency
English proficiency is required of all Emory Graduate Teaching Assistants. All international students are given an English Proficiency Examination before the start of their first year (late August). Based on the performance on written and oral examinations, students are exempted from further ESL training, or may be required to take up to two ESL courses in the first two semesters.

Undergraduate Preparation
It is assumed that the entering physics graduate student has completed an undergraduate program which is equivalent to that of a student who obtained the Bachelor's degree in physics at Emory. This means undergraduate work in mathematical physics, mechanics, optics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, modern physics, quantum mechanics and experimental physics.

Students who are not fully prepared in one or more of these fields will be required to take the necessary introductory courses. This situation might arise as a consequence of a more interdisciplinary undergraduate experience for certain individuals, who later decide to pursue an area in Physics for their advanced degree.

Texts indicating the required level of understanding are the following:

• Mathematical Physics - Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences, Boas.
• Mechanics - Classical Mechanics, Barger and Olsson.
• Optics - Optics, Möller.
• Electricity and Magnetism - Introduction to Electromagnetic Fields and Waves, Corson and Lorrain; Foundations of Electromagnetic Theory, Reitz, Milford, and Christy.
• Thermodynamics - Thermal Physics, Kittel and Kroemer.
• Modern Physics - Modern Physics, Krane.
• Quantum Mechanics - Principles of Quantum Mechanics, Ohanian.

2. General Requirements for M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees

General Course Requirements
A full course load is four courses (16 hours of credit total) per semester for an entering graduate student who has no teaching responsibilities. A full course load is three courses (12 hours total) per semester for a graduate student who is fulfilling the teaching requirement.

To remain in the physics graduate program, a student must maintain a GPA of B (3.0) or better in Physics graduate courses.

Courses on the 100 or 200 level may not be applied for M.S. or Ph.D. degree requirements.

Language Requirement
The Physics Department has no foreign language requirement for either the M.S. or Ph.D. degree. Students for whom English is a second language will be required to pass an English Proficiency Examination (see Section 1).

3. Requirements for the M.S. Degree in Physics

Students are not admitted into the Graduate Program in Physics to pursue the M.S. degree. Students may be offered the M.S. degree, if they leave the Ph.D. program.

Standing and Residence
A minimum accumulated residence in the Graduate School of two semesters in FULL standing is required for the M.S. degree. Courses may not be applied toward the FULL standing residence requirements unless they are on the 300 level or above.

Specific Course Requirements
In addition to the general course requirements, minimum specific course requirements for the M.S. degree are:

1. Satisfactory completion of 24 hours of credit, of which 20 must be in course or seminar work, not including Directed Study (Physics 597R) or Research (Physics 599R).
   
   
2. At least 14 of the hours in course or seminar credit must be on the 500 or 700 level.
   
   
3. A grade of B- or better must be earned in at least 14 hours of course work taken.
   
   
4. No course at the 100 or 200 level can be applied to the M.S. degree.
   
   

Students are required to take the following three core graduate courses:

Physics 503a	Classical Mechanics I	(4 hr)
Physics 506a	Quantum Mechanics I	(4 hr)
Physics 511a	Electrodynamics I	(4 hr)

It is assumed that the student will also complete introductory graduate courses in more specialized areas such as statistical physics or biophysics, depending on the master's thesis topic.

Thesis and Thesis Advisory Committee
The student must submit an acceptable thesis demonstrating an ability to use advanced methods of research. The Thesis Advisory Committee is composed of the thesis advisor, two additional physics faculty members, and one faculty member from another department. The Thesis Advisory Committee approves the topic for the candidate's research, approves both a written and oral report of the student's progress at least once a year, reads and approves the thesis before it is submitted to the office of the Graduate School, and acts for the department in recommending the candidate for the M.S. degree.

4. Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree in Physics

Residency Requirement
The Graduate School requires that students must be enrolled in at least 12 hours of credit in each semester.

Standing
Students admitted to the Physics Ph.D. program with a Bachelor's degree begin with FULL standing. Following one year (minimum of 24 hours of credit), students move to ADVANCED standing. In ADVANCED standing, students must be enrolled in courses for 2 years (4 semesters), and accumulate a minimum of 48 hours of credit. The total accumulated credit is therefore 72 hours.

Students admitted to the Physics Ph.D. program with a Master's degree enter with ADVANCED standing. In ADVANCED standing, students must be enrolled in courses for 2 years (4 semesters), and accumulate a minimum of 48 hours of credit. In ADVANCED standing, Physics students must complete at least 16 hours of course work, of which a maximum of 6 hours may be taken as Directed Study (Phys 797R). A maximum of 32 hours of research credit (Phys 799R) may be taken.

Courses applied to FULL or ADVANCED standing residency requirements must be at the 300 level or above. As many as two semesters of residence credit may be spent on research and study elsewhere upon recommendation of the student's advisory committee and with the approval of the Executive Committee of the Graduate School, provided the program is not available at Emory. Credit for work completed elsewhere cannot exempt the student from any part of the doctoral examinations at Emory.

Teaching
All physics Ph.D. students are required to teach for three semesters. The teaching requirement is satisfied by Teaching Assistantship (two semesters; corresponds to course designations TATT 600 and TATT 605) and a Teaching Associateship (Co-Teaching) assignment (one semester; corresponds to TATT 610). Teaching Assistants are responsible for two laboratory sections for both semesters of an introductory physics course, such as Physics 141-142 or Physics 151-152. The one semester Co-Teaching assignment involves a close interaction with a faculty member in teaching an undergraduate course.

Physics Course Requirements
Ph.D. students are required to take the following core graduate courses:

Physics 503a	Classical Mechanics I	(4 hr)
Physics 506a	Quantum Mechanics I	(4 hr)
Physics 511a	Electrodynamics I	(4 hr)
Physics 526	Statistical Physics	(4 hr)
Physics 544	Advanced Laboratory	(4 hr)

The Physics 544 Advanced Laboratory requirement may be waived, at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies, if the student has significant past experimental research experience.

In meeting additional requirements, it is assumed the student will complete courses in Physics elective courses.

Research Rotation
The rotation is a 12-14 week period of work on a research project under the direction of a faculty member. Students gain in-depth education and training in an area of research and a chance to participate directly in the scientific method, an experience that is not attainable in the classroom. Two research rotations, each with a different faculty member, are required. The first rotation is typically performed during the summer of the first year. The second rotation is performed during either the Fall or Spring semester of the second year. For a detailed description of the rotation program click here.

Qualifier Proposal
The Qualifier Proposal assesses the readiness of the student for entry into the final stage of the Ph.D. program (dissertation research). The Qualifier Proposal is researched and prepared during the summer of the second year, and is presented no later than August 15 of the summer of the second year.

The Qualifier Proposal involves the preparation of a research proposal that is conceived, literature-researched and presented by the student in the spirit of a small grant proposal. In addition to its function in determining further progress towards the Ph.D., the Qualifier Proposal allows the student to gain a deeper understanding of their chosen sub-field of Physics (for example, an area in soft condensed matter or molecular biophysics), and it is an essential component of the program's effort to train students in the practical aspects of science. For a detailed description of the Qualifier Proposal, click here.

The Ph.D. qualification process also requires that students have a grade of B or better in the required Physics core course work.

Students who pass the Qualifier Proposal, and who have maintained the required average of B or better in required Physics course work, are admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree.

Dissertation Research
After passing the Qualifier Proposal and meeting the physics coursework grade requirements, the student formally begins the research program that leads to the dissertation. It is recognized that some research work with the dissertation advisor in the area of the dissertation may, and most likely will, have already been conducted. The student will specify the field of study, dissertation advisor, and specific research topic in consultation with the dissertation advisor. The Dissertation Advisory Committee will be formed within three weeks of the successful Qualifier Proposal presentation, and its composition reported to the DGS. The Dissertation Advisory Committee will act to monitor and assist the student over the entire course of progress towards the Ph.D, and is made up of at least five faculty, including the dissertation advisor, at least one member from outside the Emory Department of Physics and at least three additional members of the Emory Physics faculty. The committee will always be chaired by a member of the Department of Physics, usually by the dissertation advisor.

There is a formal program of supervision of the research and the Ph.D. dissertation which includes the following:

1. The first formal meeting of the Ph.D. candidate and the Dissertation Advisory Committee will occur no later than August 1 of the third year. At this first meeting, the candidate will present a brief introduction to the dissertation research topic, the aims of the dissertation research, and the short-term and long-term plans for conducting the research. In general, the candidate will use the summer of the third year to perform research, acquire necessary literature background, and prepare for the presentation. The purpose of this meeting is to approve the topic of the candidate's research and planned research program.
   
   
2. After the first meeting, the Dissertation Advisory Committee will meet annually with the candidate during the course of the research to review progress and to offer suggestions. Upon completion of the research, the committe will read and approve the dissertation before it is submitted to the Office of the Graduate School. The committee acts for the department in recommending the candidate for the Ph.D. degree.
   
   
3. The candidate is required to present one public dissertation research seminar. This seminar, which will be announced in suitable university publications, will be given after the completion of the candidate's dissertation research but not necessarily after the completion of the dissertation. In the seminar, the candidate will present research results and answer questions from any person in attendance. Following the public seminar, the candidate will be questioned by the Dissertation Advisory Committee.

The candidate for the Ph.D. degree in physics may carry on dissertation research at facilities of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Savannah River Laboratory, and the Puerto Rico National Center under the Oak Ridge Graduate Fellowship Program of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities.

5. Requirements for the Ph.D. in Physics/M.S. in Computational Science Joint Degree

This joint degree program is a modified program of the current Ph.D. program in physics. The Ph.D. dissertation must consist of original research on a physics topic with a significant computational aspect. All the requirements for a Ph.D. degree in physics are retained. In addition, students are required to complete a minimum of six graduate courses in math and computer science: one in system programming, five chosen from numerical analysis, parallel processing, compiler construction, networking, computer graphics, operating systems and/or distributed processing.

All students admitted to the physics Ph.D. program are eligible to enter the program. Students lacking the necessary computer science undergraduate training may be required to complete the background course work before beginning the program. Students with a Bachelor's degree begin with FULL standing and can progress to ADVANCED standing at the end of one year. Students with a Master's degree begin with ADVANCED standing. Specific degree requirements are detailed as follows.

Specific Course Requirements In addition to the course requirements for the Ph. D. in physics, minimum course requirements for the Ph. D. in Physics/M. S. in Computational Science are:

Additional Computer Science courses, which may be offered intermittently or as Special Topics courses, may be used for to meet the course requirement (see the Director of Graduate Studies).

Dissertation
The dissertation must consist of original research on a physics topic with a significant computational aspect. The Dissertation Advisory Committee, which approves the research topic and meets with the student once every year to assess the student's progress, consists of at least five graduate faculty members, a majority of whom must have their primary appointments in physics. At least one member should have his or her primary appointment in the Mathematics and Computer Science Department. The committee will always be chaired by a member of the Physics Department, usually by the dissertation advisor.

6. Expectations and General Advice

Personal and professional integrity, and the motivation to perform thesis research, are essential characteristics of the successful Ph.D. student. Our Graduate Program highly values each individual student. The clear mission of the Physics Graduate faculty is to develop outstanding scientists. The Emory Physics faculty are therefore extremely supportive of all graduate students who show the high level of intellectual engagement and strong work ethic that will assure their successful completion of the degree program.

The faculty meet at the end of each semester to discuss and assess the academic and professional performance of each graduate student. Students found deficient in areas relating to academic standing will be advised on how to improve their situation. In extreme cases, probation for one semester may be recommended. If performance in the area of deficiency is not corrected within the probationary time period, the student may be asked to leave the program.

Graduate students in Physics are supported by a 12-month stipend during their graduate study. A full year's commitment to the Graduate Program in Physics is therefore expected. Vacations, or time taken away from the Emory campus not associated with meetings or remote research work, should not exceed 3 weeks total, per year. Winter and summer breaks should be planned accordingly. Requests for additional time off for extenuating circumstances should be directed to the DGS. The educational and research training missions of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate Program in Physics are best served by the year-round attention of the students to their studies and their immersion in the Graduate Program on the Emory campus.