Astronomy Graduate Degree Requirements

Ph.D:

• Course Work
• 48 credit hours of approved graduate-level courses, distributed as follows:
  • A. ASTR 502 (Diffuse Matter Dynamics Theory), 503 (Observational Astronomy), 504 (Stellar Physics Theory), and 590 (Individual Study during the first summer in residence). A paper reporting the results is required in 590 which must be prepared in ApJ style and approved by the instructor.
  • B. 32 additional credit hours in ASTR graduate courses, not including ASTR 590 and 599. Up to 8 credit hours in approved cognate (non-ASTR) graduate courses may be substituted.
• 48 additional credit hours including at least 32 credit hours of Astr 599.

• Grade Point Average Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 to continue in the graduate program.

• Examinations
  • Qualifying Examination. The exam consists of two parts covering undergraduate astronomy and physics, respectively. Each part of the exam may be passed or failed seperately. Both parts must be passed no later than the beginning of the third year of study.
  • Ph.D. Preliminary Examination. The exam consists of a written preliminary paper on the Ph.D. research topic and an oral examination. It must be passed by the end of the third year of study.

• Ph.D. Thesis An original, written Ph.D. thesis of a quality publishable in a refereed journal.

• Residence Students must satisfy all general University residence requirements. In addition, students must satisfy all Graduate College requirements. Students should pay particular attention to the Graduate College policies on the composition of preliminary and final examination committees.

Approved by the faculty, March 2000

Master of Science:

32 credit hours of study in graduate courses are required. There are no thesis or foreign language requirements. The 32 credit hours of course work may not include any research units (such as 590 and 599), except 1 unit of 590 (summer research), and may be distributed as follows: At least 24 credit hours must be in astronomy 500-level courses, 16 of which will be in 502, 503, 504, and 590 (summer research project). The remaining 8 credit hours must be selected from the list of approved courses for the Ph.D. degree.

Approved by the faculty, September 5th, 2003