The Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Missouri-St. Louis offers programs of graduate study leading to a Master of Science degree and to a Ph.D. degree. The doctoral degree is offered in collaboration with the UM-Rolla Physics Department. Students may utilize resources of both campuses in their programs, as well as resources of the interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Electronics at UM-St. Louis. The graduate physics programs are based on the premise that adaptation to the modern would will require a deeper fundamental understanding of experimental physics, theoretical physics, and astrophysics, as well as collaboration between researchers in physics and those in other disciplines. Fundamental research is performed in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in Astronomy/Astrophysics, Atomic/Molecular Physics, Elementary Particle Theory, Fluids & Plasmas, Laser Physics/Quantum Optics, Noise Theory, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Materials/Surface Physics. The degree programs are designed to prepare pre-career and mid-career students for advanced research and development or academic positions.
For admission to the graduate programs, a bachelor's degree in physics is required with an undergraduate and major field grade point average of B or better. The Graduate Record Examinations, both the General and the Advanced Physics, are required. The combined Verbal and Quantitative scores must be over 1,150 for a Ph.D. candidate. Students from non-English speaking countries are required to demonstrate proficiency in English via the TOEFL test. Minimum score required for admission is 570.
A number of graduate teaching or research assistantships with competitive stipends are available for qualified students. The graduate teaching assistantship stipend as of Sept. 1997 is $11,500 for 9 months. Summer support is routinely available. Application forms may be obtained by writing to the Chairman, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 8001 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63121-4499.
Candidates for the Ph.D. must complete a Qualifying Examination on physics knowledge at the advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate level. This examination is scheduled just prior to the beginning of the spring semester, i.e. in January, although sometimes it is also given prior to the fall semester in August. Following completion of all required course work, the Department administers a Comprehensive Examination. Concurrent with the Comprehensive Examination, the Department requires all Ph.D. candidates to submit a written dissertation research plan, which should include extensive reference citation. The Final Examination is the student's defense of the dissertation.
A minimum of 72 hours with satisfactory performance (i.e., a B grade point average) is required for the Ph.D. in Physics. The following physics graduate courses (27 hours) are required, plus 12 hours in a related field at the graduate level.
The physics courses must include the following graduate courses:
The remaining hours can be filled with physics courses or dissertation research units.
The dissertation may be writing in absentia, but there is a three-year (metropolitan St. Louis or Rolla) residence requirement. Those joining the Ph.D. program at the Masters Degree level need only fulfill a residence requirement of two years and may be able to transfer some of the required courses already taken at another graduate school. The graduate course exemptions are to be decided by the student's Comprehensives Examination Committee.
For the M.S. in Physics, a student must complete 30 credit hours in graduate physics courses, with at least 15 of these at the 400 level; of the other 15, a maximum of three credit hours may be counted for thesis research. The writing of a thesis is optional. A comprehensive oral examination must be passed, which includes a defense of the thesis if the student has chosen to write one. A grade point average of B or better must be maintained during each academic year. The requirements must be fulfilled within six years from the time of admission. At least 2/3 of the required graduate credit must be taken in residence.
Ta-Pei Cheng
Bernard J. Feldman
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Peter H. Handel
Bob L. Henson
Frank E. Moss
Richard D. Schwartz
Wilfred H. Sorrell
Bruce A. Wilking