Physics Ph.D. Qualifying Examination Rules and Procedures

The following summarizes the rules and procedures for the Doctoral Qualifying Examination (‘qualifying exam’ hereafter). These guidelines have been approved by the Physics Graduate Faculty.

Definition:

1. The qualifying exam will be available for second year students in the Physics Ph.D. program to take each January. This will be considered the standard time to take the exam. In the event that there are second year students who have not yet passed the qualifying exam, the faculty will offer the exam again in late April or early May for these students only.

2. A student with unusually good preparation (e.g. previous graduate course work) may request permission from the Graduate Program Director to take the qualifying exam in January of his/her first year. Failure to pass such an early attempt will not count against the student, who must still pass the exam at the usual time as given in these rules. There are other conditions that apply to these early attempts – see below.

3. The exam consists of two parts: Part I: 5 questions in Classical Physics, and Part II: 5 questions in Quantum Physics. Students will have up to 4 hours to complete each part and may submit solutions only to four of the 5 problems.

Requirement:

1. A student who is in his or her third or fourth semester in the fall and has not yet passed both parts of the qualifying exam MUST take the needed parts of the qualifying exam in January in order to stay in the doctoral program unless extenuating circumstances are present. Under normal circumstances, this would be the first opportunity after the completion of the graduate-level coursework on which the qualifying exam is based (PHYSICS 601, 602, 605, 606, 614, 615, or equivalent).

2. The two parts of the qualifying exam may be attempted and passed separately subject to the following restrictions:

a) The first attempt at each part must occur no later than January of the student’s fourth semester in the Ph.D. program.

b) Both parts of the exam must be passed before the end of the student’s second year in the program, unless a variance has been granted in accord with item 1) above.

Administration and Grading:

1. The written qualifying exam is prepared, administered, and graded by the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination Committee, hereafter referred to as the exam committee, which consists of at least five members of the graduate faculty appointed by the Department Head.

2. Each examination is graded by two exam committee members working independently of one another. Neither grader makes any marks on the paper being graded. On each problem the results of the two grades are averaged unless there is a significant discrepancy, in which case the score is resolved in conference. During the grading process exams are identified by a letter code to preserve anonymity.

3. For the written qualifying examination the Ph.D. pass level is set at 50%. Graders are instructed to grade each problem on a scale from zero to ten, with five representing a minimum Ph.D. passing performance. Based on the total scores on each part, the exam committee will place a student’s performance on each part of the exam into one of three categories.

A) Definite pass at the Ph.D. level (50% or more)

B) Marginal performance at the Ph.D. level

C) Failing performance at the Ph.D. level.

These recommendations will be forwarded to the Graduate Program Director (GPD), and to the Graduate Faculty.

4. Students with a marginal performance at the Ph.D. level on either part of the exam (category 3-B) will be notified by phone as soon as the exam results are compiled. They will be offered the opportunity to take an oral examination (see below) addressing the area(s) in which the written examination showed a marginal performance. Students choosing an oral examination have the option to select one of the oral-exam committee members.

First year students taking an early attempt at the qualifying exam (see above) will not be offered the opportunity of an oral exam.

5. The oral exam will cover graduate-level physics, last up to two hours, and be administered by two or three faculty with experience in the graduate program. The intent of the oral is to demonstrate whether the student knows more physics than was displayed on the written portion of the examination.

6. Final Pass/Fail decisions for each part of the exam are arrived at by a majority vote of the Graduate Faculty present at a meeting called specifically to decide the results of the Physics Ph.D. Qualifying Examination.

7. The Graduate Faculty may pass a student with a marginal performance at the Ph.D. level on a part of the written qualifying exam. Additional factors that influence the decision are:

a) how marginal the performance was on the written exam,

b) the oral exam results,

c) the student's overall record in courses and research,

d) whether or not this was the final attempt.

8. Students who are passed on both portions of the qualifying exam by votes of the Graduate Faculty have satisfied the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination requirement.

9. Students who fail one or more parts of the qualifying exam at the Ph.D. level can pass at the M.S. level, thus satisfying the M.S. General Examination requirement. There is no set score. The faculty judges the student's overall performance and decides by a majority vote whether or not this requirement has been satisfied.

First year students taking an early attempt at the qualifying exam who fail at the Ph.D. level are not eligible to pass at the M.S. level.

10. At the close of the meeting of the Graduate Faculty, the results will be placed in each student’s mailbox. After the results of the examination have been distributed each candidate may obtain her/his own numerical scores from her/his Faculty Advisor, who will also discuss with each candidate her/his options for the future. Only the details of his/her situation will be discussed with a given student.

Impact on Financial Support:

Failure to pass the exam on the final attempt, or failure to retake the exam at the next opportunity, will result in removal from the Physics doctoral program, but usually allowing one term to complete an M.S. degree, if necessary. Financial assistance cannot be guaranteed during any additional semester used to complete an M.S. degree.