Graduate Education in the Columbia Physics Department

1. Graduate Educationin the Columbia Physics Department W.A. Zajc Director of Graduate Studies

2. Overview • Size • 18-19 admits per year (target set by GSAS) • ~110 students in program • Ph.D. program • Required courses in first two years • Qualifying exam • Thesis research • Dissertation defense • Mean time to degree ~6.2 years • Support: • Years 1-2: Teaching Fellowship • ~ 9 hours per week of teaching obligations • $2000 per month (research assistantship in summer) • Subsequent years: Research Assistantship,costs carried by grants

3. Admission Statistics • Clear increasing trend in number of applicants • Increased selectivity • Time correlated with condensed matter recruitments • Conscious effort to increase representation of women in admit pool Stormer Pinczuk Arrive

4. Graduate Student Composition • National origins • By undergrad institution… • By citizenship ? • mini-CUSPEA • CUSPEA  CU S Physics E A … • Columbia, CCNY, NYU • Princeton… • Select group determined via • written examination • interviews by faculty from participating institutions • 1-2 per year

5. Teaching • Average of 9 hours per week • One 3-hour laboratory per week • Grading of lab reports : 3 hours per week • Preparation for laboratory: 1 hour per week • Help room : 1 hour per week • Grading of lecture course examinations(~14 hours per semester) • Contact hours contingent upon satisfactory written +aural + oral competency • Internal CU program….

6. Awards and Honors • NSF’s….. • Presidential Teaching Awards • University-wide competition • Three awardees in past N years: • Michael Larkin (199?) • Chad Finley (200?) • Gabriel Perez-Giz (2003) • Other…..

7. Required?? Courses • All five of the following formal introductory courses:G6037/ 8: Quantum Mechanics I and IIG6092/ 3: Electromagnetic Theory I and IIG6036 : Statistical Mechanics • Two courses from the following phenomenological subject courses:G6050: Elementary Particle PhysicsG6040: Nuclear PhysicsG6018: Solid State PhysicsG6010: Advanced Astrophysics G6011: High Energy AstrophysicsG6060: Laser Physics • G6070 Biophysics • One of the following advanced theoretical courses:G8047-8 : Advanced Quantum Mechanics I or IIG8069-70 : Particle Physics I or IIG8040 : General RelativityG8066 : Theoretical Solid State PhysicsG8050 : Advanced Mathematical Methods in Physics • One of the following special techniques courses OR a second course from the advanced theoretical courses above:G6099: Physical PhenomenaG6042: Experimental Methods in Nuclear PhysicsG6080: Scientific Computing

8. ? • Discussion here about ongoing study by Graduate Committee on course reform? • Examined offerings at peer institutions • Roughly similar • Some emerging sentiment to “modernize” core offerings: • Not yet a proposal, but for example: • Reduce E&M to 1 semester • Replace with • GR + Early Universe ? • Non-linear phenomena? • Computational methods? • Also: rationalize advanced particle physics and field theory offerings

9. Qualifying Examination • Offered once per year (January) • Level: ~advanced undergraduate • Format: • Three (4 hr) written exams: • Classical Physics (Mechanics, E&M) • Modern Physics (formal Quantum Mechanics, applied Quantum Mechanics, and Relativity) • General Physics (Thermodynamics, Optics, HEP, Nuclear, Astrophysics, Atomic, Condensed Matter) • Oral Examination by 3-person faculty committee • Pass/Fail status determined in faculty meeting following detailed discussion of each student’s performance on written and oral qualifying exam, and in course work: • Pass  complete course requirements, begin research • Fail  repeat entire exam following year • Conditional  repeat specific section following year • Second failure  requested to leave program • Statistics: (Past 5 years): • 96 students • 22 repeats • 2 failed 2nd attempt

10. Typical Program

11. Distribution of Degrees • Broken down by Exp/Theory • By topic • ~10% outside department • # stationed off-site?

12. Time To Degree • Results from monitoring over past decade: • Times to Degree: • All (100%): Avg = 6.25y, Median = 6 y • Experiment ( 54%): Avg = 6.29y, Median = 6 y • Theory ( 46%): Avg = 6.21y, Median = 6 y

13. Employment Data • Relatively good employment prospects for PhD’s • Majority take postdoc • Obvious influence of proximity to Wall Street

14. Comparison • Data from AIP’s link to http://www.gradschoolshopper.com/

15. Some Clever Summary

16. Getting Information • Use it! • Ask!

17. Placement Exams • Offered on Thursday, 02-Sep-04: • 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon: G6092-3 (Electromagnetic Theory I and II) • 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM: G6037-8 (Quantum Mechanics I and II) • You are strongly encouraged to take either (or both) of these exams • Pass: Credit for the course • Fail : No record is kept • Re-visiting material you know well is not a productive use of your time!

18. Ethical Behavior (I) • Columbia University is an academic community committed to fostering intellectual inquiry in a climate of academic freedom and integrity. Its members are expected to uphold these principles and exhibit tolerance and respect for others. Thus, the Graduate School condemns all forms of misconduct and works strenuously to assure that its students are accorded tolerance, dignity and respect. Any graduate student who believes that he or she is a victim of misconduct has recourse to the mediation and grievance procedures developed by the Graduate School. Students are encouraged to discuss problems, questions, and grievances with anyone in a supervisory position, such as an advisor, director of graduate studies, department chair or appropriate dean or university administrator... • Full details available at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/G_D_Policy2003.pdf

19. Ethical Behavior (II) • Columbia University is an academic community committed to fostering intellectual inquiry in a climate of academic freedom and integrity. Its members are expected to uphold these principles and abide by the regulations of the University. They are also expected to obey local, state and federal laws. Students continue at the University, receive academic credits, graduate, and obtain degrees subject to the disciplinary powers of the University. The Trustees of the University have delegated responsibility for student discipline to the deans of the individual schools or divisions. Students should be aware that academic dishonesty (for example, plagiarism, cheating on an examination, or dishonesty in dealing with a faculty member or other University official) or violence, threatening behavior, or harassment are particularly serious offenses that will be dealt with severely under Dean’s Discipline. • Full details available at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/G_D_Policy2003.pdf

20. Policy on Academic and Personal Misconduct The Graduate School prohibits academic dishonesty or misconduct. Without trying to list every example, the following illustrate the different forms that academic fraud or misconduct can take: 1. Cheating on examinations or tests; also fabrication of data and/or fabrication of results. 2. Plagiarism, the failure to acknowledge adequately ideas, language or research of others, in papers, essays, dissertations or other work. 3. Knowingly assisting others in plagiarism, by making one’s papers, essays, or written work available for such use. 4. Misstatement or misrepresentation in connection with any academic matter, such as in an application for admission or financial aid, or during a formal inquiry by University officials. 5. Misuse, alteration, or fabrication of University documents, records and credentials, including transcripts and I.D. cards. 6. Improper use of the library and its resources: theft or purposely hoarding or hiding books or materials. 7. Misconduct in carrying out teaching or research responsibilities. See appendix C for faculty guidelines. These guidelines apply to anyone teaching or conducting research at Columbia.

21. Your Role • Why this emphasis? • Because • You are joining a community of scholars • Whose medium of exchange is individual ideas and research results • The community: • Your fellow students • The Columbia physics faculty • The associated research scientists, post-docs, and technicians • Similar groups at other institutions

22. The Columbia Faculty • A broad department covering • Condensed matter • Astrophysics • “Particle” theory • Experimental particle physics • “Nuclear” physics • A department with • An illustrious past • A bright future (you)

23. Theory Igor Aleiner electron transport Allan Blaer Low T phase transitions Tim Halpin-Healey phase transitions and critical phenomena Andy Millis interacting e’s in metals Experiment Tony Heinz Surface physics w. lasers Philip Kim low-dimensional nanostructures Aron Pinczuk low-dim e systems Horst Stormer low-dim e systems Tomo Uemura mSR, high Tc Condensed Matter

24. Theory Andrei Beloborodov X-ray binaries, AGN, bursts Lam Hui cosmology Janna Levin theoretical astrophysics Mal Ruderman Compact objects Experiment Elena Aprile Gamma ray sources, LXe-TPC Charles Hailey Gamma ray astronomy Amber Miller CMB probes Reshmi Mukherjee gamma rays, AGN Stefan Westerhoff HiRes, AGN Astrophysics

25. Theory Norman Christ LQCD Brian Greene strings, cosmology Daniel Kabat strings, quantum gravity T.D. Lee Everything Robert Mawhinney LQCD Alfred Mueller QCD, heavy ions Erick Weinberg strings, black holes Experiment Gustaaf Brooijmans D0, ATLAS Janet Conrad miniBoone, nuTeV (FNAL) Hal Evans D0 John Parsons D0, ATLAS Frank Sciulli ZEUS Michael Shaevitz NuTeV, miniBoone Michael Tuts D0, ATLAS William Willis ATLAS “Particle” Physics

26. Theory Miklos Gyulassy QCD, heavy ion theory Experiment Brian Cole PHENIX, proton-Nucleus William Zajc PHENIX at RHIC “Nuclear” Physics

27. To Learn More • Required: Attend the Graduate Seminar! • Colloquium: (Mondays at 4pm) • Various regularly scheduled seminars • Ask!

28. The Graduate Experience • It’s the same: • Continue to take classes • Grades continue to matter • It’s different: • You will make a transition from • a student to • a researcher to • an independent researcher • The experience will have a profound affect on your entire career, in or out of science