Course Requirements
Over the course of the first and second years, you will be required to complete:
-
Six foundational core courses
-
One advanced elective
-
Two research seminars
-
One Individual Study
The purpose of the foundational core courses is to complete your general all-around knowledge of physics at the graduate level, along with the necessary methodologies to identify and solve problems at the forefront of the field. Students who have already taken comparable core courses at an undergraduate or master’s degree level can elect to pass-out of or waive individual core courses. Additional advanced elective courses are required for students who test out of a core course, while waived courses do not need to be replaced with additional courses to meet the number of required course credits. Further information on Pass-Out exams and Course Waivers can be found below. Detailed course information is available on the Yale Online Course Search page.
Advanced electives should be selected from the list of graduate elective courses offered by the Physics or Applied Physics departments. Courses offered by other departments may also serve as advanced electives with the approval of the DGS. A sample of standard advanced electives provided are below.
In addition to taking classes, all students must engage in an individual research study by taking PHYS 990 Special Investigations (SI), usually in their first year. A presentation of your Phys 990 research will serve as one part of a two part qualifying event. You will also be required to take part in two seminar courses, Phys 515 in your first fall term and Phys 590 in your first spring term. The purpose of Phys 515 Topics in Modern Research is to introduce new students to the variety of research taking place within the Yale Physics labs. Phys 590 Responsible Conduct in Research will ensure that you are aware of best practices in conducting your research with integrity.
Below is the list of foundational core courses and regularly offered advanced electives. Course sample schedules can be used to help you decide what course load is right for you. First year students are expected to meet with the DGS prior to the start of their first term to map out their future course schedules. Course advising is also available for second year and up students through the DGS and graduate program registrar.
The minimum course load is five out of six foundational courses, plus Phys 515 and Phys 590 in your first academic year. Courses taken above the minimum course load will help you complete your M.Phil en-route more quickly and better prepare you for the Research and Written Qualifying Events.
6 Foundational Core Courses and semester offered:
-
Phys 500 Advanced Classical Mechanics (Fall)
-
Phys 502 Electromagnetic Theory (Spring)
-
Phys 506 Mathematical Methods (Fall)
-
Phys 508 Quantum Mechanics I (Fall)
-
Phys 510 Quantum Mechanics II (Spring)
-
Phys 512 Statistical Physics I (Spring)
Minimum One Advanced Course:
-
Phys 523 Biological Physics
-
Phys 538 Intro to Relativistic Astrophysics & General Relativity
-
Phys 562 Modeling Biological Systems II
-
Phys 609 Relativistic Field Theory I
-
Phys 610 Quantum Many Body Theory
-
Phys 628 Statistical Physics II
-
Phys 630 Relativistic Field Theory II
-
Phys 678 Computing for Scientific Research
-
Phys 681 Advanced Instrumentation
-
other department advance courses may also be considered
Two Research Seminars:
-
Phys 515 Physics Research Options
-
Phys 590 Responsible Conduct of Research
One Individual Study:
- Phys 990 Special Investigation
Special Investigations - PHYS 990
The PHYS 990 Special Investigations (SI) individual study course is a course-based research experience intended to help you identify promising thesis research areas. To pursue an SI, you must first identify a research advisor for a project. The advisor must have a primary or secondary appointment in the Physics Department. A list of faculty to choose from can be found on our “Peoples” webpage.
To sign up for a Phys 990 SI, you will have to fill out an Individual Study Course Request form, as found on the Yale Hub’s Registration Resources tile. After your form has been submitted to the department Registrar, you will receive a notification email with the new course’s title, CRN, and some instructions. Return to the Yale Hub Self-Service Registration System link, to add the new course number to your schedule, and submit the changes. If registration period has closed, you will need add the course to your schedule during add/drop period.
Within the first two weeks of class, you will be required to submit a research advisor-approved cover page and a brief ½ to 1-page long written proposal specifying the plan of action for your SI project to the course instructor. The Phys 990 course instructor is different from your SI research advisor. Your proposal should include short motivation for and description of the proposed research and the outcome of your work. The proposed research description can be as short as “addressing this theoretical problem” or, for experimentalists, a description of setup, measurement, and analyses of a problem. Outcomes of work include a presentation that will count as your qualifying event in research. Your advisor should specify at the beginning of the term if your presentation will also count towards your Phys 990 course grade or if some other mechanism, a writeup as technical note or potential paper, will conclude your research experience. Your SI research advisor will assign you an SI grade and the DGS or course instructor will provide you with your qualifying event feedback.
Students may want to pursue SIs in different subfields to explore your research options before committing to a Ph.D. thesis topic. The DGS will not approve an SI for audit. Only your first SI presentation will count as your research qualifying event.
Pass-Out Exams
The Physics Department offers all first year students optional “pass-out” examinations for the six core courses. If you feel that you have sufficient mastery of basic course material, you are encouraged to take the pass-out exam and be excused from that particular core course. Exams are admisitered by the DGS and the previous year’s lecturer at the start of the fall and spring term, depending on what term that course is taught. It is recommended that you register for the core course initially, and drop the course once you have confirmation that you have passed out. Passing out of a course does not automatically remove the course from your course schedule. Excused core courses must be replaced with an advanced elective to reach the same total number of 7 required course credits to complete your Master’s en route to your Ph.D.
Required courses Phys 515, 590, and 990 may not be waived.
Course Waivers
New students entering with a prior master’s degree may choose to complete their Yale Ph.D. without earning an en route Master’s degree. Students with a master’s may waive equivalent required core courses and are not obligated to replace these course with other course electives. All other course requirements, grade requirements, qualifying evaluations, and approved prospectus must be met to advance to Ph.D. candidacy.
Students who have successfully passed graduate-level courses at a prior institution, but without completing their master’s degree, may also submit course waiver requests. For entering students without a master’s degree, waived courses must be replaced with electives. A total of 7 course credits must be completed, along with all other requirements to advance to candidacy.
To request a course waived, please submit a course waiver petition form, along with your prior institution’s course syllabi, transcripts, and any other supporting materials showing similarities between prior courses successfully taken and Yale-required courses to the DGS for review. Petitions approved by the DGS are then sent to the Graduate School Associate Dean for further approval and to be noted on the student’s official Yale transcript. Required courses Phys 515, 590, and 990 may not be waived.
Taking Courses Outside the Department
Once you have completed your required core courses, you may take any other course offered by the Physics or Applied Physics department as your advanced elective. If you prefer to take a course in different department, the couse must first be approved by the DGS and your research advisor before registering for the course.
Registration Information
All students must register for their courses online through the Yale Hub. Dates for registration, add/drop deadlines, and exam periods can be found on the GSAS Academic Calendar. Students who have completed all of their course work and are not taking any other courses for credit must either register for Admission to Candidacy (CAND 999) (for students in years 2-3) or Dissertation Research (DISR 999) (for students in years 4+).
A student not registered for any classes in the term will be considered withdrawn from the program and ineligble for a stipend or health insurance. Students must have a 999 course on their course schedule even if registered in Absentia. Audited courses do not count towards your registration status.
Extended Registration
Most students complete their graduate studies within 5-7 years. The university and Physics Department encourage you to aim for 6 years. If you anticipate requiring more time, you must be in communication with you advisor and the DGS before requesting an extension.
Extended Registration - 7th and 8th year requests should be submitted to the DGS no later than July 1 to ensure you remain on the Yale health insurance for the full summer and are able to register for DISR 999 in the upcoming academic year. Sixth year students who do not submit a 7th year extension form will be dropped for the Yale health insurance on July 31st. Students cannot extend registration passed their 8th year of study.
Grade Requirements
The grades assigned in the Graduate School are:
H = Honors
HP = High Pass
P = Pass
F = Fail
The Physics Department requires a grade average of HP for a student to remain in good standing. Only full-credit, physics-related courses are counted towards your average.
In addition to the department requirement, the Graduate School requires that a student must attain at least two grades of Honors within the first two years of study. A grade of P is generally considered an unsatisfactory grade, its name notwithstanding. If you fail a course, you will be required to repeat the course and your updated grade will be counted towards your grade average.
Incomplete Grades
In rare circumstances, a student may need additional time to complete coursework. An arrangement for a completion date must be worked out with the instructor. Together, you and the instructor will submit a Request for Temporary Incomplete form to the DGS for approval. Students requesting more than one Temporary Incomplete (TI) must also receive the Dean’s approval.
Incomplete grades must be converted to a final grade no later than October 1 of the following academic year. Otherwise, the TI will be converted to a permanent Incomplete (I). Faculty should email registrar.gsas@yale.edu directly to request an update on a student’s grade, copying the registrar.
See Graduate School Program & Policies Bulletin for more details.
Qualifying Events
The qualifying events consist of two parts, a qualifying event in research and a written qualifying event. Students will receive feedback on each part of the qualifier, but no part of the qualifier will be graded. The qualifying events serve as learning milestones for students to help you assess your level of physics knowledge. The qualifier is also an important part of the department’s updated learning objectives and fulfills the Graduate School requirement for students wishing to advance to candidacy. For more on advancing to candidacy, see here.
Qualifying Event in Research
Students will complete a qualifying event in research in conjunction with their first Phys 990 – Special Investigations. The Research Qualifying Event (RQE) for Phys 990 represents the culmination of work done during Phys 990. The presentation should be 25 minutes in total and formatted like that of a short seminar. Presentations will be organized over one/several days at the end of each term, during the final week of classes through reading week. Presentations should begin with an introduction and motivation for the work (approximately 10 minutes), followed by the details of the research performed and a short Q&A session (approximately 15 minutes).
The seminar will be open to your colleagues and the DGS. The DGS or instructor of record will provide feedback to students in writing, using the Research Qualifying Event form, which covers the following areas.
-
Organization of Presentation: Motivation, details of research, conclusions
-
Content: Knowledge of details of research
-
Visual: Composition of slides, quality of presentation of materials
-
Presentation: Verbal presentation of material on slides
Students will not be graded on their research presentation for the qualifying event, although they may be graded by their 990 research advisor as part of their Phys 990 class grade, if previously discussed at the beginning of the term. The RQE will be treated as a non-pass/fail learning milestone. The feedback students receive is designed to help in future presentations and communications; it will not be retained as part of your academic records.
Written Qualifying Event
The Written Qualifying Event (WQE) is taken by all students at the beginning of their third term, usually the fall of a student’s second year, unless a leave of absence was taken. The WQE consists of four separate written components based on Classical Mechanics (Phys 500), Electromagnetic Theory (Phys 502), Statistical Mechanics (Phys 512), and Quantum Mechanics I (Phys 510), given over four sessions within two days. Past Qualifying Event exams and solution sets can be found here.
Classical mechanics and Electromagnetic theory will be given on the first day; Quantum mechanics and Statistical mechanics on the second day. Typically, evaluations are given 9 am - 11:30 am and 1 pm - 3:30 pm, Thursday and Friday the week before or during the first week of classes. Students needing special accomodations, should request that from the registrar prior to the evaluation dates.
The WQEs will be collected, and the components will be marked up and returned to the student. The student will then have an opportunity to correct any errors and re-submit in a week.
Depending on a student’s course load, some core courses may not have been taken yet by the start of their second year. For these students, the WQE serves as a pre-test going into your required courses. More information on the WQE can be found on our WQE factsheet.
Master’s of Philosophy Degree Requirements
Students will qualify for their Masters of Philosophy (MPhil) degree once they have successfully completed all course requirements, qualifying evaluations and their prospectus. Successfully passing courses means receiving at least two honors within your first two years of study and maintaining a High Pass average. Sucessfully passing your prospectus means your written prospectus is acceptable to your core commmittee. More on the prospectus can be found under Research and Advising.
Certain equivalent course work or successful completion of a pass-out examination may allow individual students to substitute required courses with advanced electives. Course information can be found on the Search Yale Courses Page.
Only students leaving the program prior to advancing to candidacy are eligible for a terminal Master of Science degree. MS degrees are no longer awarded en route for continuing students. Students withdrawing from the program after completing their course work but before submitting their prospectus can petition for their MS using the Degree Petition (En Route and Terminal) form. Continuing students may petition for their MPhil en route or wait for the MPhil to be added to their transcript during the next degree review cycle after advancing to candidacy.
Petitioning for MPhil Degree
Students who want to physically receive their Master of Philosophy degree before their Ph.D. commencement can submit a Degree Petition (En Route and Terminal) form for their master’s once they have met the requirements for that degree. Any student who hasn’t petitioned for their master’s by the time they advance to candidacy will automatically be considered for such degrees at the next degree award date. Petitions should be completed by the student and returned to the Physics Registrar at the end of the term in which requirements have been met.
Students departing from the program after satisfying their degree requirements but before advancing to candidacy must complete the same form seeking a terminal degree. Students leaving the program must also complete the notification of leave/graduation form.
Teaching
Teaching experience is regarded as an integral part of the graduate training program and teaching expectations are motivated by both financial and educational considerations. All teaching assignments are either TF10s, requiring 10 hours or less of work weekly, or TF20s, requiring 11-20 hours of work weekly. Physics TF assignments are generally TF10s, except in rare advanced course situations, and are funded through University Fellowships (UFs) during their 1st and 2nd academic years.
Typically students will teach for a total of 4 semesters, as TF10s, over their first two years. In some cases, with approval of the DGS, teaching can be deferred to later years or if research funding is available, can teach a minimum of 2 semesters during their graduate career. For more information on University Funding, please see here.
Teaching Requirements
Most physics students serve as Teaching Fellows (TF), teaching undergraduate physics lab or lecture courses in their first two years. Each TF assigned equates to a 10 hours per week (TF10 appointment) commitment each semester. In general, your teaching assignments are expected to be fulfilled in the physics department. Requests to teach in other departments can be made, but require a short statement justifying how the experience will enrich your graduate studies/research or professional training.
Students can contact the graduate registrar or DGS if they have any questions or concerns with their assignments. Once you have been assigned, you are responsible for reaching out to the course’s faculty instructor to determine when course staff meetings will be scheduled. Such meetings are usually held a little before the undergraduate semester begins and mark the start of your semester’s teaching responsibilities.
Throughout the semester, you must fulfill your teaching obligations conscientiously. If you find that you are routinely required to spend more than 10 hours per week on your teaching duties, you should contact the DGS. Teaching Fellow responsibilities may include teaching in a laboratory, study hall, discussion section, grading, and proctoring exams. Problem sets should be provided to TFs by the course instructor ahead of time. Teaching obligations only end when the course instructor releases you. TFs are commonly asked to help grade the final exam; therefore, you should be prepared to be at Yale from a few days before the first day of classes until after the final exam is graded.
In some cases, advanced students (Year 3+) can be supported on University Fellowship by approval of the DGS and Chair. Advanced students on UF, for one year or less, over the course of their graduate career, may not be required to teach. Advanced students on long term UFs, beyond a year, are required to teach at the TF10 level, not to exceed 80 teaching hours total over five years or 100 teaching hours over six years. The teaching requirement for students on short term UF is up to the discretion of the DGS and is heavily influenced by the needs of the department.
Training for Teaching
The Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning is a helpful resource for all teaching needs. Workshops and courses are held throughout the year, and incoming students must attend “Teaching at Yale Day” during their orientation period. New graduate students are also required to attend the 4-part seminar series “Fundamentals of Teaching Physics,” developed and run by McDougal Teaching Fellows in physics, where you will acquire specific training in teaching Physics lab or lecture courses.
Language Requirements for Teaching
Students whose native language is not English must pass the Oral Proficiency Assessment (OPA2), within their first two years, prior to being assigned teaching. Once they have passed the OPA2, they will begin their required teaching assignments. More information for international students can be found in the International Student section under “Other Matters”.
Non-native English speakers are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the many course opportunities and English conversation groups available through the Graduate School and the English Language Institute (ELI). Students unable to speak and write English fluently will find it very difficult to carry out research, write publications, or find employment in the United States.
Non-Required Teaching
Students may choose to teach, after fulfilling their requirements, for additional funds. Students are paid $4000 per TF assignment on top of their standard stipend, if the teaching is not required. Teaching assignments are prioritized by those who need to meet their teaching requirements first. After all the required teaching students have been assigned, non-required teaching assignments will be given. These assignments are generally for higher-level courses and may require taking and successfully passing the course in past semesters to teach it. Upper-year students should always discuss teaching assignments with their advisor before agreeing to teach.