Physics

For the M.S. degree, 36 units are required, being typically 9-10 courses. The following six core courses must be taken for a letter grade to satisfy this requirement: Physics 210A, 210B, 220, 221A, 221B, and 215A. Other courses may be substituted in special cases with prior approval of the Faculty Graduate Adviser. The material in these six core courses draws from the body of knowledge tested on the written comprehensive examination.

All first-year students shall also enroll in the following courses (S/U) for at least one quarter: Physics 293, the weekly colloquium meeting, and Physics 201Q, a survey of modern physics research areas. These are counted toward the number of required courses and must be passed for the M.S. degree. In addition, any student who will or might work as Teaching Assistants shall take (S/U) and pass Physics 495, a seminar in teaching college-level physics, in the first quarter.

The remaining units may be acquired by taking upper division or graduate courses in physics or a related field, which are acceptable to the department for credit toward the M.S. degree. However, no more than eight units in total may be garnered from Physics 296, 596, and/or seminar courses. Physics 597, 598, and 599 may not be applied toward course requirements for the M.S. degree.

Some course requirements may be waived at the discretion of the Faculty Graduate Adviser, for example for those who have previously taken similar courses in another Master's program.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not Required.

Capstone Plan

Students are required to pass the written comprehensive examination at the master's level. This level is determined by the Comprehensive Examination Committee for each examination session. If students fail to pass the examination at the master's level, they may take it a second, and final, time the next session it is given. For more information, see Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations under Doctoral Degree.

Thesis Plan

Every master's degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research.

Although the department operates under the capstone plan rather than the thesis plan, arrangements may be made for a student to write a master's thesis, provided he or she has a particularly interesting subject and provided a committee of three faculty is willing to undertake the guidance of the project. In this case, the student must petition the Faculty Graduate Adviser for permission to pursue the thesis plan. If the petition is approved, the requirement to pass the comprehensive examination for the M.S. degree is waived.

Time-to-Degree

Upon admission to graduate status, full-time students who are taking a course load which is standard for the program normally complete the program in four quarters.

MAXIMUM TTD

Admission

The department is not admitting students to the program at this time.

Advising

The M.A.T. adviser oversees all stages of progress toward the M.A.T. degree. Students are required to see the adviser at the beginning of each quarter through the completion of the degree.

Areas of Study

Students are not required to designate an area of specialization for the M.A.T. degree.

Foreign Language Requirement

Not required.

Course Requirements

The M.A.T. degree leads to qualification for instructional credentials at the secondary school or junior college level. A total of 36 units is required for the M.A.T. degree. The program consists of at least five graduate physics courses (L/G), four of which are chosen from Physics 210A, 210B, 215A, 220, 221A, 221B, and five professional (300-series) courses. Courses required are: (1) the graduate physics courses; and (2) the courses necessary for completion of the preliminary State of California Single Subject Instructional Credential, K-12 (Education 312, 315, 330B, 330C, 406, 407, and Physics M370A, which is a special physics teaching laboratory). These courses must be taken L/G when that option is available.

Courses in the 500 series are not applicable toward the M.A.T. degree. Students are required to see the adviser at the beginning of each quarter through the completion of the degree.

Teaching Experience

Supervised teaching at the secondary and junior college level is required as part of the required education courses.

Field Experience

Not required.

Capstone Plan

A passing grade at the master's level on the written comprehensive examination is required. Students who fail to qualify at the master's level of achievement may repeat the examination a second, and final, time.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

Upon admission to graduate status, full-time students who are taking a course load which is standard for the program should complete the program in approximately four quarters.

MAXIMUM TTD

Advising

Entering students are assigned a faculty adviser to assist them in planning their academic schedule. This faculty adviser and the Faculty Graduate Adviser may also give advice about interacting with the department and finding research opportunities. Beginning in the fourth quarter and continuing until advancement to candidacy, students are strongly encouraged to meet their faculty adviser regularly. The faculty Graduate Adviser and Graduate Affairs Officer shall review the status of each student at least quarterly.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Doctoral degrees are based on original work, generally in one of the following fields of specialization: accelerator physics; astrophysics; condensed matter physics of electronic systems; condensed matter physics of soft and biological materials; elementary particle physics; nuclear physics; low-temperature physics; plasma physics; and atomic, molecular and optical physics.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Students must complete the same courses that are required for the M.S. degree, under the same conditions as described in the “Master of Science” section above.

By the end of the student's third year, the student is expected to have made arrangements with a faculty member who agrees to be the doctoral committee chair, have completed the University Oral Qualifying Examination, and advanced to candidacy. If by the end of the third year of residence the student has not obtained a doctoral committee chair, the Faculty Graduate Adviser shall review the situation and determine whether the student is maintaining satisfactory progress toward his or her degree based on discussions with the student and other appropriate parties. The procedure under "special departmental or program policy" shall be followed.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The written examination is administered by a departmental Comprehensive Examination Committee and is graded as follows: (1) pass at the Ph.D. level of achievement; (2) pass at the master's level of achievement; (3) fail. This written comprehensive examination consists of two sessions on consecutive days.

This written comprehensive examination is normally offered once a year, in the week before the beginning of classes in fall quarter. Students entering the graduate program in fall quarter are expected to take the written comprehensive examination before their fourth quarter of residence. Students who fail this examination at the desired level and want to repeat it, must take and pass it the next time it is offered. These students shall meet with the faculty graduate adviser to formulate an academic plan.

Students are expected to take and pass the University Oral Qualifying Examination no later than their ninth quarter. In consultation with the student's research adviser, a doctoral committee is nominated, approved by the department Chair or Faculty Graduate Adviser, and formally appointed by the Graduate Division. The main purpose of this examination is to discuss and evaluate the student's proposed dissertation problem. However, at the discretion of the committee, questions may be asked in regard to other material in the student's field of specialization and related matters. The detailed scope for most of this examination ]shall be determined by the committee chair beforehand. If the oral exam is not passed, it may be retaken at the discretion of the committee. The committee members guide, read, approve, and certify the dissertation.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Required for all students in the program.

Time-to-Degree

Normal progress toward the Ph.D. degree has been established as follows:

(1) The written comprehensive examination should be taken by the fourth quarter in residence.

(2) A research program with an adviser should begin during the second year. In some cases, a student may decide to subsequently change research adviser.

(3) The oral qualifying examination (and advancement to candidacy) should be completed no later than the end of the ninth quarter.

(4) The dissertation and final oral examination should be finished by the end of the 18th quarter.

MAXIMUM TTD

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

To maintain good academic standing, a minimum GPA (cumulative and quarter-by-quarter) of 3.0 must be maintained. In addition, a minimum GPA (cumulative and quarter-by-quarter) of 3.0 in physics courses must be maintained. In addition, a minimum GPA of 3.0 quarter-by-quarter for the core courses must be maintained. To maintain good academic standing, a student must make satisfactory progress in finding a doctoral committee chair and subsequently toward dissertation completion. If a student fails to maintain good academic standing for his or her degree program, the Faculty Graduate Adviser and Dept. Chair (or his or her faculty designee) shall typically place the student on an academic plan which will lay out expectations to avoid academic disqualification. If warranted, they may instead recommend the student for immediate academic disqualification.

On rare occasions, after two failures to achieve the Ph.D. level on the written comprehensive exam, but with at least one M.S.-level pass, a student may request an exception to continue towards the Ph.D. degree. A committee consisting of the Faculty Graduate Adviser, the Comprehensive Exam Committee Chair, the Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, the Chair of the Department, and the Graduate Affairs Officer will consider granting the exception. The student may ask a faculty member to submit a letter of support to this committee. An exception will be based on a complete review of the student’s record in the applicable categories of coursework, teaching, and research. Evidence of excellence in research or coursework, combined with evidence of diligence in teaching when applicable, will normally be the considerations for the rare granting of an exception. Using these data, the committee will judge if the eventual granting of a Ph.D. would likely indicate an ability to both perform scholarly research at the highest level and to teach courses at a university level.

UCLA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and by numerous special agencies. Information regarding the University's accreditation may be obtained from the Office of Academic Planning and Budget, 2107 Murphy Hall.