Physics Student Handbook

Graduate Program Handbook

Department of Physics | The University of Chicago | Autumn 2026

General Policies

Academic Policies

General Policies

Bulletin Board Postings

Student postings on the departmental bulletin board should include a date on the posting. Postings will be removed after they have been up for one month.

Divisional Policies

The Physical Sciences Division’s student policies are applicable to all students in the Physics PhD program. Students with questions about PSD policies can reach out to their Student Affairs Administrator or the Dean of Students Office.

Email Lists

Students may utilize the phys-grad listserv for communication with other students in the Physics PhD program. When students use the listhost:

  • Email messages must be related to the business and mission of the program.

  • Emails of a personal nature, such as notices of items for sale, lost or found items, and solicitation of goods or services are not allowed.

  • Messages that publicize or endorse causes (even a very good cause), such as relief efforts for victims of natural disasters or organizations seeking assistance that are not already associated with the University are not allowed.

  • List-host moderators have the right to withhold any messages that do not meet the guidelines set forth in this policy.

Employment

PhD students interested in adding a position beyond their primary TA or RA appointment must speak with the Student Affairs Administrator prior to accepting the additional position.

Graduate Student Union

The terms and conditions of employment for certain graduate students at the University of Chicago who are employed to perform instructional or research services will be determined by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the University and Graduate Students United (“GSU-UE”) for the duration of the assignment to perform such services. Students can access the CBA and review frequently asked questions about graduate student unionization on the Provost’s Office website.

PhD Registration Policy

Students in the Physics PhD program follow the Physical Sciences Division's PhD registration limit policy.

Residency Requirements

Students are expected to follow the Division’s residency requirements for graduate students. 

Room Requests

All room requests for the purposes of administering the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the University and GSU-UE should be directed through the UChicagoGRAD Room Reservation Form.

Student Contact for Concerns

Students with questions may contact Zosia Krusberg (Director of Graduate Studies), Putri Kusumo (Assistant Director of Graduate Affairs), David Schmitz (Chair), Bahareh Lampert (Dean of Students in the Physical Sciences Division), or Amanda Young (Associate Director, Graduate Student Affairs) in UChicagoGRAD.

Student Manual

The Student Manual is the official statement of University policies, regulations, and expected standards of student conduct that are applicable to all students. While students should be familiar with the manual as a whole, the following are commonly referenced by graduate students:  Student Life & Conduct, Leaves of Absence, University Grievance Policy for Graduate Students, Policy on Harassment, Discrimination, and Sexual Misconduct, Policy on Title IX Sexual Harassment, Policy on Religious Accommodation for Missed Classes, Assignments, and Exams, Academic Honesty & Plagiarism, Graduate Student Parent Policy, Registration for Students in PhD Programs. 


 

Academic Policies

Advancement to Candidacy

Before embarking formally on Ph.D. thesis research, a student must become a candidate for the doctorate degree. The purpose of our candidacy system is twofold. First, it assures that the student has the requisite knowledge to undertake independent research at the Ph.D. level. Second, it assures that the student has the broad competency in physics that a doctoral degree implies.

A student will advance to candidacy after displaying graduate-level proficiency in core areas and techniques of physics. This proficiency can be demonstrated by satisfactory performance on the Graduate Diagnostic Examinations (GDE), by satisfactory performance in core graduate courses, or by a combination of the two. Advancement to candidacy must be achieved by the end of the spring quarter of the student's second academic year in the program.

I. Graduate Diagnostic Examinations

The Candidacy Committee, consisting of the Director of Graduate Studies and several faculty members, is responsible for making up the GDE. It is generally administered three weeks prior to the beginning of the autumn quarter. The problems on the exam will be of the type and level expected on assignments and exams in the core graduate courses.

Entering graduate students are encouraged, but not strictly required, to take this examination. Taking the exam will help us better identify areas of strength and weakness, and allow students to place out of courses in subjects where they have sufficient knowledge. The exam will take place over four days, four hours per day, with each day focused on one of the four subjects: classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, electrodynamics, and statistical mechanics. While students are encouraged to attempt the examination in all four areas, they are free to choose only certain areas if it seems appropriate. 

Based on the results of the GDE, the Candidacy Committee will make one of the following determinations:

  • The student has sufficient mastery in all subjects and is immediately advanced to PhD candidacy.

  • The student has sufficient mastery in some, but not all, specified areas. The student will advance to candidacy after satisfactory performance in graduate courses to be specified by the committee.

  • The student has not displayed sufficient mastery in any subject and must take the full slate of core graduate courses to achieve candidacy.

To prepare for the exam, we recommend that students review the highest level of coursework done in each subject of the core graduate courses.

II. Core Graduate Courses

The core graduate courses, often referred to as candidacy courses, are the following:

  • PHYS 316: Advanced Classical Mechanics

  • PHYS 322: Advanced Electrodynamics I

  • PHYS 323: Advanced Electrodynamics II

  • PHYS 341: Graduate Quantum Mechanics I

  • PHYS 342: Graduate Quantum Mechanics II

  • PHYS 352: Statistical Mechanics

The Candidacy Committee may require a student to take all, or any subset, of these courses to achieve candidacy. If a student does not take any part of the GDE, that student must take all six courses. Students taking a course to achieve candidacy will receive feedback partway through the course about their progress.

It is strongly encouraged that any required courses be taken during the first year. Delaying a course to the second year is allowed, but eliminates the opportunity to repeat that course if needed. 

Students who do not complete these requirements as noted above and who are deemed not to be in Good Standing may be placed on academic probation.

Experimental Physics Requirement

All PhD students must fulfill the experimental physics requirement during their first year, either by taking the Advanced Experimental Physics course (PHYS 334) or by carrying out an Advanced Experimental Physics Project (PHYS 335). Students must make a decision as to which of these options they will choose very early in the academic year.

I. PHYS 334

Students electing to take PHYS 334 (instead of 335) must register for Physics 334 in

the spring quarter of their first year. Students taking PHYS 334 will perform two experiments and will produce independently written, formal reports for each experiment. Students will give an oral presentation for one experiment, and all students will attend the oral presentations of their colleagues in the course.

Students who feel that they have done work in an instructional laboratory elsewhere at the level of PHYS 334, may appeal to the Director of Graduate Studies and the Director of Instructional Laboratories to be excused from a portion of PHYS 334. To be excused, a student must show documentary evidence of very good quality work done at the graduate level. Traditionally, successful appeals have been very rare.

II. PHYS 335

In order to carry out an Advanced Experimental Physics Project, the student must find

a faculty sponsor who agrees to supervise the work. The project must introduce the student to several aspects of an experiment—building the equipment, data taking, data analysis, and presentation. It is not necessary that the project involve the student with all of the above aspects, but it is essential that the student get some hands-on experience with apparatus and that some analysis be performed of the data taken with the equipment. If the student holds an RA, the project must be separate from the RA work. The work on the project will normally be spread out over 2 or 3 quarters, but the total amount of work should correspond to a single one-quarter course. The major portion of the work is normally done in the winter quarter.

The faculty instructor for PHYS 335 will meet very early in the Autumn Quarter with all first-year students who are potentially interested in pursuing the Advanced Experimental Physics Project option. At this meeting, the instructor should explain all of the requirements for the project as stated in the previous paragraph, and should offer guidance and advice for linking students with potential faculty supervisors. After a student has obtained the agreement of a faculty member to supervise a proposed project, the student must submit a written abstract of the proposed project to the PHYS 335 instructor. The PHYS 335 instructor will set a deadline for receipt of such abstracts, which should be no later than mid-November. Only those students whose abstracts are approved by the PHYS 335 instructor will be allowed to take PHYS 335. Such students must register for PHYS 335 in both the Winter and Spring Quarters (but not in the Autumn quarter). Any student who does not obtain approval to take PHYS 335 must take PHYS 334 in the Spring Quarter. If a student who has registered for PHYS 335 decides to switch to PHYS 334 he/she must obtain approval to do so from the PHYS 335 instructor.

It is the responsibility of the PHYS 335 instructor to closely monitor the progress of all students performing the Advanced Experimental Physics Project, to ensure that the project is being carried out in a manner consistent with the original, approved proposal. If the project depends on contingencies not entirely under the control of the student (such as the arrival of certain equipment or the completion by others of another part of the experiment), it is essential that good back-up plans be in place. 

The results of the Advanced Experimental Physics Project will be presented in a poster session late in the Spring Quarter, which will be open to the entire Physics Department.

Students who do not complete these requirements as noted above and who are deemed not to be in Good Standing may be placed on academic probation.

Post-Candidacy Course Requirements

I. Intermediate and Advanced Electives

The post-candidacy course requirements can be fulfilled at any point during a student’s time in our program. Each student must:

  • Take a total of 4 intermediate electives in Categories A, B, C, and D with at least one course from each of the Categories A, B, and C. These must be passed with at least a 2.7 GPA (B-) and with no grade less than C.

  • Take 2 courses from Category E (advanced electives).

  1. Condensed Matter

    1. PHYS 348 Modern Atomic Physics

    2. PHYS 361 Solid State Physics

    3. PHYS 366 Advanced Condensed Matter Physics

    4. PHYS 367 Soft Condensed Matter Physics

  2. Particle Physics

    1. PHYS 363 Particle Physics

    2. PHYS 443 or 444 (not both) Quantum Field Theory I or II

  3. Large Scale Physics

    1. PHYS 364 General Relativity

    2. PHYS 371 Introduction to Cosmology

    3. PHYS 372 Particle Astrophysics

  4. Intermediate Electives

    1. PHYS 317 Symplectic Methods of Classical Dynamics

    2. PHYS 353 Advanced Statistical Mechanics

    3. PHYS 385 Advanced Mathematical Methods

    4. PHYS 386 Advanced Methods of Data Analysis

  5. Advanced Electives

This category consists of all Physics Department courses bearing a 400-level course number, with the exception of PHYS 443, 444, and 499. In addition, with the approval of the Department and the student's Thesis Committee, a course in another department may be designated as a Category E course for an individual student on a case-by-case basis provided that (1) the course is taught at a level comparable to Physics Department 400-level courses and (2) the PhD Committee and Department feels that it is in the student's best interest to take this course rather than a Physics Department course. Please note that advanced electives cannot take the place of intermediate electives.

A list of previously approved non-physics electives can be found here.

II. Transfer Credit

Students may petition for transfer credit for graduate-level courses taken at other institutions that are comparable to our department’s post-candidacy courses. Petitions are evaluated by the Director of Graduate Studies and faculty members who teach the corresponding courses.

Students who do not complete these requirements as noted above and who are deemed not to be in Good Standing may be placed on academic probation.

Master’s Degree Requirements

Graduate students in good standing in the Department of Physics can obtain the master’s degree by fulfilling the following requirements:

  • Satisfaction of the University residence requirement by full-time registration for a minimum of three quarters (one academic year).

  • Satisfaction of the Departmental experimental physics requirement by satisfactory completion of PHYS 334 (Advanced Experimental Physics) or PHYS 335 (Advanced Experimental Physics Project).

  • Passing nine physics courses with a minimum grade point average of 2.5. These must include PHYS 316, 322, 323, 341, 342, and 352, in addition to PHYS 334 or 335. The department may approve changes in this list according to the student’s best interest. Students receive credit toward the master’s degree for any course they test out of via the GDE.

If you wish to apply for the master’s degree, please contact the Graduate Affairs Administrator, who will guide you through the logistics.

Thesis and Advisory Committees

I. Formation of the Committee 

Students should have a Thesis Advisor and form a Thesis Committee by the end of their second year. The Committee’s role is to offer critical feedback on the student’s research and to help ensure timely progress toward the degree. The process of forming a Committee is initiated by the student: first, by meeting with their Thesis Advisor to discuss potential Committee members; and second, by notifying the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) of their choices. In that email, the student should include a brief summary of their research—about 2–3 paragraphs in length—which will be shared with prospective Committee members. The DGS will contact the proposed members and finalize the Committee.

The Committee should consist of four or five people, at least half of whom must be faculty in the Physics Department. In addition to the Thesis Advisor, the Committee should include:

  • One member in a similar research area,

  • One member in a similar research area with the opposite research style (theory or experiment),

  • One member with a similar research style in a different research area.

II. First Committee Meeting

Students should schedule their first meeting with the Committee by the end of Winter Quarter of their third year. At this meeting, students should:

  • Discuss their academic status, including candidacy and course requirements,

  • Provide a brief overview of their current research,

  • Outline their academic and research plans for the coming year, and

  • Solicit feedback and recommendations from the Committee.

An Annual Academic Progress Report form must be signed by each Committee member at the end of the meeting and returned to the Graduate Affairs Administrator. A copy of the form can be found here.

III. Annual Committee Meeting

Following the first Committee meeting, students must meet with their Committee annually until graduation. Scheduling these meetings is the responsibility of the student. An Annual Academic Progress Report form must be signed by each Committee member at the end of each meeting and returned to the Graduate Affairs Administrator.

IV. Year 5 and Beyond

In Year 5, the Annual Academic Progress Report form must include a written plan for completing the remainder of the graduate program. The signature of each Committee member certifies agreement with the plan. All plans will be reviewed by the Director of Graduate Studies.

V. Thesis Committee Meeting Guidelines

The annual thesis committee meeting should last approximately one hour, consisting of a 30-minute presentation, a 20-minute Q&A session, and a 10-minute meeting of only the advisor and the remaining committee members.

The presentation should include:

  • Part I (brief)

    • Progress toward candidacy and fulfillment of post-candidacy course requirements

    • Professional development (relevant coursework, summer schools, conferences)

  • Part II (main)

    • Description of central research question

    • Discussion of progress and achievements in past year

    • Discussion of problems and challenges in past year

    • Discussion of research plan for coming year and timeline toward dissertation

    • Opportunities to present work to the scientific community

Students who do not complete these requirements as noted above and who are deemed not to be in Good Standing may be placed on academic probation.

VI. Changing Advisors

Students considering switching advisors are encouraged to set up a meeting with the DGS as early in the process as possible.

Graduation Guidelines

I. Pre-Oral Meeting

The pre-oral meeting with your Thesis Committee should take place 1-3 months prior to your thesis defense, once all physics results for your thesis have been finalized. The main purpose of this meeting is to ensure that the thesis will be of appropriately high quality. During the meeting, you must give a complete description of the thesis work, including any new results that have been obtained since the last meeting with the Committee. If the Committee has any concerns about the nature and scope of the thesis, these should be raised at the meeting. The Committee must also formally approve the thesis title and confirm that all course requirements have been satisfied. An Annual Academic Progress Report form must be signed by each member of the Committee at the end of the meeting and then returned to the Graduate Affairs Administrator. A copy of the form can be found here.

II. Applying to Graduate

You must apply to graduate by the end of the first week of the quarter in which you expect to graduate. The application can be filled out at my.uchicago.edu. A link to apply to graduate should appear under the Academics tab; if it does not, you may need to update your expected graduation date.

III. Thesis Defense

When the thesis is completed, the Committee must be convened for the final thesis defense. Copies of the thesis must be distributed to each member of the Committee and the Director of Graduate Studies at least two weeks prior to the defense. If the thesis is not distributed prior to this deadline, the defense may be postponed. A Report of Final Examination for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy form must be signed by each member of the Committee at the end of the defense and then returned to the Graduate Affairs Administrator. Please contact the Graduate Affairs Administrator at least one day prior to the defense to obtain a copy of the form.

In order for the Department of Physics to advertise your thesis defense, please contact the Graduate Affairs Administrator as early as possible with the following information: your name, UChicago ID number, the title and abstract of your thesis, the time and location of your defense, the members of your Thesis Committee, and your plans following graduation.

V. Thesis Submission

The final deadline for submitting the thesis to the Dissertation Office is at the end of the seventh week of the quarter. In order to allow time for edits, the thesis defense should take place no later than two weeks prior to this deadline. The thesis must be written and formatted according to the guidelines set by the Dissertation Office. The most current information on how to format and submit your thesis, along with exact submission deadlines, can be found here.

VI. Paper Submission

You are required to submit a paper for publication in a peer-reviewed journal based on your thesis research. The paper to be submitted for publication must identify the Department of Physics as the author’s affiliation. In addition, the affiliation with other research institutes should be stated as appropriate. Credit should also be given to any fellowship or traineeship held during the research period, as well as any other sources of support. While submission of the paper is required, the paper need not be accepted for publication prior to graduation. Please forward a confirmation that the paper has been submitted to the Graduate Affairs Administrator.

Teaching 

I. Physics 300: The Teaching and Learning of Physics

Physics 300 prepares graduate students for their work as teaching assistants in the Department of Physics. The course introduces research-informed principles of teaching and learning while emphasizing their practical application to the situations TAs encounter in discussion sections, office hours, grading, and interactions with students. Topics include facilitating student thinking and problem solving, inclusive teaching, grading and feedback, effective questioning, and responding to common challenges that arise in teaching.

The course is organized around a central question: What does it mean to help someone learn physics? Through practice teaching, discussion of realistic teaching situations, conversations with experienced TAs, and reflection on their own teaching, students develop strategies for supporting student learning without simply providing answers. The course also considers how generative AI is changing the ways students learn and seek help, and what discussion sections, office hours, and other forms of human instruction can uniquely contribute to learning physics.

II. Teaching Requirement 

Research Assignment support is highly variable depending on the subfield of research and the culture of the research area. Students are encouraged to discuss with potential research supervisors the experience of current PhD students in their groups. Students in some areas (often but not exclusively large experimental teams) may teach 5 or fewer teaching assignments for their Primary funding over the course of their degree. Students in other areas (often but not exclusively small theory groups) may be required to hold up to 3 quarters of teaching each year over the course of their program to satisfy Primary funding requirements. Students who do not hold research assignments or fellowship stipend positions are required to hold 3 teaching assignments each academic year. Students who are required to hold more than 3 teaching assignments in an academic year will receive additional compensation above their Primary funding amount.