Requirements for Ph.D. Degree

The basic requirement for the Ph.D. degree is the successful completion of significant, original research in physics. This research is presented in a written dissertation and defended at an oral examination. To prepare for this work, Ph.D. candidates are required to take courses in the core areas of mathematical physics, mechanics, quantum mechanics, statistical physics, and electricity and magnetism, as well as electives in other areas. A written Ph.D. qualifying examination based on the core courses is normally taken after two semesters of graduate study. In addition to the formal requirements, students are encouraged to participate in departmental activities. These include a departmental colloquium and weekly seminars theoretical physics, nuclear physics, atomic, condensed matter physics and astronomy as well as social events such as departmental picnics and social gatherings before colloquia.

Specific requirements:

1. a) A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution.
   b) Fulfillment of courses in the major field. These include Mathematical Methods of Physics, Dynamics, Quantum Mechanics I and II, Statistical Mechanics and Electromagnetic Theory I and II. Astrophysics students are required to take Astrophysics 701 (244) and 702 (242) courses instead of EM II and QM II.
   c) Three advanced courses (i.e. courses for which core cores are prerequisites).
   d) One course in the area of physics other than the student's specialty area from the list approved by the Director of Graduate Studies (can be one of the courses in c) above).
   
2. Three exams are required: A comprehensive Doctoral Written examination, a doctoral oral examination (so called prelim), and a final oral examination. The Ph.D. Written Exam is based upon the graduate student's first year course work. The subjects in this exam for physics students are Dynamics, Statistical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics I and II and E&M I and II. Astrophysics 701 (244) and 702 (242) replace QM II and E&M II for astronomy students. The Ph.D. exam will coincide with the M. S. Written exam, but standards for passing on the Ph.D. level will be different. The second failure of the exam will be reported to the Graduate School as the failure of the Written Exam.
   
3. Student may not register for Doctoral Dissertation (P994) until he or she passed the Ph.D. Written exam.
4. The preliminary oral exam is a presentation of the candidate's research project to a faculty committee in order to receive broader guidance than that which is available solely from the research advisor. Before the student may take the oral exam she or he must have fulfilled, or will have fulfilled by the end of the semester in which the examination is to be taken, all core course work and the minimum residence requirement for the doctorate.
   
5. The final oral exam completes student's work, covers the dissertation and other topics as the examining committee may determine. See below for details of exam requirements.
6. Students of theoretical physics must fulfill an experimental physics requirement by working on a research project with one of the experimental groups. After completion of this work the student will write a brief summary of the work which will be evaluated and approved by the project's supervisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.
7. Students who by-pass the master's degree should be evaluated by their Doctoral Dissertation Committee no later than at the completion of 30 hours of course work and recommended to the Graduate School for work beyond this level. When a student is given permission to proceed beyond master's-level work, the student must register for Doctoral Dissertation (P994) in the following regular semester (fall or spring).
8. Research Progress Meetings: After the preliminary oral exam, the student should meet every year with his/her Doctoral Dissertation Committee to discuss her or his progress towards graduation. In a standard course of affairs the student would have her or his preliminary oral by the end of the third year of studies and then have his or her research progress meeting by the end of the fourth year and have the final oral exam one year later. After the meeting the student should write a brief summary of the discussion and of the research plans for the next year, which will be given to the members of the student's committee and to the Director of Graduate Studies to be placed in student's file.
9. The equivalent of two semesters teaching experience is required of all Ph.D. degree candidates.
10. Four semesters of residence credit, at least two semesters of which must be earned in continuous (i.e., fall to spring or spring to fall) registration on this campus. The residence credit hour requirement requires UNC-Chapel Hill registration (i.e., no transfer credit).
11. All work credited toward the doctoral degree, except transferred course work, must be completed within a period of eight years from the date of first registration in the program.
12. Each student must notify the Graduate School and the Director of Graduate Studies of their plan to graduate by submitting an application for graduation no later than the deadline shown on the University Registrar's Calendar for the semester in which they expect to graduate.

Examinations for Doctoral Degree

A doctoral student must pass the following examinations:

• a doctoral written examination;
• a doctoral oral examination ( so called 'preliminary examination');
• a final oral examination.

The first two exams constitute a comprehensive examination of the student's command of physics and/or astronomy. If the student declares a minor, the student shall be examined on the minor in at least one of the two doctoral examinations.

The doctoral written examination and the preliminary oral examination together should:

• assess the extent and currency of the candidate's knowledge in as comprehensive and searching an examination as the best practice of that field requires;
• determine the candidate's fitness to continue work toward the doctorate.
• test the candidate's knowledge of all transferred courses;
• discover any weaknesses in the candidate's knowledge that need to be remedied by additional course work or other instruction;

The Ph. D. Written exam

The exam covers Dynamics, Quantum Mechanics I and II, Electromagnetic Theory I and II and Statistical Mechanics, will be offered in late May. The Ph.D. Astrophysics track exam will cover Astrophysics 701 (244) and 702 (242) instead of Quantum Mechanics II and Electromagnetic Theory II.

The Preliminary Oral Exam
Eligibility for the Preliminary Oral Exam is dependant upon having compased a Doctoral Dissertation Committee. The "Composition of Doctoral Dissertation Committee" form must be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies, to be approved by the Graduate School, one month before the time of the oral examination. The Doctoral Dissertation Committee, composed by at least five members of Graduate Faculty, is appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the student's Dissertation Advisor. At least three members of the committee must be permanent faculty members of the Physics and Astronomy Department, while one member must be from a research group other than the candidate's specialty area. The Dissertation Committee Chair must be a tenured or tenure-track faculty member of the department. The above form and the "Doctoral Examination Form" should be signed by the committee after the exam is completed.

Ten days before the oral exam, the candidate should submit to all committee members a, three page, self-contained summary of her or his research project. This summary should include a detailed description of project's goals and list methods (experimental, computational etc.) intended to be used to accomplish those goals. The summary should state clearly why this project is important and what it will contribute, when completed, to the general body of knowledge. Easily accessible references to relevant previous work, and the timeline leading to the completion of the project, should also be part of this summary. Experimental projects should include an adequate description of relevant theoretical models.

The Final Oral Exam completes the student's work and includes a presentation of the main points of the Ph.D. candidate's dissertation. The text of the dissertation should be submitted to members of the committee 2 weeks before the scheduled date of the exam. In addition to the Dissertation Advisor, two other members of the committee will be designated as Readers and will sign the final copy of the dissertation.