|
JHU Department of 410-516-7347 phone |
The Physics & Astronomy Graduate Programs Graduate study in physics and astronomy at Hopkins is intended primarily to prepare Ph.D. graduates for careers in teaching and research in physics and astronomy, or in applications such as biophysics, space physics, and industrial research. Entering students may elect to work toward a Ph.D. in Physics or a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The two programs have somewhat different course requirements. The department does not admit students who intend to pursue the master’s degree exclusively, however, students in the department and those studying in other departments of the university may elect to receive a master of arts degree in Physics. Students from other JHU departments must seek approval from their home department and from the Department of Physics and Astronomy before beginning their M.A. studies. Research leading to the dissertation can be carried out not only within the Department of Physics and Astronomy, but, with appropriate arrangements, either partly or entirely at other locations. Recent dissertation research has been done in the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and Space Telescope Science Institute, as well as at various national laboratories across the country, such as Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Examples of recently published research by our students can be found here. Advising All entering graduate students are assigned the same adviser who works closely with them during the first year, advising them regarding courses of study, helping them to become familiar with the department and to remedy deficiencies in previous work, and generally providing orientation in physics. Part of this program is encompassed in Physics Seminar 172.631-632. In addition, each entering graduate student is assigned a mentor or interim adviser in his or her field of interest until which time the student chooses an official adviser for a thesis project. PAGS also assigns a senior graduate student to each incoming first year student to give " a fellow student's perspective." During the first year the students will be given opportunities to become acquainted with faculty members other than those in whose classes they are enrolled. They are strongly encouraged to pursue these contacts to find a faculty adviser to whom they can transfer at a mutually agreeable time (usually at the end of their first year), in order to work for a time under his or her supervision and thus to obtain some research experience. A student may engage in several such preliminary research periods before embarking upon his or her dissertation research. The program and quality of work of all graduate students are reviewed periodically by the department. A large measure of flexibility characterizes a typical program of study. After the student passes the preliminary written and oral exams and chooses a thesis adviser, the department forms his/her Thesis Committee consisting of the adviser and two other faculty members (all Thesis Committees contain at least two full-time faculty from the department). These Committees function as extended advisory bodies; students have the opportunity to discuss their progress with several faculty. They also conduct one formal annual review on the students’ progress. |