PHYS-PHD - Physics (PhD)
Download as PDF
Program Overview
Graduate students find opportunities for research in many areas of Physics. Faculty advisers are drawn from many departments, including, but not limited to Physics, Particle Physics and Astrophysics at SLAC, Photon Science at SLAC, Materials Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Biology.
The Russell H. Varian Laboratory of Physics, the Physics and Astrophysics Building, the W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory (HEPL), the E. L. Ginzton Laboratory, the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering and the Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials (GLAM) together house a range of physics activities from general courses through advanced research. Ginzton Lab houses research on optical systems, including quantum electronics, metrology, optical communication and development of advanced lasers. GLAM houses research on novel and nanopatterned materials, from high-temperature superconductors and magnets to organic semiconductors, subwavelength photon waveguides, and quantum dots. GLAM also supports the materials community on campus with a range of characterization tools: it is the site for the Stanford Nanocharacterization Lab (SNL) and the NSF-sponsored Center for Probing the Nanoscale (CPN). The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is just a few miles from the Varian Laboratory. SLAC is a national laboratory funded by the Offices of Basic Energy Sciences and High Energy Physics of the Department of Energy. Scientists at SLAC conduct research in photon science, accelerator physics, particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology. The laboratory hosts a two-mile-long linear accelerator that can accelerate electrons and positrons. The Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source (SSRL) uses intense x-ray beams produced with a storage ring on the SLAC site. The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), completed in 2009, is the world's first x-ray free-electron laser and has opened new avenues of research in ultra-fast photon science.
The Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), formed jointly with the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, provides a focus for theoretical, computational, observational, and instrumental research programs. A wide range of research areas in particle astrophysics and cosmology are investigated by students, postdocs, research staff and faculty. The two major projects with which KIPAC is heavily involved are the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (FGST) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). KIPAC members also participate fully in the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS), the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the EXO-200 double beta decay experiment, the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the NuSTAR and Astro-H X-ray satellites, and several cosmic microwave background experiments (BICEP, KECK, QUIET and POLAR-1).
Students may also be interested in research and facilities at two other independent labs: the Center for Integrated Systems, focused on electronics and nanofabrication; and the Clark Center, an interdisciplinary biology, medicine, and bioengineering laboratory.
The Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics is devoted to the investigation of the basic structure of matter (particle theory, string theory, M-theory, quantum cosmology, condensed matter physics).
The number of graduate students admitted to the Department of Physics is strictly limited. Students should submit applications by Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time for matriculation the following Autumn Quarter. Graduate students may normally enter the department only at the beginning of Autumn Quarter.
Director of Graduate Studies
The University's basic requirements for the Ph.D. are discussed in the Graduate Degrees section of this bulletin.
The minimum department requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Physics consist of completing all courses listed below and fulfilling the Breadth Requirement. Students must complete at least one course from each of two subject areas outside the student's primary area of research (among biophysics, condensed matter, quantum optics and atomic physics, astrophysics and gravitation, nuclear and particle physics and quantum information). For this requirement students must choose from non-core courses numbered above PHYSICS 200, excluding 290, 291, 293 and 294. All courses taken to fulfill the Physics Ph.D. degree requirements must be taken for a letter grade, except for PHYSICS 290 and PHYSICS 294 which are only offered for Satisfactory/No Credit.
The requirements in the above list may be fulfilled by passing the course at Stanford or passing an equivalent course elsewhere.
A grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 (B) is required for courses taken toward the degree.
The requirements in the above list may be fulfilled by passing the course at Stanford or passing an equivalent course elsewhere.
A grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 (B) is required for courses taken toward the degree.
Students are required to enroll in Physics 302 every quarter until they complete 135 units and are on Terminal Graduate Registration status.
Three quarters of teaching (including a demonstrated ability to teach) are a requirement for obtaining the Ph.D. in Physics.
Prior to making an application for candidacy, each student is required to pass a comprehensive oral qualifying examination. The exam seeks to give the student an opportunity to exhibit a broad knowledge of physics and a deeper understanding of a particular area of physics well outside that of their thesis research. The student should exhibit command of the material, an ability to extract the essential elements of a relatively recent development in physics, and the capacity to present this material to an audience of general professionals in a way that demonstrates their expertise.
In the third year, each student must form a dissertation reading committee composed of their primary academic advisor and two other faculty. Non-Academic Council readers are permitted with the approval of the department chair. A thesis proposal must also be submitted during the third year, reviewed and signed by the student’s reading committee. In order to assess the direction and progress toward a thesis, an oral report to the student’s reading committee is required during the fourth year. After completion of the dissertation, each student must take the University Oral Examination.
The Oral Exam consists of a public defense of the dissertation followed by private questioning of the PhD candidate by the Oral Exam committee.
Upon successful completion of the oral exam, students must submit their dissertation before the PhD can be conferred. The dissertation must be signed and approved by every member of the student's dissertation reading committee.