Doctor of Philosophy

The department requirements for the PhD 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 to fulfill the Physics PhD degree requirements must be taken for a letter grade, except for PHYSICS 290 and PHYSICS 294, which are only offered for Satisfactory/No Credit. 

Students must take 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. Quantum Information, and Other). This is known as the breadth requirement and students may choose from courses listed.  Please consult the breadth requirement table opens in a new tab on our website to see the area that each course is categorized as. Students may petition for a course not on the list to count towards their breadth requirement by submitting this petition. opens in a new tab Please note that only courses that are graduate level, and taken for at least 3 units and letter-grade may count as a breadth course, and students must receive a grade of B+ or higher for it to count towards their requirements.

A thesis proposal must also be submitted during the third year, reviewed and signed by the student’s reading committee.

Fourth-year students are required to give a 45-minute oral presentation to their Ph.D. reading committees. Generally, no other people besides the student, advisor and reading committee members are present at the oral presentation.  

All students should complete this requirement in the fourth year of study.  Experience has proven this is a reliable tool to help students stay on track to degree completion.

Teaching is core to the academic and professional training of doctoral students in our program. All students are required to complete at least three  quarters of teaching experience by the end of the fourth year in the program, regardless of their financial support, unless granted an exception from the department. Typically, students complete more than the required number of teaching quarters as part of their professional training and financial support.

In order to be counted as a fully-enrolled Physics Ph.D. student making good progress in the program, students must be engaging in research or dissertation writing every quarter.

Prior to advancing to TGR, students must be enrolled in PHYSICS490 opens in a new tab with their rotation advisor or primary advisor for at least 1-unit each quarter. Students are expected to settle with a research group by the end of their first year and are expected to confirm their research advisor by the Fall Quarter of their 2nd year. Before that, the department offers the possibility to “rotate” in different groups for the first three quarters. Rotations allow students to have contact with research as soon as they arrive at Stanford, while giving them the opportunity to try out different research topics and interactions with different faculty and groups.

Students who have advanced to TGR must be enrolled in PHYSICS 802 with their primary advisor each quarter.

Prior to making an application for candidacy, each student is required to pass a comprehensive oral qualifying examination. The qualifying exam typically takes place in the Spring of a Ph.D. student’s 2nd year in the program. 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 Department of Physics, the oral exam is a defense of the dissertation presented upon the completion of a substantial portion of the dissertation or upon completion of a pre-final draft. Students consult with their dissertation advisor and reading committee members on the timing of the defense. Students typically complete this milestone by the end of their sixth year in the program.

Upon successfully completing 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. It is expected that students submit their dissertation in the same quarter as when they conduct the university oral exam, unless circumstances, such as timing of the oral exam or additional feedback from their committee, prevent them from doing so. In these cases, students are expected to submit their dissertation in the quarter immediately following.