To complete the Physics Department’s course requirements, students are expected to take a set of six term courses (course information can be found on the Search Yale Courses page): five foundational courses and one elective. The five 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; and 5. PHYS 608, Quantum Mechanics II) serve to complete the student’s undergraduate training in classical and quantum physics. For the sixth course, students select 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. 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 must take, at a minimum, the foundational courses one through four, along with the research seminar courses: PHYS 515, Topics in Modern Physics Research, and PHYS 590, Responsible Conduct in Research for Physical Scientists.
For students already familiar with the material, the Physics Department offers “pass-out” examinations for the five core courses, to be given at the start of each course, to determine whether a student has sufficient mastery of basic material to be excused 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 the previous year’s lecturer of the course in question. In a separate process, if a student has taken an equivalent course while registered as a graduate student elsewhere, the student may at the discretion of the DGS petition the Associate Dean of the GSAS to replace that course with an elective (the petition process factors in grades earned at Yale, which means that this alternative to the pass-out exam process is typically only used after one semester of coursework). In both processes, 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.
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. In consultation with the advisor, a student is required to write a brief proposal specifying the plan of action for the project. (A cover page for the proposal is here.) The SI project proposal must be approved by the DGS. In addition, a 40-minute Powerpoint or similar presentation on the SI is required at the end of the semester to a 3 person panel (e.g., advisor and two other faculty, or advisor and two postdocs). 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.
The new course requirements (for students who matriculated in, or after, the Fall of 2016) 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 are shown here (Sample Schedules A, B, C, D).
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Fall |
Spring |
|
1. PHYS 500 (ClassMech) |
3. PHYS 502 (E&M) |
|
2. PHYS 508 (QuantMech1) |
4. PHYS 512 (StatPhys1) |
|
- |
- |
|
- |
- |
|
PHYS 515 (Research Topics) |
PHYS 590 (Resp. Cond. of Research) |
At or Above 1st Yr minimum load
|
Fall |
Spring |
|
1. PHYS 500 (ClassMech) |
3. PHYS 502 (E&M) |
|
2. PHYS 508 (QuantMech1) |
4. PHYS 512 (StatPhys1) |
|
- |
PHYS 990 (SI) or an advanced elective (this could be in the Fall or Spring) |
|
- |
- |
|
PHYS 515 (Research Topics) |
PHYS 590 (Resp. Cond. of Research) |
At or Above 1st Yr minimum load + Could qualify for “M.S. en route” in 1st Yr
|
Fall |
Spring |
|
1. PHYS 500 (ClassMech) |
3. PHYS 502 (E&M) |
|
2. PHYS 508 (QuantMech1) |
4. PHYS 512 (StatPhys1) |
|
- |
5. PHYS 608 (QuantMech2) |
|
- |
- |
|
PHYS 515 (Research Topics) |
PHYS 590 (Resp. Cond. of Research) |
At or Above 1st Yr minimum load + Could qualify for “M.S. en route” in 1st Yr + Take all 5 foundational courses pre-2nd Yr Qual
|
Fall |
Spring |
|
1. PHYS 500 (ClassMech) |
3. PHYS 502 (E&M) |
|
2. PHYS 508 (QuantMech1) |
4. PHYS 512 (StatPhys1) |
|
PHYS 990 (SI) (this could be in the Fall or Spring) |
5. PHYS 608 (QuantMech2) |
|
- |
An advanced elective (this could be in the Spring or Fall) |
|
PHYS 515 (Research Topics) |
PHYS 590 (Resp. Cond. of Research) |
At or Above 1st Yr minimum load + Could qualify for “M.S. en route” in 1st Yr + Take all 5 foundational courses pre-2nd Yr Qual + On track to finish up all course requirements in 1st Yr
To complete the Physics Department’s course requirements, students are required to take nine one-term classroom courses and a one-term lab course. A set of six core courses (PHYS 500 Advanced Classical Mechanics, PHYS 502 Electromagnetic Theory, PHYS 506 Mathematical Methods of Physics, PHYS 508 Quantum Mechanics I, PHYS 512 Statistical Physics I, and PHYS 608 Quantum Mechanics II) and a laboratory course (PHYS 504Lb or PHYS 990a,b) serve to complete a student’s undergraduate training in classical and quantum physics. Three advanced courses, including a required course in one of either Relativistic QFT, Many-Body Theory or Statistical Mechanics II, provide an introduction to modern physics and research. For students already familiar with the material, the department implements “pass-out” examinations for the core courses, to be given at the start of each course, to determine whether a student has sufficient mastery of basic material to be excused 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 the previous year’s lecturer of the course in question. Students passing out of a core course must instead take an elective to make up the total number of required courses, unless the student has taken an equivalent course while registered as a graduate student elsewhere, in which case the student may at the discretion of the DGS petition the Associate Dean to be entirely excused that course.
All first-year graduate students must take either PHYS 504Lb or a laboratory-based Special Investigation (SI) (PHYS 990a,b), supervised by a particular faculty advisor who must have an appointment in Physics. Either course must be completed in the first year of graduate study. To be able to choose the SI option, the student must have previously taken an advanced undergraduate laboratory class, and is required to write a brief proposal specifying what the SI project is. (A cover page for the proposal is here.) The SI project must be approved by the DGS. In addition, a 40-minute Powerpoint or similar presentation on the SI is required at the end of the semester to a 3 faculty panel. The SI grade is assigned by the SI advisor and written feedback to the student should be given on this form. Additional SIs may be carried out after Year 1, but a proposal is not required in this case. The DGS will not approve an SI for audit.
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Formal association with a dissertation adviser normally begins in the third or fourth term after the qualifying examination has been passed and after most required course work has been completed. It is best though to start exploring possible advisors in your first year at Yale. An adviser from a department other than Physics can be chosen in consultation with the DGS, provided the dissertation topic is deemed suitable for a physics PhD.
It is up to you to seek out faculty and talk to them no later than your third term (if not earlier) to discuss your interest and possibilities of collaborating. It is up to you to be proactive in seeking out a mentor because the Department does not “provide” a mentor for you and there is no guarantee that a particular mentor will have an opening (and research funding) available at the time you are ready to begin research. Hence it is imperative that you explore different advising opportunities within a subfield and perhaps even more than one subfield of physics.
Students are generally expected to work in a research laboratory during the summer after their first year in order to gain experience in a field of potential interest. This may turn out to be the beginning of a research collaboration with a future adviser, but there is no obligation to continue working in the same group if you decide it is not suitable. Students who have not passed the qualifying examination are expected to make arrangements with the summer adviser to allow time to study for the exam.
At the end of the summer, students are expected to to make a Powerpoint or similar presentation of their research. Written feedback concerning the overall performance will be provided by the summer research advisor and also will be reviewed by the DGS.
If you desire to take a course outside of Physics or Applied Physics, this should be brought to the attention of the DGS and especially your research adviser for their review.
The grades assigned in the Graduate School are:
H = Honors
HP = High Pass
P = Pass
F = Fail
The Physics Department requires a grade point average of HP for a student to remain in good standing. In addition, there is a Graduate School requirement 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.
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. The instructor will submit the grade as a Temporary Incomplete (TI) with the intended completion date (http://gsas.yale.edu/forms). 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) . See Graduate School Program & Policies Bulletin for more details.
Teaching experience is regarded as an integral part of the graduate training program although it is not an absolute requirement for a Physics PhD at Yale. However, students on University Fellowships must serve as teaching fellows during a portion of their first two years of study. Teaching in this case refers not to grading papers, but teaching in a laboratory or discussion section in which you can develope classroom presentation skills. These presentation skills are essential to your future success as a teacher and researcher.
Students whose native language is not English (and have not taken the Test of Spoken English (TSE) with a score of at least 50) 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.
Equivalent course work, completed elsewhere and taken while registered as a graduate student, may enable a student to be excused from a core course requirement, which is then replaced with an advanced elective. This is done at the discretion of the DGS and with the approval of the Graduate School Associate Dean.