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Application Deadlines:
For domestic classified status, the deadline is approximately a month before the start of classes (Definite dates are on the application itself). International students, please see the FAQs #16 for your deadline. NOTE: If you are a new graduate student and you intend to apply for a Competitive Graduate Award (CGA), the deadline for having all of your application materials turned in moves up to January 15th. If you apply for the CGA but your SIUE application is incomplete, your application for the Competitive Graduate Award will be removed from consideration.
MASTER OF SCIENCE
The Department of Physics offers a program of study leading to the Master of Science degree in physics. This degree program has three options emphasizing optics and photonics, condensed matter theory and computational physics, and physics and astronomy education research. The optics and theory options are especially appropriate for someone seeking a career in industry. The physics and astronomy education research option is especially appropriate for students planning a post-secondary teaching or education research career. All three options are also appropriate for part-time students, including in-service teachers, who are employed in SIUE’s service region since many of the required physics lecture courses are offered in the evenings. The research component of the program requires special arrangements with the physics faculty. Research work done elsewhere will be recognized for credit, provided it meets the approval of the Physics Graduate Committee.
Experimental research laboratories and computer facilities are described in the sections in Chapter 1 entitled “Special Instructional, Research and Practicum Facilities” and “Academic Computing Resources.” Subscriptions to an adequate number of physics periodicals are maintained in SIUE’s Lovejoy Library. The department provides experimental research opportunities in the areas of thin film physics, optical coatings, nonlinear optical properties of materials and holographic data storage, and scintillating optical fibers. Our theory group offers research opportunities in mathematical physics, optical properties of solids, single-electron states for electrons confined to two dimensions in the presence of strong magnetic fields and charge impurities and how simple rules can lead to complex phenomena, such as self-organized criticality, self-similar structures, and power laws. The Physics and Astronomy Education Research group studies problem-solving in physics and astronomy, conceptual difficulties in astronomy, inclusiveness issues in science, implementing and developing novel and inquiry-based curricula, and developing reliable and valid assessments.
In addition to Competitive Graduate Awards granted through the Graduate School, graduate assistantships with stipends of up to $9,330 plus tuition for the academic year are available from the Department of Physics. Teaching assistants are assigned teaching duties requiring a total of 20 hours per week during the academic year. This typically involves about eight to twelve contact hours per week. All assistants are required to carry at least 6 hours of graduate course work. Applications for assistantships should be submitted to the Physics Department’s Graduate Studies Committee before February 1. Successful candidates will be notified by March 1. Additional financial support is available during the summer months to qualified students, subject to the availability of funds.
In addition to the general Graduate School requirements, the Department of Physics specifies requirements for the Master of Science degree which are outlined below.
ADMISSION
Applicants with baccalaureate degrees who satisfy the general requirements for admission to graduate studies may qualify for this program. An applicant must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 (A=4.0) in the undergraduate major, which must be in physics or a closely related discipline (such as optics, electrical engineering, materials science, computer science), or approval of the physics graduate faculty.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Each student's program is initially supervised by the advisory subcommittee of the Physics Graduate Studies Committee, composed of physics graduate faculty members.
Before the end of the first year, the student should consult with various physics faculty members about projects for consideration as a thesis or project topic. When the student and particular faculty member have agreed on a project, the faculty member will choose for the student a thesis or project advisory committee consisting of three to five graduate faculty members. The initiating faculty member will serve as chairperson. These actions will then be reviewed for approval by the Physics Graduate Advisory Committee. The thesis advisory committee thus selected is thereafter responsible for advisement of the candidate until the completion of the degree requirements.
PROGRAM OF STUDY
Foundation Courses
Foundation courses are designed for students entering the program with baccalaureate degrees in engineering, mathematics, or computer sciences. These courses provide students with the minimal necessary background for the graduate program. Hours completed in the foundation courses cannot be applied toward the MS degree. The foundation courses are:
PHYS 308 (3) Introduction to Classical Mechanics
PHYS 405a(3) Electromagnetic Field Theory
PHYS 410 (3) Optics (Photonics Option only)
PHYS 416(4) Principles of Quantum Mechanics.
In order to receive the degree, a candidate must satisfy the general requirements of the Graduate School and must earn at least 34 or 36 (depending on the option) semester hours of graduate credit in the courses listed below.
The student must maintain a grade point average of 3.0 (A=4.0) for all graduate work in physics as well as for all work to be applied toward the degree.
Required Courses for all Options
PHYS 511 (3) Methods in Classical Physics or Math 501 (3) Differential Equations and the Fourier Analysis
PHYS 512 (3) Electrodynamics
PHYS 513 (3) Quantum Mechanics
PHYS 599 (6) Thesis or PHYS 598 (6) Advanced Research Project in Physics
Photonics Option (36 hrs total)
Required Courses:
PHYS 504 (3) Applications of Fiber Optics
PHYS 506 (3) Experimental Methods in Optics
PHYS 514 (3) Photonics I
PHYS 515 (3) Photonics II
PHYS 517 (3) Principles of Lasers
PHYS 518 (3) Nonlinear Optics
Elective Courses - 3 credit hours from the following courses:
PHYS 450 (3) Solid State Physics
PHYS 516 (1-3) Independent study
PHYS 520 (1-3) Graduate Physics Project
PHYS 580 (2-4) Selected Topics in Physics
Computational / Condensed Matter Option (34 hrs total)
Required Courses:
PHYS 450 (3) Solid State Physics
PHYS 518 (3) Non-linear Optics
MATH 462 (3) Engineering Numerical Analysis
CS 402 (3) C++ Programming
CHEM 569 (3) Advanced Topics in Physical Chemistry OR CHEM 561(3) Advanced Physical Chemistry
Elective Courses - 4 credit hours from the following courses:
CS 404 (3) Scientific Computation
PHYS 514 (3) Photonics I
PHYS 516 (1-3) Independent study
PHYS 520 (1-3) Graduate Physics Project
PHYS 580 (2-4) Selected Topics in Physics
Physics and Astronomy Education Research Option (34 hrs total)
Required Courses
EPFR 501 (3) Research Methods in Education
EPFR 515 (3) Advanced Education Psychology
SCI 530 (3) Science Education Research Methods
PHYS 438 (1´4=4) Physics and Astronomy Education Research Seminar
Elective Courses - 6 credit hours from the following courses:
PHYS 431 (3): Instructional Strategies for Particle and Rigid Body Motion
PHYS 432 (3): Instructional Strategies for Physical Waves and Thermodynamics
PHYS 433 (3): Instructional Strategies for Electricity and Magnetism
PHYS 434 (3): Instructional Strategies for Astronomy
The following courses are suggested but not required:
EDFD 451 (3): Gender and Education
STAT 410 (3): Statistical Analysis (quantitative).
SCI 537 (3): Qualitative Research Methods for Science Education
Qualifying Examination for M.S. Degree Candidacy
In order to qualify for the degree and to begin research work, the candidate must pass a written examination on undergraduate physics under the supervision of the Physics Graduate Studies Committee. Students should consult the department for format and scheduling information. Part-time students may apply to the Graduate Studies Committee requesting a delay in taking this examination.
Thesis or Project
Each candidate must either submit to Graduate Records a thesis based on work in an approved physics research program or submit to the Physics Department a detailed report on an approved advanced project. The thesis or project topic is to be approved by the Physics Graduate Advisory Committee and pursued under the supervision of the student’s thesis advisory committee.
Thesis
After a thesis acceptable to the thesis advisory committee is submitted, the candidate must pass an oral examination, covering the thesis work, in order to be certified for the degree.
Advanced Project
As an alternative to submitting a thesis based on an approved research program, the physics MS student may submit to the Physics Department a detailed report on an approved advanced project. Examples of appropriate types of projects are: laboratory equipment design and construction, computational physics, library research on an advanced topic in physics, practical experimental project, work in physics undertaken in cooperative programs with other departments or institution, and objective evaluation of methodologies of physics instruction.
The project report is to be prepared in conformity with a style manual officially adopted by the Graduate Studies Committee. There will be a final examination to include presentation of project results in seminar format.
Special Instructional, Research, and Practicum Facilities
The Department of Physics provides excellent facilities for experimental research in the areas of thin-film optics, optical spectroscopy, nonlinear optics, volume holographic storage, and photon counting in scintillating optical fibers. The optical coating lab has complete facilities for design, production, and analysis of multi-layer thin films. The laser and spectroscopy lab is equipped with state-of-the-art lasers and devices. It contains Nd:YAG, Ti:Sapphire, argon, and cw Spectra Physics “Millennia V” lasers, as well as a Raman & Fluorescence spectrometer and Perkin-Elmer Lambda 9 UV/VIS/NIR spectrophotometer. The optical scintillating fiber lab is equipped with state-of-the-art photon counting systems and associated electronics.
The Physics and Astronomy education research facilities include a dedicated interview room, equipped with digital audio and video recording capabilities, a laboratory preparation area, and computer facilities with sophisticated software for qualitative, quantitative and interview analysis, as well as graphical image processing. In addition, a high-tech audio system for recording groups in large lecture/ laboratory situations exists.
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN EDUCATION
SECONDARY EDUCATION/PHYSICS
The Department of Physics, in cooperation with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, offers a physics teaching field as part of the Master of Science in Education degree, major in secondary education. A jointly advised program of 10 to 20 hours in physics is designed taking into account each student's background and interests. A student must achieve at least a grade point average of 3.0 in the physics course work as well as an overall average of 3.0 (A= 4.0). For further information, see "Secondary Education" in another section of this chapter.