Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program
In addition to the Ph.D. program in Physics, the Department of Physics offers an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in cooperation with other departments at Stevens Institute of Technology. This program aims to address the increasingly cross-cutting nature of doctoral research. The interdisciplinary Ph.D. program aims to take advantage of the complementary educational offerings and research opportunities in multiple areas. Any student who wishes to enter an interdisciplinary program needs to obtain the consent of the participating departments and the subsequent approval of the Office of Graduate Education. The student will follow a study plan designed by his/her faculty advisor. In particular, the student must declare which department will be the home department (i.e. the department where the majority of courses is being taken), and arrange for written consent of advisors in both departments involved.
The student will be granted official candidacy in the program upon successful completion of a qualifying exam that will be administered according to the applicable guidelines of the Office of Graduate Education. For all interdisciplinary programs involving the Physics department as either the home or secondary department, the student is required to pass the first part of the regular Ph.D. Qualifying Exam of the Physics Department (general Physics, based on core courses PEP 538, 542, 554, 555) as well as the corresponding Qualifying Exam of the other participating department.
All policies of the Office of Graduate Education that govern the credit and thesis requirements apply to students enrolled in this interdisciplinary program. Identical to the Physics Ph.D. program, the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program requires 84 credits. For students with the Physics department as the home department, the following additional guidelines apply:
A master’s degree comparable to the Stevens’ Master of Science in Physics will be recognized and be accounted for, with up to 30 credits, whereby the following courses (or equivalent) must be part of the Masters PEP 542 and PEP 554.
Program Requirements
Required core courses of an interdisciplinary Ph.D., if PEP is the home department:
| PEP 554 | Quantum Mechanics I | 3 |
| PEP 555 | Statistical Physics and Kinetic Theory | 3 |
| PEP 642 | Mechanics | 3 |
| PEP 643 | Electricity and Magnetism I | 3 |
| Two 600-level courses | |
| One 700-level course | |
Two 600-level courses: In the PEP or secondary department
One 700-level course: In the PEP or secondary department
These requirements allow a student to obtain an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. degree with a designated concentration in nanotechnology and the PEP Department as home department following the requirement of the Nanotechnology Graduate Program (NGP). To qualify for the nanotechnology concentration, the student has to satisfy all the above requirements for an interdisciplinary PhD and must additionally complete the NGP common core courses (NANO 600 and NANO525/625), a minimum of five elective NANO courses, as well as regularly attend the seminar series in the Nanotechnology Curriculum (NANO 700). Note that the requirement for five elective NANO courses are allowed to overlap with the requirements for an interdisciplinary PhD involving the PEP department, in particular, courses NANO/PEP553, NANO/PEP554, NANO/PEP555 are cross-listed with the NPG program. In addition, a Ph.D. candidate must successfully execute a doctoral dissertation in the realm of nanotechnology. Interested students should follow the normal graduate application procedures through the Office of Graduate Education.