Graduate Written Examination: Must pass by the end of the second year. See Chapters 2 and 7.

Filing of Graduate Degree Plan (if started prior to Fall 2020) or submit GPAS Planner (if started Fall 2020 or later): File as soon as possible after passing the graduate written examination and selecting a research adviser. The Degree Plan must be filed at least one semester before the Preliminary Oral Examination.

Minimum Grade Point Average: 3.3 in the required courses. 3.0 overall GPA. Only courses with grades of A, B, (including B-) and S may be counted toward the degree.

Course Requirements: At least 40 credits, including Physics 5001/2, 5011/2, and 5201. Two semesters of a seminar in the student's research area are required.

Minor Field: 12 credits. If the student declares a formal minor, these credits must be in the graduate program corresponding to that minor. Final authority for the designation of what courses can be counted toward this requirement is the Director of Graduate Studies.

Course Level: Courses that count towards a Ph.D. degree must be at the 4000, 5000 or 8000 level. In the case of 4000 courses, undergraduate core courses such as Physics 4001, 4002, 4101, 4201, and 4303, which are considered to be remedial as far as the graduate program is concerned, do not earn graduate credit. On the other hand, other 4000 level classes (“Introduction to” courses) that are an introduction to a specific discipline: PHYS 4041, 4211, 4511, 4611, 4623, 4811, and 4911 earn graduate credit. A maximum of nine 4000 level course credits may be used to satisfy the doctoral credit requirements. At least 6 credits of the courses in the sub-field and 8 credits total (not counting thesis credits) must be at the 8000 level.

Foreign Language Requirement: No formal requirement. However, the adviser may require a reading knowledge of a particular foreign language when that is necessary for the writing of the dissertation.

Preliminary Oral Examination: Ph.D. candidates must pass the Preliminary Oral Examination. See Chapter 3 for more information.

Thesis Credits: 24 (Physics 8888)

Writing and Defense of Thesis: Ph.D. candidates must write and defend a thesis in a final oral examination. See Chapter 3 for more details. The thesis must be written and formatted according to the Graduate School rules,