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Physics Overview |
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Graduate Advisor Professor Richard Sorbello (Office: Rm. 438; Tel.: X4138; Email: sorbello@uwm.edu). Professor Sorbello is available to advise you on academic matters concerning your graduate studies. Assistant Chair Professor Michael Weinert (Rm. 486, Tel.: X3051; Email:mailto:weinert@uwm.edu) is involved with TA appointments and class assignments. Graduate Program Secretary (Rm. 442, Tel.: X4474) keeps physics department graduate records and distributes and collects graduate program notices, applications and official documents. Business Manager Tom Gatlin (Rm. 440, Tel.: X4225) is the person to see regarding payroll-related financial matters. Department Program Assistant (Rm. 442, Tel.: X4474) is your first contact person. The Department Program Assistant will assist you in a variety of matters concerning the Department and can also arrange an appointment for you if you wish to see the Department Chair. Department Chair, Professor Dilano Saldin (Rm. 478, Tel.: X6423; Email:mailto:dksaldin@uwm.edu). For information on Graduate School rules
and regulations, see the Graduate
Student and Faculty Handbook at http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Grad_Sch/Publications/Handbook/
. This handbook is the place to go for official information
on Graduate School dates and deadlines, academic policy and procedures,
and degree requirements imposed by the Graduate School.
For information about the Physics faculty
and their research interests see the Physics Department web
pages.
As you navigate toward a
Ph.D. degree or M.S. degree, there are a number of rules and regulations that
you need to be aware of, and these are outlined here. Additional
information concerning Graduate School Rules is available in the Graduate Student
and Faculty Handbook.
The course work requirement for the
Ph.D. degree is a minimum of 54 graduate credits beyond the Bachelor's
degree, of which at least 27 must be earned at UWM. Coursework must include 515, 531, 532, 711, 720 and 721 and a minimum of 12 credits in physics graduate courses selected from 651 and 700-999 levels (excluding 990). Students must complete the core courses (515, 531, 532, 711, 720, and 721) within three years of enrollment into the physics graduate program. Students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or
greater in these core courses. Students must achieve a grade of B- or greater in
each core course; if a student fails to meet this requirement, the student must either retake the course or demonstrate equivalent proficiency (as determined by the departmental academic graduate committee) in order to continue in the doctoral program.
You must also pass the Written
Comprehensive Exam (WCE) and, subsequently, the combined oral Doctoral
Preliminary Exam and Proposal Hearing (prelim). Students have a maximum of 3 attempts to pass the exam and must take the exam each time that it is offered until passing the exam or exhausting the 3 allowed attempts. The prelim must be taken within four years of enrollment in the physics doctoral program and must be passed within 5 years of enrollment in the program. Finally
there is the oral Ph.D. dissertation defense. The WCE is described in Sec.
II and the oral exams are described in Sec. III. (Continued financial
support as a TA or RA depends upon satisfactory progress towards your degree,
and in many instances, professors will require that a student pass the WCE
before providing RA support.)
The normal sequence of steps to the
Ph.D. degree is as follows.
The M.S. degree requires 24
graduate credits, 18 of which must be in physics and 6 of which may be in
related fields. Of the 18 credits earned in the Physics Department 6 must
be in physics courses above 700 and the remainder in courses at least above
500. The remaining requirement for the M.S. degree is passing the Master's
oral exam.
II. Ph.D. Written Comprehensive
Examination
B. Copies of previous
exams may be obtained from the Graduate Secretary in Room 442.
C. The Ph.D. Written
Comprehensive Exam is designed to test a student's physics problem solving
capabilities assuming a knowledge of physics equivalent to an advanced
undergraduate at a premier institution. Here is a sample of textbooks at the
requisite level for the new written comprehensive exam: Quantum Mechanics: "Introduction to
Quantum Mechanics" by D. J. Griffiths Prentice Hall [1994].
Classical Mechanics: "Classical
dynamics of particles and systems" by J. B. Marion New York, Academic Press
[1970]; "Mechanics" by K. R. Symon Reading, Mass., Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.
[1960].
Electromagnetism: "Introduction to
Electrodynamics" by D.J. Griffiths Prentice Hall [1994].
Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics:
"Heat and Thermodynamics" by R.H. Dittman & M.W. Zemansky McGraw-Hill
Higher Education [1996]; "Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics" by A.H.
Carter.
Modern Physics: "Modern Physics" by P.A
Tipler & R.A. Llewellyn, W H Freeman & Co[1999]; "Modern Physics" by
K.L. Krane, John Wiley & Sons. B. Doctoral Preliminary
Examination and Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Hearing (combined
examination): Student and major professor recommend committee
members of the combined Doctoral Preliminary Examination and
Dissertation Proposal Hearing to the Academic Graduate Committee#
for their approval. The student and major professor fill-out
application+ for the Doctoral Preliminary Examination and forward
it to the Graduate Advisor, who signs application and forwards it to the
Graduate School for approval. After approval by the Graduate School, the
warrant authorizing the prelim exam is then sent to the Department.
The Committee for the combined
Doctoral Preliminary Examination and Dissertation Proposal Hearing shall be a
four to five member committee chaired by the candidate's major
professor. The candidate will submit a written proposal outlining the
proposed dissertation research program to the Committee members and an outline
of the approved proposal will be submitted to the Graduate School. The
Committee will examine the candidate on his/her preparation and proposed
dissertation research program. The Committee shall consider:
The Doctoral Dissertation Proposal
Hearing form+ is filled out by the student before the exam and is
taken to the exam. At the conclusion of the exam, the committee members sign
the prelim exam warrant and the Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Hearing form
and indicate the results of the exam. The signed warrant and form are
transmitted to the Graduate School.
C. Final Oral Examination:
Oral Examination in defense of dissertation. Five or more members.
Committee recommended by Major Professor to Academic Graduate
Committee.# Application form is prepared by student and is
signed by Major Professor and Graduate Program Advisor and sent to the
Graduate School for approval. After approval of application by the
Doctoral Student Specialist, a warrant is sent to the Department authorizing
the Examination. After the exam, the committee members sign the warrant
and indicate the results of the exam. The warrant is then given to the
Graduate Program Advisor for his/her signature, and the signed warrant is
transmitted to the Graduate School. B. Admission to Doctoral Program:
Graduate students originally admitted into the Master of Science program must apply for admission
into the Doctoral program when they have completed the Master's program of study.
C. Program of
Study: A Ph.D. student must plan a proposed Ph.D. Program of Study
in consultation with and approved by the major professor.#
D. Dissertator
Status+: Doctoral students apply to the Graduate School
to obtain this status. The doctoral student must have accomplished the
following: passed the combined preliminary examination and
doctoral proposal hearing (including submission of summary to Graduate School
as outlined in Sec. III-B above), met the residency requirement (see Sec. E,
below), and completed all major course requirements for the PhD degree (see
Sec. F, below). (Students who elect to have a minor course of study also need
to complete the minor course-requirement (See Sec. G, below). Students who
have attained "dissertator status" are required to register for 3 credits of
research (Physics 990) per semester. (The fee for these credits is at
the dissertator rate.) All students with dissertator status must
register for 3 credits in the Fall and Spring semesters. Additionally,
dissertators must register for 3 credits in the Summer semester if: they
receive RA or Fellowship support, they plan to graduate that summer, or if
they use University facilities or faculty time. Dissertators must continue to
meet these registration requirements until the final PhD dissertation is
accepted by the Graduate School.
E. Residency: The
Graduate School requires that each Ph.D. student complete the following
residency requirement: After the Master's degree (or equivalent level of
study) you complete 8 to 12 graduate credits in each of two consecutive
semesters, excluding summer sessions, or complete 6 to 12 credits in each of 3
consecutive semesters excluding summer sessions. Residence credit cannot be
earned at the master's level or before the master's degree is awarded.
F. Course work
requirement: Coursework must include 515, 531, 532, 711, 720 and 721 and a minimum of 12 other credits
in physics graduate courses selected from 651 and 700-999 levels (excluding 990). Students must complete the core courses (515, 531, 532, 711, 720, and 721) within three years of enrollment into the physics graduate program. Students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or greater over these core courses. Students must achieve a
grade of B- or greater in each core course; if a student fails to meet this requirement, the student must either retake the course or demonstrate equivalent proficiency (as determined by the departmental academic graduate committee) in order to continue in the doctoral program.
G. Minor: There is
no minor requirement for a Ph.D. in Physics. However, the Graduate
School permits students to complete a minor as described in the two options
below.
Option A: 9-12
credits in a single department with advice of the minor professor.
Option B: 12
credits in two or more departments with advice of major professor.
Research
assistant*+: Doctoral student with dissertation
status: 1. Before the session in which the
candidate plans to graduate, his/her adviser will submit the following
item to the departmental academic graduate committee: the list of names of
proposed dissertation committee,* which is to consist of five or more members,
including the adviser. (It is recognized that the final makeup of this
committee is subject to the availability of the proposed members at the time
of the final examination). The departmental academic graduate
committee will collate these items and advise the physics faculty of the
following:
2. The department recognizes the
general desirability of having the dissertation committee include at least one
faculty member from outside the department.
3. It is the responsibility of the
Ph.D. candidate to keep the dissertation committee members apprised of his/her
progress.
4. A complete draft of the
dissertation is to be presented to all members of the dissertation committee
at least 21 days before the final defense.
5. The candidate must present an
announced departmental colloquium on his/her dissertation research prior to
the defense of the dissertation.
6. The final defense of the
dissertation is open to the public and is to be well advertised (announcements
in mailboxes --also, for example, to other interested departments and in UWM
calendar). The candidate's research adviser is the chair of the meeting
for the final defense of the dissertation. After the candidate and the
public have left the meeting, it is expected that the research adviser will
give interested members of the university faculty an opportunity to comment on
the dissertation.
7. A closed session of the meeting
chaired by the student's research adviser and comprised only of the members of
the committee appointed by the Graduate School will decide on the final
acceptance of the dissertation.
8. Copies of these Guidelines are
available in the departmental office and are to be given to all entering Ph.D.
graduate students. Compliance with these Guidelines is the
responsibility of the candidate and the research adviser.
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