Applied Physics Degree Requirements
Comprehensive information about the Applied Physics degree requirements and program policies are detailed in the Applied Physics Program Handbook(updated March 2024)In summary, the formal requirements for a PhD in Applied Physics are:
- The core courses,
- the oral qualifying exam,
- the teaching experience,
- the prospectus or thesis proposal,
- and the thesis defense.
Core courses:
For full descriptions and schedules, see the Courses page.
| 1 | MAT SCI 401 - Chemical & Statistical Thermodynamics of Materials (Fall Yr1) or Physics 416 - Introduction to Statistical Mechanics (Winter Yr1) |
| 2 | PHYSICS 412-1 Quantum Mechanics (Fall Yr1) |
| 3 | PHYS 411-1 Methods of Theoretical Physics (Fall Yr1) |
| GEN ENG 519 or CHEM 519 or PHYS 519 (Fall 1st year) - Required but not for credit (Fall Yr1) | |
| 4 | PHYSICS 412-2 Quantum Mechanics (Winter Yr1) |
| 5 | PHYSICS 414-1 Electrodynamics (Winter Yr1) |
| 6 | MAT SCI 405 Physics of Solids (Spring Yr1) or PHYS 422-1 Condensed-Matter Physics (Fall Yr2) |
| 7 | Computational Methods of AP course see list of course options below |
| 8 | Experimental Methods of AP course see list of course options below |
| 9 | Elective 1 - Graduate level class (400) |
| 10 | Elective 2 - Graduate level class (400) |
Download here the list of course options for Computational Methods of Applied Physics and Experimental Methods of Applied Physics.
The Graduate School links:
- Academic calendar
- Academic services
- Fellowships and Grants
- Conference Travel Grant
- TGS Graduate Research Grant
- TGS PhD Graduation Checklist
- TGS PhD Timeline
- Satisfactory academic progress criteria
- TGS News
- TOEFL information
- TA Equity
- Teaching is an essential element of the education and training experience of PhD students at Northwestern. The Graduate School requires that all PhD students serve in some instructional capacity for at least one academic quarter during their graduate education at Northwestern. This teaching requirement is unique to American higher education, and is an integral aspect of professional development. Students are expected to do comparable teaching work to other students within their program. The Graduate School strives to ensure teaching demands are as similar as possible across academic programs.