Applied Physics and Applied Sciences Tracks
Overview
The physics department has established Tracks in Applied Physics and Applied Science. By choosing this program, your Ph.D. degree will still be in physics, but the five course courses you take in your first few years of graduate school can be tailored towards a quicker entry into an emerging interdisciplinary area of research. Correspondingly, each subdiscipline requires specialized courses that assure proficiency in the subdiscipline, and guided elective choices. This program also allows students to take core courses from departments outside of physics when appropriate, to better prepare them for cutting-edge research at the interface between disciplines.
To join this program, you must complete the before the end of your 3rd semester of graduate study.
Applied Physics Tracks
For each track of study, there are three categories of courses.
- Comps I courses - must be completed to take the Comps II exam.
- Required Track Courses - additional required courses for each track
- Elective Courses - must be chosen from the given track list. Contact the Track Coordinator if you have questions or requests regarding the electives or evolving course numbers. 3 credit hours can be outside of this elective list.
Coordinator: Loren Hough
I) Comps 1 courses
Required:
- PHYS 5250 - Quantum Mechanics 1
- PHYS 7310 - Electromagnetic Theory 1
- PHYS 7230 - Statistical Mechanics
One from this list:
- BCHM 5770 - Fundamentals of Biochemistry 1
- BCHM 5771 - Advanced General Biochemistry 1
- BCHM 5780 - Fundamentals of Biochemistry 2
- BCHM 5781 - Advanced General Biochemistry 2
- MCDB 5312 - Quantitative Optical Imaging
- PHYS 5070 - Computational Physics
- PHYS 5210 - Theoretical Mechanics
- PHYS 5260 - Quantum Mechanics 2
- PHYS 7320 - Electromagnetic Theory 2
- PHYS 7240 - Advanced Statistical Mechanics
II) Required track courses
One from this list:
- PHYS 5550 - Cells, Molecules and Tissues: A Biophysical Approach
- PHYS 5560 - Introduction to Biophysics
III) Elective courses:
Bring your credit total to 30 by choosing electives. At least 27/30 of your credit hours should be from this list with up to 3 credits outside of this list; contact the coordinator if more than 3 credits outside of this list are desired. At least 18/30 of your credit hours must be in PHYS courses and at least 6/30 outside of PHYS.
- Any course in the above lists
- PHYS 5030 - Math Methods 1
- PHYS 5070 - Computational Physics
- PHYS 5160 - Fundamentals of Optics and Lasers
- PHYS 7430 - Soft Condensed Matter Physics
- GRAD 5000 - Responsible Conduct in Research (1 credit)
- EBIO 6100 - Seminar in Environmental Biology (2 credits)
- MCDB 5520 - Bioinformatics and Genomics
- MCDB 5621 - Genome Databases: Mining and Management
- BCHM 5400 - Core Concepts in Physical Chemistry for Biochemists
- BCHM 5491 - Modern Biophysical Methods
- BCHM 5611 - Principles of Biochemistry
- BCHM 5661 - Advances in Molecular Biophysics
- BCHM 5740 - Biochemistry of Gene Transmission, Expression and Regulation
- CHEM 5261 - Organic Materials: Structures & Functions
- CHEM 5561 - Advances in Molecular Biophysics
- CHEM 5801 - Advanced Signal Transduction
- CHEM 7311 - Selected Topics in Organic Materials
- CHEN 5150 - Biomolecular Kinetics, Transport, and Thermodynamics
- CHEN 5450 - Polymer Chemistry
- CHEN 5805 - Biological Interactions to Biomaterials
- MCEN 5021 - Introduction to Fluid Dynamics
- MCEN 5133 - Biomechanics
- MCEN 6184 - Structure & Properties of Polymers
- MSEN 5919 - Membranes
- ECEN 5341 - Bioelectromagnetics
- CSCI 5352 - Network Analysis and Modeling
- CSCI 5423 - Biologically-inspired Multi-Agent Systems
- CSCI 7000 - Current Topics in Computer Science
- STAT 5000 - Statistical Methods and Application I
- STAT 5010 - Statistical Methods and Application II
- PSYC 5771 - Bayesian Data Analysis
Please refer to biofrontiers certificate requirements when choosing electives (if you are also participating in this program).
Coordinator: Margaret Murnane
I) Comps 1 courses
At least three of the following four courses from this list
- PHYS 5250 - Quantum Mechanics 1
- PHYS 5260 - Quantum Mechanics 2
- PHYS 7310 - Electromagnetic Theory 1
- PHYS 7320 - Electromagnetic Theory 2
II) Required track courses
- ECEN 5696 - Fourier Optics
- ECEN 5126 - Computational Optical Imaging
III) Elective courses:
Bring your credit total to 30 by choosing electives. At least 27/30 of your credit hours should be from this list with up to 3 credits outside of this list; contact the coordinator if more than 3 credits outside of this list are desired. At least 18/30 of your credit hours must be in PHYS courses and at least 6/30 outside of PHYS.
- Any course in the above lists
- PHYS 5070 - Computational Physics
- PHYS 5160 - Fundamentals of Optics and Lasers
- PHYS 5210 - Theoretical Mechanics
- PHYS 5606 - Optics Laboratory (same as ECEN 5606)
- PHYS 7230 - Statistical Mechanics
- PHYS 7440 - Theory of the Solid State 1
- PHYS 7650 - Nonlinear and Nano Optics
- PHYS 7660 - Ultrafast Optics
- PHYS 7810 - Special Topics in Physics: EUV Science and Technology
- APPM 5600 - Numerical Analysis 1
- APPM 5610 - Numerical Analysis 2
- CSCI 5254 - Convex Optimization and its Applications
- CSCI 5922 - Neural Networks and Deep Learning
- ECEN 5156 - Physical Optics
- ECEN 5532 - Digital Signal Processing Laboratory
- ECEN 5616 - Optoelectronic System Design
- ECEN 5632 - Introduction to Digital Filters
- ECEN 5672 - Digital Image Processing
- ECEN 6006 - Numerical Methods in Photonics
Coordinator: Cindy Regal
I) Comps 1 courses
Required:
- PHYS 5250 - Quantum Mechanics 1
- PHYS 5260 - Quantum Mechanics 2
- PHYS 7310 - Electromagnetic Theory 1
One from this list:
- PHYS 7320 - Electromagnetic Theory 2
- PHYS 7230 - Statistical Mechanics
- PHYS 5210 - Theoretical Mechanics
II) Required track courses
Required:
- PHYS 7570 - Quantum Information and Computing
One from this list:
- PHYS 7250 - Quantum Many Body Theory
- PHYS 7550 - Atomic and Molecular Spectra
- PHYS 7560 - Quantum Optics
- PHYS 7270 - Quantum Mechanics 3
- PHYS 7280 - Advanced Quantum Mechanics
III) Elective courses:
Bring your credit total to 30 by choosing electives. At least 27/30 of your credit hours should be from this list with up to 3 credits outside of this list; contact the coordinator if more than 3 credits outside of this list are desired. At least 18/30 of your credit hours must be in PHYS courses.
- Any course in the above lists
- PHYS 5030 - Math Methods 1
- PHYS 5040 - Math Methods 2
- PHYS 5070 - Computational Physics
- PHYS 5160 - Fundamentals of Optics and Lasers
- PHYS 5606 - Optics Laboratory (same as ECEN 5606)
- PHYS 7240 - Advanced Statistical Mechanics
- PHYS 7440 - Theory of Solid State 1
- PHYS 7450 - Theory of Solid State 2
- PHYS 7650 - Nonlinear and Nano-Optics
- PHYS 7660 - Ultrafast Optics
- CSCI 5254 - Convex Optimization and Its Applications
- CSCI 5622 - Machine Learning
- CSCI 5922 - Neural Networks and Deep Learning
- CSCI 6622 - Advanced Machine Learning
- ECEN 5005 - Optical and Quantum Metrology
- ECEN 5156 - Physical Optics
- ECEN 5166 - Guided Wave Optics
- ECEN 5616 - Optoelectronic System Design
- ECEN 5622 - Information Theory and Coding
- ECEN 5626 - Active Optical Devices
- ECEN 5634 - Microwave Lab
- ECEN 5645 - Introduction to Optical Electronics
- ECEN 5696 - Fourier Optics
- ECEN 6006 - Numerical Methods in Photonics
- MATH 5440 - Mathematics of Coding and Cryptography
- STAT 5530 - Mathematical Statistics
- STAT 5610 - Statistical Learning
Coordinator: Markus Raschke
I) Comps 1 courses
Required:
- PHYS 5250 - Quantum Mechanics 1
- PHYS 5260 - Quantum Mechanics 2
- PHYS 7310 - Electromagnetic Theory 1
One from this list:
- PHYS 7320 - Electromagnetic Theory 2
- PHYS 7230 - Statistical Mechanics
II) Required track courses
Two from this list:
- PHYS 5160 - Fundamentals of Optics and Lasers
- PHYS 7240 - Advanced Statistical Mechanics
- PHYS 7440 - Theory of Solid State 1
- PHYS 7550 - Atomic and Molecular Spectra
- PHYS 7560 - Quantum Optics
- PHYS 7650 - Nonlinear and Nano-Optics
- PHYS 7660 - Ultrafast Optics
- CHEM 5591 - Advanced Molecular Spectroscopy
III) Elective courses:
Bring your credit total to 30 by choosing electives. At least 27/30 of your credit hours should be from this list with up to 3 credits outside of this list; contact the coordinator if more than 3 credits outside of this list are desired. At least 18/30 of your credit hours must be in PHYS courses and at least 6/30 outside of PHYS.
- Any course in the above lists
- PHYS 5070 - Computational Physics
- PHYS 5210 - Theoretical Mechanics
- PHYS 5606 - Optics Laboratory (same as ECEN 5606)
- PHYS 7240 - Advanced Statistical Mechanics
- CHEM 5501 - Advanced Topics in Physical Chemistry
- CHEM 5581 - Introduction to Quantum Chemistry
- CHEM 5541 - Chemical Dynamics
- CHEM 5561 - Advances in Molecular Biophysics
- APPM 5600 - Numerical Analysis 1
- APPM 5610 - Numerical Analysis 2
- ECEN 5156 - Physical Optics
- ECEN 5696 - Fourier Optics
- ECEN 6006 - Numerical Methods in Photonics
Coordinator: Kevin Stenson
I) Comps 1 courses
Required:
- PHYS 5250 - Quantum Mechanics 1
- PHYS 5260 - Quantum Mechanics 2
- PHYS 7310 - Electromagnetic Theory 1
One from this list:
- PHYS 5210 - Theoretical Mechanics
- PHYS 7320 - Electromagnetic Theory 2
- PHYS 7230 - Statistical Mechanics
- PHYS 7270 - Quantum Mechanics 3
II) Required track course
One from this list:
- PHYS 5730 - Particle Physics
- PHYS 7270 - Quantum Mechanics 3 (if not used as a Comps 1 course)
- PHYS 7280 - Advanced Quantum Theory
- PHYS 7730 - Theory of Elementary Particles
III) Elective courses:
Bring your credit total to 30 by choosing electives. At least 27/30 of your credit hours should be from this list with up to 3 credits outside of this list; contact the coordinator if more than 3 credits outside of this list are desired. At least 18/30 of your credit hours must be in PHYS courses and at least 6/30 outside of PHYS.
- Any course in the above lists
- PHYS 5070 - Computational Physics
- PHYS 5150 - Introductory Plasma Physics
- PHYS 5770 - Gravitational Theory
- PHYS 6260 - Geometry of Quantum Fields and Strings (same as MATH 6260)
- PHYS 7160 - Intermediate Plasma Physics
- ASTR 5770 - Cosmology
- APPM 5510 / STAT 5250 - Data Assimilation in High Dimensional Dynamical Systems
- APPM 5560 / STAT 5100 - Markov Processes, Queues, and Monte Carlo Simulations
- APPM 5600 - Numerical Analysis 1
- APPM 6640 - Multigrid Methods
- CSCI 5254 - Convex Optimization and Its Applications
- CSCI 5622 - Machine Learning
- CSCI 5502 - Data Mining
- CSCI 5576 - High-Performance Scientific Computing
- CSCI 5606 - Principles of Numerical Computation
- CSCI 5676 - Numerical Optimization
- CSCI 5922 - Neural Networks and Deep Learning
- CSCI 6502 - Big Data Analytics: Systems, Algorithms, and Applications
- CSCI 6622 - Advanced Machine Learning
- STAT 5000 - Statistical Methods and Application I
- STAT 5010 - Statistical Methods and Application II
- STAT 5310 - Statistical Modeling for Data Science
- STAT 5530 - Mathematical Statistics
- STAT 5610 - Statistical Learning
- STAT 5630 - Computational Bayesian Statistics
- ECEN 5224 - High Speed Digital Design
- ECEN 5355 - Principles of Electronic Devices 1
- ECEN 5414 - Essential Principles of Signal Integrity
- ECEN 5424 - High Speed Channel Design for Signal Integrity
- ECEN 5434 - S-Parameters for Signal Integrity in High Speed Digital Engineering
- ECEN 5458 - Sampled Data and Digital Control Systems
- ECEN 5478 - Online Convex Optimization and Learning
- ECEN 5514 - Principles of Electromagnetics for High-Speed Digital Engineering
- ECEN 5532 - Digital Signal Processing Laboratory
- ECEN 5613 - Embedded System Design
- ECEN 5622 - Information Theory and Coding
- ECEN 5623 - Real-Time Embedded Systems
- ECEN 5652 - Detection and Extraction of Signals from Noise
- ECEN 5720 - Practical Printed Circuit Board Design Accelerator
- ECEN 5813 - Principles of Embedded Software
Pre-2024 page
For students who entered the program before Fall 2024, you can either satisfy the current requirements (above) or the previous requirements