Program Details | Physics MA/MS

General Requirements

There are three options to obtain the Physics M.S. degree: thesis, project, and internship. The program must be approved by the student’s advisor and must include a minimum of 45 graduate credits in science, including at least 30 credits in physics. These 30 credits in physics must be in 500 or 600-level courses as follows for thesis and non-thesis options.

The following courses do not carry credit for the master's degree: PH 515, 524, 525, 526, 531, and 532.

Thesis Option

For the thesis option, a Thesis Committee (TC) needs to be formed. This is done on the GO-16M form. This is true even if the same faculty serves on Dissertation Committee (DC) for the Ph.D. Thesis students need to prepare a properly formatted and approved M.S. thesis and have an oral defense of the research work. The outcome of the defense will recorded on form GO-17M. 

Non-Thesis Option

Typically, a Cooperative Education/ Internship involves relevant student experiences obtained in industry or government, and a project involves review of the literature in a certain area of physics. For the presentation of PH 504 Cooperative Ed./Internship or PH 506 Special Projects, the outcome of the final presentation will be recorded on form GO-17M. The department needs this form to process the required DARS exception.

Completion of Program

The awarding of a degree during a specific term involves the following steps, which must be met by certain deadlines.

• Apply for graduation by the term deadline
• For master’s students completing a thesis, the following is required:
  • Submission of the completed thesis to the DC at least two weeks prior to the defense
  • Passing the thesis defense by the term deadline
  • Completing all thesis revisions to the satisfaction of the DC prior to the term deadline
  • Ensuring that you have met all M.S. degree requirements
  • Completing the ETD formatting and submission process 
• For master’s students completing PH 504 Cooperative Ed./Internship or PH 506 Special Projects, the following is required:
  • Passing the presentation defense prior to the end of the term
  • Ensuring that you have met all M.S. degree requirements

Exact due dates are posted by the Graduate School but it is advisable for the student to finish the requirements well ahead of the deadline to allow leeway for unexpected delays. The advisor needs to hand in form GO-17M to the Physics Departmental Office for routing to the Graduate School by the posted deadlines or for processing the required DARS exception. Any Incomplete or In-Progress grades (except 503) must be removed no later than two weeks before graduation.

Time Limits

• Full-time students (9 credits per term excluding summer): For full-time students entering the M.S. program, a maximum of three years will be allowed from admission to completion of all requirements.
• Part-time students (less than 9 credits per term excluding summer): For part-time students entering the M.S. program, a maximum of six years will be allowed from admission to completion of all requirements.

Students who switch from part-time to full-time or vice versa will use a prorated share.

Appeal

A student has the right to appeal the results of any aspect of the departmental guidelines, by sending a written notice to the Physics Department Chair and the Physics Graduate Affairs Committee. The appeal will be considered by the whole Department within sixty (60) days. Following that appeal, the student can request a review by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and if so requested, a review by the Dean of the Graduate School to ensure the departmental process was followed.

Students are responsible for knowing all regulations and procedures required by the University as well as the departmental requirements for the graduate certificate or degree program being pursued. A graduate student may petition the Graduate Council for the waiver of a University graduate academic regulation or degree requirement. The petition process is an option in unusual cases with extenuating circumstances. A petition is not a remedy for poor advising on the part of an academic unit or poor planning by the student. In no case will a regulation be waived or an exception granted because of ignorance of the regulation or of the assertion that the student was not informed by the adviser or other authority.

The responsibility for initiating the petition rests with the student. The decision of the Graduate Council is final.