Course Requirements
Over the course of the first and second years, students are required to complete:
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Five foundational courses +
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One advanced elective +
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Two research seminars +
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One PHYS 990: Special Investigations (SI)
The purpose of the foundational courses is to complete the student’s undergraduate training in classical and quantum physics. Students who have already taken comparable core courses should take the Pass-Out exam to be excused from taking a foundation course. Any required courses that are passed out require the student to take an additional advanced elective. Course information can be found 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, or courses offered by other departments with the approval of the DGS. Several department offered electives are listed below.
In addition, all students are required to engage in a research project by taking PHYS 990, Special Investigations.
In their first year of study, students should take, at a minimum:
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The foundational courses - PHYS 500, 502, 508, 510 and 512
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Research seminar courses: PHYS 515, Topics in Modern Physics Research, and
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PHYS 590, Responsible Conduct in Research for Physical Scientists
The course requirements are intended to offer increased flexibility to customize a student’s path through the courses, and to jumpstart a student’s pursuit of research opportunities. Four different examples of first year course selections can be found here.
5 Foundational Courses:
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Phys 500 Advanced Classical Mechanics
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Phys 502 Electromagnetic Theory
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Phys 508 Quantum Mechanics I
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Phys 510 Quantum Mechanics II
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Phys 512 Statistical Physics I
One or more Advanced Courses:
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Phys 538 Intro to Relativistic Astrophysics & General Relativity
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Phys 609 Relativistic Field Theory I
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Phys 610 Quantum Many Body Theory
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Phys 628 Statistical Physics II
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Phys 630 Relativistic Field Theory II
Two Research Seminars:
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Phys 515 Physics Research Options
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Phys 590 Responsible Conduct of Research
One Special Investigation: Phys 990
Special Investigations - PHYS 990
The PHYS 990, Special Investigations (SI) course is a course-based research experience, intended to help students to identify promising areas of thesis research. To pursue an SI, a student first identifies a faculty advisor for the project, who must have a primary or secondary appointment in the Physics Department. After registering for Phys 990, your SI advisor must be added as an instructor using the Individual Study Course Information form.
Within the first two weeks of class, in consultation with the advisor, students are required to submit an approved cover page and brief ½ to 1-page long written proposal specifying the plan of action for the SI project. The proposal should include short motivation for and description of the proposed research and the outcome of the work. The proposed research description can be as short as “addressing this theoretical problem” or for experimentalist, description of setup, measurement, and analyses of a problem. Outcomes of work include a presentation, or a writeup as technical note or potential paper.
The cover page must include your instructor’s approval, attached to your written report and send to the Registrar/DGS for further approval. The SI grade is assigned by the SI advisor and written feedback to the student should be given on this form. Students may want to pursue SIs in different subfields to explore their research options before committing to a PhD thesis topic. The DGS will not approve an SI for audit.
Pass-Out Exams
The Physics Department offers “pass-out” examinations for the five core courses, given at the start of each course, to determine whether a student has sufficient mastery of basic material to be excused from that particular core course. To be eligible to take this exam, a student must have had a more-or-less equivalent-level course elsewhere. The exam will be administered by the DGS and a previous year’s lecturer of the course. A student who is excused from a core course must replace it with an advanced elective in order to reach the same total number of required courses.
Starting fall 2020, pass-out exams must be taken during the first year of graduate school.
Course Waivers
Equivalent course work completed elsewhere and taken while registered as a graduate student, may enable a student to be excused from one of the required courses. For students to pass out of a core course requirement, whether or not they have taken an equivalent graduate course elsewhere, they must pass the “Pass-out” exams administered at the beginning of the semester in which the course is taught. That core course requirement is then replaced with an advanced elective.
These waivers are done at the discretion of the DGS and with the approval of the Graduate School Associate Dean. No more than three courses can be waived and any core courses excused must be replaced with an advanced elective in order to reach the same total number of required courses.
Course waiver petition forms can be found here.
Taking Courses Outside the Department
If you desire to take a course outside of Physics or Applied Physics, this should be brought to the attention of the DGS and to your research adviser for their review.
Registration Information
All students must register for their courses on-line. If a student does not need to take other courses in a particular semester, then the student must enroll in either Admission to Candidacy (CAND 999) (for students in yrs. 2-3), or Dissertation Research (DISR 999) (for students in yrs. 4+).
Students should go to the Yale University Student Information Systems and log in with their netID and password. Then choose On Line Course Selection to choose courses. The DGS will then approve your course selections or notify you if there are any questions. Registration normally ends two weeks after the first day of classes for that term.
Grade Requirements
The grades assigned in the Graduate School are:
The Physics Department requires a grade point average of HP for a student to remain in good standing.
In addition, 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.
Incomplete Grades
In occasional circumstances, a student may need additional time to complete coursework. An arrangement for a completion date must be worked out with the instructor. Together, the student and 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 to a student’s grade. See Graduate School Program & Policies Bulletin for more details.
Qualifying Exam -
*Please note there will be no Qualifying Exams for Fall 2020*
The Qualifying Examination must be taken for the first time no later than the beginning of a student’s third semester. Any entering students may take the qualifying examination at the start of their first year. If a first-year student passes the exam, it satisfies the requirement. If the student does not pass, it does not count against the student in any way. In particular, it does not count as one of the two permitted opportunities to pass.
The exam will consist of four (independent) parts, with two questions in each part. A typical exam might be as follows -
- Part 1: Classical Mechanics
- Part 2: Electricity & Magnetism
- Part 3: Quantum Mechanics
- Part 4: Statistical Mechanics
The Parts are graded and passed (or failed) separately. The content of the exam will draw from this list of topics. Please see the “Qualifying Exam - Past exams” to view exams for the past 10 years.
To create, administer, and grade the Qualifying Examination, a committee will be established by the Chair of the Physics Department. Both the Exam Committee and the students will be given the list of exam topics. Students taking the examination will remain anonymous to the committee and to the faculty (except the DGS) until the results of the examination are accepted by a vote of the faculty.
Students will be given associated letter grades, one for each part – A through F – based on their performance. A, B, and C are passing grades. D and F are failing grades. The letter grades will indicate performance in the top third of passing grades (A), performance in the second third of passing grades (B), performance in the bottom third of passing grades (C), inadequate performance (D), and very poor performance (F). The line between C and D, and D and F will be established by the committee for each of the two parts and approved by a vote of the faculty.
Students will have two opportunities to pass each part of the Qualifying exam. If a student fails any part(s), then they only need to retake those part(s) in their next attempt. Students who do not pass all four parts of the Qualifying exam by the beginning of their second year can request to take an Oral exam after 2-3 months, for the part(s) that they failed. Alternatively, students may also opt to retake those part(s) of the written Qualifying exam at the beginning of their third year.
If a student does not pass the exam after two attempts (either written or oral), the faculty can decide to offer the student an oral exam, and if completed successfully, the student can proceed to candidacy.
Students are encouraged to review past exams prior to taking the Qualifying exam. Past Exam question and solution sets are provided here.
Master’s Degree Requirements
M.S. Students who complete the four core courses (1. PHYS 500, Advanced Classical Mechanics; 2. PHYS 508, Quantum Mechanics I; 3. PHYS 502, Electromagnetic Theory I; 4. PHYS 512, Statistical Physics I), plus one of the following: PHYS 608, Quantum Mechanics II; PHYS 990, Special Investigations; or an advanced elective (all with a satisfactory record) qualify for the M.S. degree. Certain equivalent course work or successful completion of a pass-out examination may allow individual students to substitute an elective course for a required one. Course information can be found on the Search Yale Courses Page.
M.Phil. Students who have successfully advanced to candidacy qualify for the M.Phil. degree.
Petitioning for Masters’ Degree
Students can submit a Degree Petition (En Route and Terminal) form for their degree once they have met the requirements for the 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 completed.
Students who are departing from the program after satisfying their degree requirements, but prior to advancing to candidacy, must complete the same form seeking a terminal degree.
Teaching
Teaching experience is regarded as an integral part of the graduate training program. Physics students are supported on University Fellowship during the academic year for their first two years and must serve as teaching fellows during this time. Students supported by University Fellowships teach at the TF10 level (10 hrs/week). Training is provided.
Teaching Fellow tasks in this case refers not only to grading, but also teaching in a laboratory, study hall or discussion section in which you can develop classroom presentation skills. These presentation skills are essential to your future success as a teacher and researcher.
Students may choose to teach, after fulfilling their requirements, for additional funds. You should always discuss teaching assignments with your advisor before agreeing to teach.
Training for Teaching
The Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning is a useful resource for all of your teaching needs. Workshops and courses are held throughout the year and incoming students are required to 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.
Teaching Requirements
Most physics students serve as Teaching Fellows in their first two years, with a teaching commitment of 10 hours per week (TF10 appointment) each semester. As soon as you know the course in which you will be a TF, you should immediately contact the course instructor to let him/her know that you’ve been assigned to their course, and to find out when any course staff meetings are 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. Your teaching obligations only end when you are released by the course instructor. In particular, you will likely be asked to help grade the final exam. It is therefore essential that you be at Yale from a few days before the first day of classes until after the final exam is graded.
Language Requirements for Teaching
Students whose native language is not English (and have not taken the Test of Spoken English (TSE) with a score of at least 50 or 27 on the TOEFL) are required to pass the SPEAK assessment administered at Yale within the first two years of study. 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). If you are not able to speak and write English fluently, you will find it very difficult to carry out your research, write publications, or find employment.