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2009-2010 University Catalog
Physics, PhD
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Banner Code: SC-PHD-PHYS
All doctoral students accepted into the physics PhD program take a common core of four courses (see below). By working with the Dissertation Committee, a student may choose to specialize in an emphasis area such as astrophysics, biophysics, nonlinear physics, planetary sciences, material physics, space weather physics, or others according to his or her particular interests. By the end of their first year, all students should pair with a faculty advisor who will guide them toward candidacy.
Admission Requirements
Those holding a baccalaureate degree in physics or astronomy from an accredited institution, who earned a GPA of 3.00 (out of 4.00) in their last 60 credits, and received acceptable scores on the GRE-GEN are invited to apply for admission. Three letters of recommendation must be submitted, preferably from former professors. The GRE subject test in physics is recommended for all interested applicants who received their baccalaureate degrees within the past five years. A degree-seeking graduate applicant with a baccalaureate degree who has not met all admission requirements may be offered provisional admission if sufficient evidence is presented to suggest the applicant has the ability to pursue graduate work. For more details concerning admission requirements to George Mason University, please refer to the Graduate Admission Policies and Admission of International Students sections of this catalog. |
Degree Requirements
Students must satisfy all requirements for doctoral degrees expressed in the Academic Policies section of this catalog.
All students in the physics PhD program must earn a minimum of 72 graduate credits. Of these, 48 are required course work and preliminary research credits, and 24 are doctoral dissertation proposal (PHYS/ASTR 998) and doctoral dissertation research (PHYS/ASTR 999) credits. For students entering the doctoral program with previous graduate work, the 48 credits of course work may be reduced by a maximum of 30 credits. The required 48 credits of course work are divided among core courses, physics and astronomy elective courses, general elective courses, and a seminar requirement. The 12 credits of core courses include PHYS 684, 685, 705, and 711. Note that doctoral candidacy (qualifying) examinations will be given on the topics covered in these core courses. The remaining 36 credits includes 3 credits of PHYS 703, a 1-credit seminar that is repeated three times, 6 credits of physics or astronomy specialty courses, and 27 credits of general electives, which may be chosen from physics and astronomy, or other related disciplines. These elective courses may include research credits (PHYS/ASTR 796, PHYS/ASTR 798) in preparation for the Doctoral Dissertation. These research courses may be repeated with the approval of the student’s advisor or Dissertation Committee in order to be applied toward the degree requirements. Qualifying examinations
All students must successfully pass the qualifying examinations for the four core courses. The qualifying exam is offered once per year and is divided into four sections corresponding to the four topics in the core courses (Quantum Mechanics, Electromagnetic Theory, Classical Mechanics, and Statistical Mechanics). Grades of “Pass” or “Unsatisfactory” will be given individually for the four separate sections of the exam. If students receive a grade of “Unsatisfactory” in a given section of the exam, they will be allowed to retake that section a maximum of two times. Students can choose to take a particular section or a combination of sections at one sitting, but they must successfully pass all sections by the end of their third year. Students entering the program with equivalent courses taken at another institution can satisfy the core requirement by taking the qualifying exam directly. There is a written and an oral component for each section of the qualifying exam. A student must satisfactorily pass both components of the exam. The oral component may be waived by unanimous consent of the Qualifying Examination Committee for exceptional performance on the written component. At the beginning of each academic year, the program director will appoint members to the Qualifying Examination Committee, and this committee is responsible for creating and grading the qualifying exam offered that year. Advancement to candidacy
After the successful completion of the qualifying examination, a Dissertation Committee should be formed as soon as possible. This committee consists of a graduate faculty member (see the Graduate Faculty section in the catalog) from the Department of Physics and Astronomy and at least two other members of the graduate faculty, one of whom must be from outside the student’s department or degree program. The composition of the committee must be approved by the program director. Qualified individuals who are not members of the graduate faculty (i.e., faculty at another university) may serve on a dissertation committee with the approval of the program director and the associate dean for graduate programs. The Dissertation Committee is responsible for directing students in their chosen field of research. The Dissertation Committee should work with the student to select specialty courses and electives to form a cohesive program of study. Preliminary research credits (PHYS/ASTR 796 and PHYS/ASTR 798) can be taken as a part of the electives to prepare for the student’s dissertation. Advancement to candidacy implies that a doctoral student has demonstrated both breadth and depth of knowledge in the field of study and is capable of conducting research on the boundaries of knowledge. Before doctoral students may be advanced to candidacy by the dean, they will need to have had completed all required course work, passed the qualifying examinations, and been recommended by the Dissertation Committee. A doctoral student has six years from the time of first enrollment as a degree-seeking student to advance to candidacy. Doctoral dissertation
After advancing to candidacy, doctoral candidates will work with the Dissertation Committee to formalize their preliminary research into a doctoral dissertation. The dissertation research should represent a significant contribution to its scientific field and should be deemed publishable in refereed scientific journals. A total of 24 credits in the following two courses must be taken: PHYS 998 or ASTR 998 Dissertation Proposal (0 to 12 credit hours), and PHYS 999 or ASTR 999 Doctoral Dissertation (12 to 24 credit hours). Note that before the student may enroll in PHYS/ASTR 999, the dissertation proposal must be approved by the Dissertation Committee and evidence of its approval sent to the dean for approval. Before that time, the student may enroll in PHYS/ASTR 998 (Dissertation Proposal). Students working on their Doctoral Dissertation (999) must register for a minimum of 3 credits of 999 per semester (excluding summers) until they have completed the 12-credit minimum requirement for 999, after which they must register for 1 credit of 999 until the dissertation is completed and accepted. The dissertation must be defended in a public forum before the Dissertation Committee and other interested faculty. After the candidate successfully defends the dissertation, the Dissertation Committee recommends to the Graduate Faculty of George Mason University the awarding to the candidate the degree of doctor of philosophy in physics. Students have five years from the time of advancement to candidacy to graduate. |
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