Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Program

The Ph.D. program is aimed at enabling a student to prepare for and carry out research in physics at the frontier of knowledge. The Department encourages entry into dissertation research under the supervision of a faculty member as soon as one has attained sufficient mastery of the fundamental principles and techniques of physics. Depth and breadth within the larger context of contemporary physics are promoted by a flexible set of course requirements.

Numerous seminars and the weekly Physics Colloquium provide an excellent opportunity for students to keep abreast of recent developments across the full spectrum of physics research. The biweekly "Physics, Beer, and Pizza Seminar" helps students learn about current research activities in the department.

Entering students who qualify for admission to the Ph.D. program are offered a five-year departmental financial aid package with a commitment of at least 2, and not more than 6 semesters of part-time teaching duties. Departmental support may be withdrawn if a student is deemed not to be making adequate progress toward fulfilling the degree requirements. Students who need more than 5 years to complete their degree requirements can apply for research assistantships and a limited number of fellowships without teaching duties.

Ph.D. Requirements

Summary

Core course requirements
Optional preliminary examination
Experimental Physics requirement
Course requirements beyond the core
Requirements of the Graduate School of Arts and Science
Formation of a Thesis Committee
Oral Qualifying Examination
Annual review, progress report, thesis proposal
Oral Thesis Defense

Core course requirements

The aim is to certify the student's mastery of a traditional body of basic principles and problem-solving techniques generally considered to be an essential part of a research physicist's training. To this end, a student in the Ph.D. program is required to get a B or better in each part of 4 core subjects,

Dynamics (syllabus)
Statistical Mechanics (syllabus)
Electromagnetism (2 parts) (syllabus I ) (syllabus II)
Quantum Mechanics (2 parts) (syllabus I ) (syllabus II)

Optional preliminary examination (schedule)

In order to allow well-prepared students to fulfill the core-course requirement without unnecessary coursework, an optional preliminary examination in each subject will be given at the beginning of the fall term. Each part of the examination will be designed to be completed in 1 hour 50 minutes (with 3 hours permitted to eliminate time pressure) and will cover the material of the relevant one-semester course at the level of midterm and final examinations. A grade of B or better in any of the 6 parts of the 4 preliminary examinations fulfills that part of the core requirement. A student must take in the first year any core-course whose requirement has not been satisfied by the corresponding preliminary examination.

Experimental Physics requirement

The course G85.2075 Experimental Physics is required of all students, except for those who have had equivalent laboratory experience.

Course requirements beyond the core

A student is required to take at least 6 courses (not including reading and research courses or the Practicum) in the Physics Department beyond the core level. At least 2 of these courses must be outside the student's research area. For the purpose of satisfying this requirement, the Experimental Physics course counts as one of the outside-the-area courses, but the Computational Physics course does not.

Requirements of the Graduate School of Arts and Science

A student must also satisfy the following requirements of the Graduate School of Arts and Science: a total of at least 72 points of graduate-level credit, at least 32 of which must be taken at N.Y.U. and at least 30 of which must be passsed with a grade of B or better.

Formation of a Thesis Committee

By the beginning of May of the student's second year, the student is expected to have arranged for thesis supervision with a member of the Physics faculty.

A four-person Thesis Committee, chaired by the thesis advisor, is set up at this time. The membership of the Thesis Committee is proposed by the advisor in consultation with his/her student, and must be approved in writing by the DGS to insure breadth and level of expertise.

At the time of its formation, the Thesis Committee will meet with the student and discuss his/her course of study, preliminary research plans, and the timing and scope of the Oral Qualifying Examination (see below). The committee will conduct an annual review of the student's progress, normally in January.

Oral Qualifying Examination

The Qualifying Examination marks the student's formal entry into dissertation research under the supervision of a particular faculty member. It takes place after the student has already embarked on some sort of preliminary research with his or her advisor, and is administered by the student's Thesis Committee. The deadline for taking the Oral Qualifying Examination is January of a student's third year, prior to the annual review.

The examination itself consists of a prepared talk by the candidate followed by a question period. The aim is to examine the student's mastery not only of the specific area of the student's intended research, but also of related areas of physics, and of (relevant) general principles of physics. The committee decides whether the evidence, taken all together, presents a convincing picture of a person with the preparation and skills needed to do original scientific research in the proposed area.

Annual review, progress report, thesis proposal

There is an annual review of each student's progress toward the Ph.D. This includes a progress report submitted by the student. Prior to the formation of a Thesis Committee, the review is conducted by the Ph.D. Qualification Committee. Afterwards, the student's Thesis Committee conducts the review. The first annual progress report following the Qualifying Exam includes a formal proposal for the student's thesis research and the report of the Qualifying Exam Committee. Subsequent progress reports inform the committee on progress toward completion of the thesis, as well as on any significant modifications of the original proposal.

Oral Thesis Defense

The final approval of the student's thesis, and the oral thesis defense, is conducted by the student's Thesis Committee, augmented by one additional faculty member. Three members of the examining committee, including the student's advisor, serve as readers of the dissertation.