South Dakota Ph.D. Program in Physics
HANDBOOK (SDSM&T, v2.0)
2013-2014
(USD prefers to have a separate cover page. Fine with me.)
PhysicsPh.D.Program Director: Dr. Andre Petukhov
ProgramAdvisory Council Members: Dr. Xinhua Bai, Program Coordinator
Dr. Luke Corwin
Dr. Alberto Lemut
Dr. RafalOszwaldowski
Ex-Officio: Dr. Douglas Wells
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sectionpage
I.ADMISSION 2
II.GRADUATE STUDENT ADVISORAND PROGRAM COORDINATION2
III.FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE 2
IV.PROGRAM OF STUDY2
V.SELECTION OF RESEARCH TOPIC3
VI.MASTERS DEGREE3
VII.GPA REQUIREMENTS AND COURSE LOAD3
VIII.QUALIFYING EXAMINATION4
IX.ADMISSION TO CANDIDACY4
X.DISSERTATION4
XI.DEFENSE OF DISSERTATION5
APPENDIX A:Program Of Study – Physics Ph.D. Form6
APPENDIX B:Current Physics Core And Elective Course Lists9
APPENDIX C:Sample Curriculum And Projected Course Offerings10
APPENDIX D:Physics Faculty And Their Research Interests 12
APPENDIX E:General Outline For Dissertation Research Proposal13
APPENDIX F:Record Of Major Updates Of The Handbook (Internal record only)14
The Ph.D. Program in Physics is a collaborative program between South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SDSM&T) and the University of South Dakota (USD). The program is established to prepare students for a variety of career paths, including positions in academia, at national labs, and industry. While degree candidates may pursue specialized research foci based on the research expertise of individual faculty members, the most significant goal of the program is to focus on research areas germane to the needs and special resources of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF).Research areas of particular interest include particle physics, astroparticle physics, nuclear astrophysics, materials science for advanced particle and radiation detectors, spintronics and quantum information processing.
General information concerning the graduate education, the Physics Ph.D. Program, graduate degree requirements, and detailed listings of graduate courses are contained in theuniversity catalog.All graduate students should familiarize themselves with pertinent information contained in the catalog.New students are mandated to participate in the PhD orientation meeting before the beginning of Fall semester.
The following guide relates to specific requirements of the PhysicsPh.D. Program and is intended to supplement the catalog information. All Ph.D. students in thisprogram should carefully study the guide and become familiar with the requirements described herein. A discussion of various forms that must be filed by all students is included. The procedure for completing a degree program including pertinent forms and samples can be found in Appendix A.
I.ADMISSION
The Physics Ph.D. program requires GRE (Graduate Record Examination) scores of all applicants; applicants must take the Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical parts. The GRE subject test in the individual’s undergraduate degree majorphysicsis encouraged, but not required. Any exception to the GRE requirement must be approved by the Physics Ph.D. ProgramDirector in consultation with the Program Advisory Council. In addition to the general admission requirements, the program requires applicants from non-English speaking countries or regions to achieve a satisfactory TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score or the International English Language Testing Service (IELTS) score. Test of Written English (TWE) is recommended for a student who wants to be considered for a teaching assistantship or other financial aid. Students whose first language is not English may be tested upon arrival and may be required to take one or more remedial English courses. All graduate students are expected to have or to develop a proficiency in both written and oral English. Any student, who is found weak in communications, as evidenced by written reports and/or seminar presentations, may be required to take additional English or speech course work[†].
Three letters of recommendation must be submitted from individuals familiar with your academic work or research potential. Official transcripts from all universities attended are required. (Applicants must have at least a 3.0 (B) grade point average in their undergraduate work.)
A student whose bachelor's degree is in any science or engineering field other than physics is eligible for admission to this program. However, the following courses are regarded as minimum pre-requisites to this program.
- Physics: 24 credit hours of advanced physics courses[‡]that must include Classical Mechanics, Thermodynamics & Statistical Physics, Electrodynamics and Quantum Mechanics[XB1].
- Math: three semestersof calculus and,two one semesters ofdifferential equations, and one semester of matrix algebra
Computer Science: proficiency in using computers and onecomputer programming language
II.GRADUATE STUDENT ADVISOR AND PROGRAM COORDINATION
The PhysicsPh.D. Program Directorserves as temporary faculty advisor to each new Ph.D.graduate studentuntil such a time as the student selects a permanent advisor (Major Professor) to supervise his/her graduate research. The Program Director willassist all new graduate students with their course registration and provides each student with information pertinent to the physicsPh.D. program. In case a student needs to change his/her major professor, the Program Director will also serve as his/her temporary faculty advisor before a new major professor is identified.
The Physics Ph.D. Program Coordinator, nominated by the Ph.D. Program Director, serves as temporary faculty assistant to the Program Director in the program planning, operation and evaluation. The program coordinator will also oversee day-to-day activities of the Program Advisory Council at SDSM&T (e.g. program policy update, application review process, recruiting, student inquiries and interviews, exams and defense scheduling etc.) and serve as a liaison between the Council and SDSM&T campus as well as between SDSM&T and USD programs.
III.FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Financial assistance is available to graduate students through a number of avenues, including graduate fellowships (GF), graduate teaching assistantships (GTA), and graduate research assistantships (GRA), and graduate fellowships (GF). The required applications for all types of financial assistance should be made tothe PhysicsPh.D. Program Director and the Dean of Graduate Education. Requests may be included in the application package, at the discretion of the applicant.
IV.PROGRAM OF STUDY
The degree of Doctor of Philosophy in physics is awarded upon completion of course requirements and demonstration of significant scholarly achievement through independent research. A Ph.D. candidate must demonstrate general competence in the subject matter of his/her chosen field. To this end, the student files and pursues a proposed Program of Study that includes a list of courses the student intends to take. Necessary training for special skills that are needed for the student to fulfill research goals must be indicated and explained[§]. The firstProgram of Study must be filed with the Physics Ph.D. Program Director and the Office of Graduate Education during the 1st year of residence of all students, and at least once again (with or without necessary update approved by the major professor) no later thantwo weeks before the qualifying exam. The full list of the required and elective graduate courses can be found in Appendix B. Example curriculum and schedule of core course offerings is given in Appendix C. This Program of Study must be given preliminary approval before the qualifying examination and final approval before the dissertation defense by the student's dissertation committee, the Physics Ph.D. Program Advisory Council, and the Dean of Graduate Education.
Program major emphasis: The program major emphasis ensures the student has acquired adequate graduate training at the MS level or above in physics discipline, and may be fulfilled in part or in full by a previously earned MS degree in physics or closely related majors. Students entering the Ph.D. program at the BS level are encouraged to fulfill the requirements for the MS in physics currently offered at SDSM&T within their first two years of study.
General requirements[**]: The general requirements for Ph.D. degree in physics are:
- Satisfactory completion of a Qualifying Exam and a Research Proposal.
- A minimum total of 72 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree, consisting of 36 coursework credit hours and 36 research credit hours.
- Satisfaction of academic standards as prescribed elsewhere in the university catalog, including maintaining at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA.
- At least two consecutive semesters of residencye as a full-time student[††].
- A dissertation written in grammatical English that represents results from at least the equivalent of one academic year of full-time researchworthy publication in peer-reviewed professional journals.
In approving a proposed Program of Study, the Physics Ph.D. Program Director will take into account acceptable graduate-level courses taken by the student at other institutions or other demonstrations of competence in a particular area. The student should summarize this material as directed in Appendix A, and submit it along with his/her Program of Study for review.
V.SELECTION OF RESEARCH TOPIC
All new students are encouraged to make appointments with faculty in the Department of Physics to discuss possible research topics for their degree project. Physics faculty members and their research interests are listed in Appendix D. Studentswho are partially or fully supported by a GRA are required to have a research topicselected before the midterm of the 1st semester.
After the research topic is decided, each student will be immediately matched with a major professor[‡‡]in accordance with theinterests of both sides. In the meantime, the student must file a completeProgram of Study form with the Office of Graduate Education. A dissertation committee, consisting of the major professor and four other faculty members, must be formed at this time to guide the student progress. At least one member on the committee shall not be affiliated with SDSM&T physics department. The student’s dissertation committee is appointed by the Dean of Graduate Education in consultation with the student and the student's major professor. At this time, the major professor becomes the student's advisor on all matters pertaining to guiding the student’s progress.
VI. MASTERS DEGREE
The physicsPh.D.program is designed with the premise that the Ph.D.is the terminal degree for completion of the program. However, under circumstances where a student with a BS degree cannot complete the research and dissertation portion of the Ph.D. program, but has completed the required coursework, and has obtained a minimum of 32 credit hours of coursework and research in physics, a physics MS degree may be conferred (see Appendix C for example curriculum).
VII.GPA REQUIREMENTS AND COURSE LOAD
A grade of “B” or better in a course will be accepted as evidence of competence in the subject.
All Ph.D. candidates must obtain an average grade of “B” or better in the overall course of study in accordance with the university Graduate Education requirements. Grades below “C”cannot be credited toward advanced degree requirement. A full-timestatus for each semester is considered to be nine credit hours of course work and/or dissertation. After the student’s dissertation committee has been established, a Ph.D. student must register every semester, in accordance with SDSM&T regulations.
Once the student has selected a research topic, he/she will be expected to register for a number of research credit hours agreed to by his/her research advisor. The student will be required to register for total ofa minimum of three 1-credit hoursof graduate seminars, and is expected to attend regularly and participate in the seminars.
VIII.QUALIFYING EXAMINATION
Qualifying examination will take place at least one week prior to the end of the 5th (1st) semester of study for students entering the Ph.D. program at the BS (MS) level. The qualifying examination consists of two parts:
1)A written examination based on the core physicscurriculum. This will be aneight-hourin-class written examination that covers major contents in the required courses. The exam will be administered with two four-hour sessions.
2)A research proposal. The student will prepare a written research proposal and complete an oral presentation of that proposal in the presence of the full student’s full dissertation committee. The oral presentation is open to other faculty, researchers, students and guests. The topic of the proposal is to be prepared by the student with the guidance of his/her major advisor. This topic mustbe closely related to the student's anticipated dissertation research.
The written examination will take place in the week prior to the start of the 6th (2nd) semester of study [XB2]for students entering the Ph.D. program at the BS (MS) level. The oral exam should happen before the spring break following the written examination.
The research written proposal should be no longer than 20 double-spaced, typewritten pages of text, plus nomenclature, references, figures, and appendices. It is recommended that the document be organized in the form shown in Appendix E. This research proposal written document must be reviewed by at least two members of the student's dissertation committeebefore submission to the full committee. The committee members will point out any problems relating to scope and format. However, the final approval of the proposal will only come after the subsequent review by all members of the dissertation committee and the oral exam.
Copies of the final proposal must be submitted to the full student's dissertation committee at least two weeks prior to the oral examination. At this time, a date will also be set for the oral presentation by the student of his/her dissertation research proposal. The presentation should closely reflect the contents of the written proposal and should last no longer than 40 minutes without interruptions. Background information is to be limited to no more than 20% of the document;the majority of the presentation should be a detailed description of the student’s proposed research program. The originality and potential significance of the proposed research should be emphasized. Following the oral presentation, the student will be expected to respond to questions from the attending faculty, students and guests.
The purpose of the examinations is to test the students knowledge in the program focus areas, teach the student how to write technical research proposals, test the student's understanding of the relevant literature, test the student's imagination and judgment in a research environment, and test the student's ability to present work in clear, concise written and oral English. Clear and substantial portions of both the written and oral presentations must demonstrate the student's original ideas. The proposal must be for the most part a product of the student, not that of the advisor or the student's dissertation committee. The outcome of this examination procedure will be a Pass, a Conditional Pass (usually requiring a re-write and re-submittal of the proposal), or a Fail. An examination may be repeated only once and only at the discretion of the student's dissertation committee.
Passing the qualifying examination shall be considered equivalent to satisfying both the preliminary and comprehensive examination requirements, as described in the graduate school degree requirements in the university catalog.
Failing the qualifying examination: Students who fail the written portion of the exam may retake the exam in the following year, with the permission of the advisor.If a student who enters the Ph.D. program with a BS (MS) degree does not complete and pass both parts of the qualifying examination for the first time by the end of the 5th (1st) semester, an evaluation of the student’s progress and eligibility for an assistantship will be initiated immediatelyduring the 6th semester. Contingent on the outcome of this evaluation, a recommendation will be made, with the following outcomes: a) a specific timeline for completion of these exams, not to exceed one year from the time when the recommendation is made, will be submitted by the student and the faculty advisor, and approved by the Ph.D.Program Director and the ProgramAdvisory Council, or b) the student will be dismissed from the program. After failure to successfully complete these exams on the second attempt, the student will be dismissed from the program.
IX.ADMISSION TO CANDIDACY
Provided the student has passed both portions of the qualifying examination on time,the student may apply to his/her major professor for admission to candidacy on an official certification form available from the Office of Graduate Education. At this timethe student will be considered a Ph.D. candidate.
X.DISSERTATION
Of major importance to the Ph.D. degree are the student's research and the resulting dissertation. The research results are expected to be of publishable quality. The student’s research advisor may specifically require publication ofone or more peer-reviewed journal articles based on the student’s research results. The time necessary to complete the Ph.D. requirements depends largely upon how soon a student initiates research and the degree to which he/she devotes effort to its pursuit. Detailed instructions concerning the dissertation and the time schedule that must be followed during the semester of intended completion of the Ph.D. requirements are given in the graduate catalog.
Information on guidelines for writing and formatting a Doctoral Dissertation are available from the Office of Graduate Education. Student should obtain a free copy of "Instruction for the Preparation of Thesis and Dissertation" from the Office of Graduate Education. All students are expected to follow the guidelines in the manual.The final version of the dissertation must be submitted by the candidate to each member of his/her dissertation committee no later than two weeks before the scheduled dissertation defense date.
XI.DEFENSE OF DISSERTATION
The student will be required to give an oral presentation (40-50 minutes), open to the public, on the major findings of his/her research. An oral examination will follow the presentation. It will be conducted by the student's major professor with only the student'sdissertation committeemembers in attendance. The student's dissertation committee members will question the student to test the quality and completeness of the research.
APPENDIX A:Program Of Study : Forms and SamplesForms. Forms in pfd format can be downloaded directly from SDSMT OGE website: