UWO Astronomy and Physics Graduate Programs: Information and Guidelines

R. Sica30 January, 2013

download @ http://physics.uwo.ca/graduate/pdf_files/PABgradGuide.pdf

30 Jan 2013

If you missed the talk • The initial version of these slides were presented to the

Department graduate students and research supervisors on 10 January 2013.

• They were first revised on 14 January to reflect feedback received after the talk.

• The guidelines in this document are to be considered the Department’s current policy.

• This is a living document, please make sure you are consulting the latest version.

• If you have any questions or concerns about these guidelines please contact the Graduate Chair.

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Admissions Requirements• FYI

• Admission decisions are made by the Graduate Affairs Committee.

• International students are strongly urged to take the Physics GRE: please help spread the word.

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MSc Course Requirements: Physics

• The Physics MSc degrees require the completion of 3 graduate courses and a research thesis.  

• As part of their 3 course requirement, Physics students must complete at least 2 of the 3 core physics courses:Classical Electrodynamics [Physics 9302], Quantum Mechanics [Physics 9203], and Statistical Physics [Physics 9404].

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MSc Course Requirements: Astronomy

• The Astronomy MSc degree requires the completion of 4 graduate courses and either a research project or research thesis. 

• Astronomy students must complete Classical Electrodynamics [Astronomy 9620] as part of their 4 course requirement.

• All entering MSc Astronomy students are required to take Astronomy 9610, Fundamentals of Modern Astrophysics.

• This course counts as one of the four ½ courses required to meet the Astronomy MSc course requirement.

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MSc to PhD Transfer• Direct transfer from the MSc physics degree to

the PhD degree is allowed (but not in Astronomy). 

• A physics student can request this transfer any time after 2 terms of MSc study, and the decision is made by the student's Advisory Committee.

• Superior performance in coursework and tangible evidence of research ability is required for the transfer to be approved.

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PhD Requirements• Both programs require the completion of coursework for the

appropriate MSc degree plus 3 additional courses in Physics and 2 additional courses in Astronomy.

• Both programs also require a comprehensive examination and a research thesis.

• Physics PhD candidates must meet the requirement that 3 of the courses include:Quantum Mechanics (PHY 9203),  Classical Electrodynamics (PHY 9302) and Statistical Physics (PHY 9404). 

• PhD candidates in both programs are expected to obtain marks of at least 85% in all their courses.

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PhD Requirements• All Astronomy PhD students must complete

Astronomy 9610, Fundamentals of Modern Astrophysics, if they did not complete this course as part of their MSc degree.

• In some exceptional cases, the student's Advisory Committee may wave this requirement with the consent of the Astronomy Program Coordinator.

• While required, Astronomy 9610 does not count as one of the two ½ courses required to meet the Astronomy PhD course requirement.

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New: Advisory Committee Meetings

• The General Advisory Meeting

• A General Advisory Meeting will be held during the first full week of classes in the Fall and will be mandatory for all incoming students and their supervisors.

• In this ~1 hr meeting a presentation Q&A will be given filling in the students on what we expect, what classes to take, how the Advisory Committee meeting process works, etc.

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Purpose of the ACM• For the student:

• IS: to inform the committee of progress since the last meeting

• IS: to solicit advice from the committee to improve the project.

• IS NOT: to avoid interaction by showing dozens of slides to “run out the clock”.

• For the Advisory Committee

• IS: to provide guidance and advice when asked

• IS: to expect to be told the “big picture” and if not, to ask

• IS: to use questions to check the student’s grasp of important concepts

• IS: to help get a project that is not coming together back on track.

• IS NOT: to become an Examining Committee.

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Advisory Committees• The first meeting of the committee will be

allowed to run 30 to 50 min if the Advisory Committee agrees beforehand they need more time to understand the student's project.

• After that, the meetings will be timed and with a target of keeping the meeting to 30 minutes.

• If a productive interaction between the AC members and student is in progress the Advisor is free to extend the length of the meeting as deemed appropriate.

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Advisory Committees• Avoid using slides, just talk and have a figure (note figure is singular) on

your laptop or tablet if required (KISs).

• Getting to the point is a useful career skill.

• We will migrate to a digital report system.

• Reports will be due within 48 hr of the meeting and be made available to the student.

• We anticipate a change in the information required from students.

• If the Advisory Committee decides a student's progress is unsatisfactory, they will specify what actions are require to remedy the situation and meet again within no more than 8 weeks after the initial meeting.

• A student whose progress is considered unsatisfactory by the Advisory Committee in 2 consecutive meeting will cause a review of the student’s standing in the program by the Department.

• In this case the Department’s action could be as severe as dismissal from the Graduate Program.

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Meeting Scheduling• All meetings will be scheduled during a 2-week period.

• The Fall meeting period is the 2 weeks previous to Thanksgiving.

• The Spring meeting period is during the Final Examination period in April.

• If a Committee member or Student cannot make these times (due to travel, observing, etc.), the Committee is allowed to meet anytime up to 30 days before the Fall and Winter meetings periods.

• If a Committee member (but not the student) is unable to be present in person for the meeting during the Fall or Spring meeting period, using Skype or a similar video conferencing system is permissible.

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Meeting Scheduling• Students may have to schedule their meetings using the following 3

methods, depending on the preferences of their committee members.1. Reverse doodle polling: a committee member will set up a doodle poll

with times they are available. You schedule the meeting during an available time.

2. Forward doodle polling: you schedule a meeting as is done currently and a committee member responses, IF THEY ARE NOT USING OPTION 1!

3. ol’ skool: you stop by your committee members’s office and see when they are available and get their OK. Or via email if they prefer.

• Scheduling the meeting is your responsibility (including getting a room); if you have not had one by the end of the period it counts as having a meeting and making unsatisfactory progress. You will then have to arrange an ACM within 2 weeks or the Department will view your progress as unsatisfactory for 2 consecutive meetings.

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Comprehensives• Astronomy: unchanged, except for the

Phase 2 (written paper/oral defence), which follows the same deadlines as for the Physics Phase 2 exam.

• Physics: all new format starting June, 2013.

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The Physics Comprehensive Examination: Phase 1

• Phase 1 (effective for June, 2013 comprehensive)

• A Comprehensive Exam Committee is being formed to coordinate the exam.

• The multiple choice section will be dropped from the exam.

• The exam will still be held over 2 days with 2 subjects the first day, and 2 the second.

• There will no longer explicitly be a Waves and Optics sections, but these topics can be included as appropriate in the relevant sections (and assigned book sections) of the other 4 core areas (Mechanics, Electricity & Magnetism, Statistical Mechanics and Quantum Mechanics).

• The exam length will remain the same (6 hr).

• The exam will continue to be written in June. Students who enter the PhD program in the fall semester will take the exam after their first 2 terms; students who start in January will take it after 1 term.

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The Physics Comprehensive Examination: Phase 1

• The material for the exam will be based on assigned sections of designated textbooks.

• Students who fail the exam during the first attempt may be given a second opportunity to write the exam.

• Failure of the Comprehensive Examination results in expulsion from the PhD program. 

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The Physics Comprehensive Phase 1: Recommended Texts

• Below are the texts recommended for preparing for the Physics comprehensive exam. Note that the questions on the exam will be at the level of the material covered in the specified chapters of these texts.

• However, the questions will not be drawn directly from these books.

Electricity, Magnetism and Geometric Optics: Introduction to Electrodynamics, 3rd ed., by David J. Griffiths (Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1999): Chapters 1-9.

Classical Mechanics: Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems, 5th ed., by Stephen T. Thornton and Jerry B. Marion (Brooks Cole, 2003): Chapters 1-3 and 5-13. Quantum Mechanics: Quantum Mechanics, 2nd ed., by B.H. Bransden and C.J. Joachain (Pearson/Prentice Hall, Harlow, England, 2000): Chapters 1-7.

Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics: An Introduction to Thermal Physics, by Daniel V. Schroeder (Pearson/Addison Wesley, 2000): Chapters 1-7.

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The Physics Comprehensive Examination: Phase 2 (Research Proposal)

• A student who passes the first part of the exam must then submit a written Research Proposal, which will be defended orally.

• The proposal should describe the student’s research plan for the PhD thesis, provide a brief review of the field and give the “big-picture” view of how their research will contribute to their field, science and society.

• Details of format and length are to follow, but on the order of 10 to 20 pages including figures and references.

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Phase 2 Timeline(Astronomy and Physics)

• The Research Proposal is due in November following the comprehensives in June. A failure of the comprehensives in June does not postpone the deadline. Pass or Fail in June, the review paper is due in November.

• ----> This means that a student failing the written exam in June who is granted a 2nd written attempt in September or October still has a November deadline for their research proposal.

• A second fail on the written exam still results in removal from the program.

• Once submitted in November, the Research Proposal automatically proceeds to the oral defence.

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Phase 2 Timeline• At the defence, the committee will decide pass or fail on

both the paper and the defence separately.

• If either component, or both, result in a failure, a second, final attempt is allowed.

• A failing oral defence requires a second oral exam (likely in January).

• A failing written proposal requires a resubmission (likely in Feb/March).

• If both the defence and proposal are failed, a resubmission and new oral are required (likely in March).

• A failure at any second attempt results in removal from the program.

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#end

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• end of document.

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