Ph.D. in Physics

While the listed courses are the simplest route to achieving this credit, a student may petition their committee and the department chair either with proposed substitute course work or other prior experience that demonstrates equivalent competence in any of these areas. Further, New Mexico Tech students who took one of the listed courses as part of a prior degree program at Tech and passed it with a grade of B- or higher are not required to retake the course.

In addition to the degree requirements specified above, (12) credit hours of graduate physics or appropriate related fields, approved by the student’s advisory committee, should be completed in his/her field of specialization.

All students are required to pass a preliminary exam (“prelim”). The prelim covers material in physics and mathematics normally included in the undergraduate physics curriculum. The department offers the exam at the beginning of the Fall and Spring semesters. Although doctoral students take the same prelim as MS students, a higher score is required of them. There is an established time-line for passing the exam which is different for MS and PhD students. Failure to pass the exam with the required score and within the specified time usually results in dis-enrollment from the physics graduate program. See the “Preliminary Exam Procedures” on the department website for further details.