Admission Requirements
The Doctoral of Philosophy degree in physics is awarded by the Faculty of Science to candidates who have demonstrated a broad knowledge of physics and have demonstrated a satisfactory level of achievement in research of an advanced topic. The formal requirements are listed below.
Degree Requirements
Academic Integrity Workshop
This is a milestone requirement for all full-time students. Part-time and Non-Degree students are NOT required to complete this workshop. This is a mandatory workshop on academic integrity and intellectual property which will be offered to all new incoming graduate students within the Faculty of Science during the first term of each Fall and Winter.
Course Requirements
The normal requirements for the PhD degree are as follows:
- Four one-term courses * not including any already taken for MSc credit are required. (Eight courses are required if proceeding directly from an BSc).
- Courses, taken during the MSc program, in excess of those required, may be allowed for PhD credit. The extra courses must be identified prior to admission.
- Courses currently denoted as core courses are as follows: PHYS 701 (Quantum Mechanics 1), PHYS 703 (Introduction to Quantum Field Theory), PHYS 704 (Statistical Physics 1), PHYS 706 (Electromagnetic Theory), PHYS 767 (Introduction to Quantum Information Processing) and PHYS 781 (Fundamentals of Astrophysics).
- Selection shall be such that three of the core courses, including one of PHYS 701 (Quantum Mechanics 1), PHYS 704 (Statistical Physics 1) or PHYS 706 (Electromagnetic Theory), or their equivalent have been taken by the completion of the first year of the PhD program. These courses may have been taken during the MSc program. Biophysics students must have taken at least one of PHYS 701 (Quantum Mechanics 1), PHYS 704 (Statistical Physics 1) and PHYS 706 (Electromagnetic Theory) by the completion of the first year of the PhD program.
One of the required courses may be an undergraduate course outside the student's main field of study and must be approved by the student's supervisory committee and the Graduate Officer.
No undergraduate course in Physics may be taken for credit.
PhD Co-operative Program
In addition to the normal PhD program, the GWPI offers a Co-operative PhD program.
Students normally enter the Co-op PhD program in September, following completion of their MSc degree in either the regular or Co-op program. Normally, the student first spends one or two academic terms on campus, taking a minimum of two courses per term, performing the duties of teaching assistant and interviewing with Co-operative Education and Career Services and with prospective employers. After satisfactory performance in the academic terms the student spends a full year in an external laboratory.
Co-op students write work reports on the work they have carried out during their terms in industry. Guidelines for writing these reports are provided by Co-operative Education and Career Services. Work reports are evaluated by the employer, Co-operative Education and Career Services and the GWPI.
A satisfactory rating for the work report must be attained.
An average of at least 70% must be obtained in the required courses. A minimum grade of 60% is required for a pass in each course. No more than two courses, of the first four taken, can have an average of less than 70%. If a student does not meet these minimum grade requirements, or receives a failing grade in any course, he/she may be required to withdraw from the program.
Supervisory Committee Meetings
It is required that the student meet with his/her Supervisory Committee within the first six months of registration. Subsequently, the supervisory committee is expected to meet with the student at least twice per year. While one meeting in a year must be a formal one, the other meeting may be held informally. In the former case, the student is expected to provide a written report to the Committee and defend it orally. In the latter case, the meeting may simply take the form of a brief discussion of the student's academic progress but, apart from the student and supervisor, it must involve at least one other member of the Committee. The student will be required to take a Qualifying Examination, normally during the first year of the program; in any case, it must be passed no later than the final semester of the residency requirement. The examination will ascertain the student's knowledge of the fundamentals and applications of the physics closely related to the thesis topic. An assessment of the student's ability in research will be a factor in determining the examination result.
Comprehensive Examination
The student will be required to take a Qualifying Examination, normally during the first year of the program; in any case, it must be passed no later than the sixth semester in which he/she is enrolled. The examination will ascertain the student's knowledge of the fundamentals and applications of the physics closely related to the thesis topic. An assessment of the student's ability in research will be a factor in determining the examination result. If a student has not passed the Qualifying Examination by the end of the sixth semester in which he/she is enrolled, he/she may be required to withdraw from the program.
Thesis Requirement
An acceptable thesis on an advanced research topic must be submitted. The topic of the thesis and the quality of the research will be such as to merit publication in reputable scholarly media. Detailed specifications of format, etc. are available from the appropriate Graduate Office.
Acceptance of the thesis requires satisfactory completion of a Final Oral Examination. For further information see Graduate Studies Calendar - Academic Regulations - Comprehensive Examination