|
JHU Department of 410-516-7347 phone |
Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree Students must pass preliminary written exams that demonstrate mastery of upper-level undergraduate material in classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, and statistical physics and thermodynamics. Students may take each exam each time it is offered and must pass all four exams by February of their second year. Exams covering electricity and magnetism and quantum mechanics are given at the beginning of the fall term, and exams covering classical mechanics and statistical physics and thermodynamics are given in January, the week before the second term starts. All four exams are given again in May. After successfully completing the exams, students must pass a preliminary oral examination. This exam is usually taken during the second year. During the second year or early in the third year, students are expected to link up with an adviser and begin progress toward a thesis. At that time the department forms a Thesis Committee for the student. Shortly after, students must pass a University Graduate Board Oral Exam in which they demonstrate their general command of physics and/or astronomy and astrophysics. the Thesis Committee checks annually whether the student makes steady progress toward his/her Ph.D. degree. At the conclusion of thesis research, the student defends the written dissertation before a faculty committee. Course Requirements for a Ph.D. in Physics Students must complete the following courses:
or
or
(1 semester) The Following two seminars are also required of all PhD candidates:
Course Requirements for a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics Students must complete the following courses:
They must also complete two semesters drawn from the following list of graduate level optional courses as offered:
The course, Language of Astrophysics, although it is not required is strongly recommended. The following two seminars are also required of all PhD candidates:
Students in both programs must receive at least a B- in each required course, or they will be required to retake the specific course once more and pass it. Requirements for the M.A. Degree Students in the department’s Ph.D. program, and students in other Ph.D. programs at Johns Hopkins, may apply to fulfill the requirements for the M.A. degree in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Course Requirements Students must master the basic undergraduate material covered by the following courses:
Passing the equivalent preliminary written examination satisfies this requirement. Courses taken elsewhere may qualify at the discretion of the Graduate Program Committee. Students must also complete six one-semester graduate-level (at least three hours/week) courses offered by the Department of Physics and Astronomy. For this purpose, each semester of 171.415-416 (Mathematical Methods for Physicists) counts as a graduate-level course. In addition, 171.801 or 802 (Independent Graduate Research) may be substituted for any of the above-mentioned graduate or undergraduate courses. The research course must include an essay supervised and approved by a faculty member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The student must receive a grad of B- or above in each of the courses. The graduate level courses may be retaken once; the undergraduate courses cannot be repeated. Each preliminary written examination can be taken only three times. The deadline to fulfill all requirements is the date of the Ph.D. thesis defense. |