Academics

Ph.D. Requirements for Current Students

Download the 2009-2010 Graduate Student Packet

Of those first-year students receiving financial aid, most will have appointments from the APAM Department in the form of a Teaching Assistantship, or a Research Assistantship. For both supported and unsupported students this first year of study is a critical one for determining your future success in the doctoral program. With the exception of MS students who are not doctoral track, and 4-2 Combined Plan students, you will be evaluated at the end of your first year in three areas:

  • Academic performance in course work
  • Performance on the written qualifying examination given annually in May
  • Potential for carrying out original research

This evaluation takes place in late May when the written qualifying examination results are reviewed by the entire APAM faculty. For first-year students there are three outcomes possible: 

  • Pass and admission to the Ph.D. program as soon as M.S. degree requirements are met
  • Failed but encouraged to take the examination again next year
  • Failed and discouraged from continuing studies in the program

You may repeat the qualifying examination only once, the next time it is given.  The purpose of this evaluation is to provide students with a clear signal about their chances for success at an early point in graduate studies.

For all students, whether receiving financial aid in the first year or not, passing the written qualifying exam does not guarantee continued financial aid in the second year of graduate study.  While the Department supports incoming graduate students, we expect students in the second and subsequent years of study to be supported by their research supervisor through a Graduate Research Assistantship. It is, therefore, very important for new graduate students to take steps during their first year of study to make arrangements for continuing support with a research sponsor.  (Several second-year students who have joined a research group will be asked to TA for a term.)

Academic Performance

While there are no specific course requirements for the MS degree in Applied
Physics, we do have seven doctoral research specialties which are represented in the seven specialty exams offered as part of the written qualifying examination: Applied Analysis, Atmospheric Science, Computational Math, Materials Science, Medical Physics, Plasma Physics, and Solid State & Optical Physics. A new student should review the content of these exams and also any recommended courses for a given program. Previous exams are available for inspection and copying in the Department Office. Program descriptions of the seven specialty areas are included in this packet. As soon as possible during the first year of study, you should choose which specialty you will prepare for in the qualifying examination. The courses you select for your first-year program should prepare you for this exam. The first-year APAM doctoral advisor, Prof. Michael Mauel (AP), assisted by Prof. Simon Billinge (MSE) and Prof. Chris Wiggins (AM), will help you with this and approve your program. You can also discuss your plans with the other members of the faculty or the chairperson of the doctoral program committee for your specialty. These are:

Atmospheric Science: Prof. Lorenzo M. Polvani
Applied Mathematics: Prof. Lorenzo M. Polvani
Materials Science: Prof. I. C. Noyan
Medical Physics: Prof. I. C. Noyan
Plasma Physics: Prof. Michael Mauel

Solid State Optical & Laser Physics: Prof. Aron Pinczuk     
 

 

Qualifying Examination

In addition to properly planning your first-year program discussed above, you should read the description of the qualifying examination format (included in the graduate packet) and look at past examinations. Practice taking one or more of these exams at home without use of any reference material. Students who have had difficulty with this exam have afterward expressed surprise at the type of questions that were asked on the exam because they never examined previous exams.  Practice!  Get used to answering questions without your books and notes available.


Research Support

There are many ways of finding a research supervisor and financial support so it is difficult to generalize. Except for those few students who have already made arrangements with a research sponsor prior to starting their first-year studies, a very important objective during your first year is to identify faculty members who conduct research in an area of interest and to make yourself known to them as a candidate for support. Your research sponsor may be APAM faculty, joint faculty, adjunct APAM faculty, or faculty outside of APAM doing research in one of the seven department specialties.

One of the best ways to find out who does what kind of research is to attend the mandatory weekly Department Research Conference on Friday mornings at 9:15 a.m. in Room 214 Mudd. At this meeting, faculty, research staff, and graduate students describe their research and faculty members occasionally describe research opportunities for new students. Another method to become better known to a faculty member you would like to work with is to offer to work during your first year on a research project as part of APAM E6650. This has the great advantage of giving you actual experience in that research area while permitting better evaluation of your potential by the prospective sponsor. Short of this, you may take a course being taught by a prospective sponsor and do well in it. Another source of advice on possible research sponsors in a given area is to consult the program chairman listed above for advice. It is important to talk to faculty and let them know you are interested. Start to do this during the fall term, even though some faculty will decide on supporting students only after the qualifying examination exam.

 

Laboratory Safety Training &
NYC Fire Department Certificate of Fitness

All 2nd year and later non-theory APAM graduate students who are doing experimental research and have not yet received the initial training session specific to their laboratory activities MUST attend a safety training session each Fall term. This training is beyond the laboratory fire safety training given during 1st year orientation. Please see the graduate packet for safety training schedules or visit the EH&S website.

All 2nd year and later non-theory APAM graduate students who do not yet have a NYC Fire Department Certificate of Fitness card MUST take and pass the Certificate of Fitness Exam by the last day of October. The Certificate of Fitness must be renewed every 3 years.

Contact the EH&S office at (212) 854-8749 (Morningside) or (212) 305-6780 (CUMC) for more information.