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Ph.D. Degree Requirements

All UC San Diego Astronomy Ph.D. recipients must complete the following requirements:

  • Course requirements: Students are required to complete and pass ten (10) graduate courses (38 units total), including seven (7) Core courses (including 2 units of ASTR 500: Teaching Instruction) and three (3) Elective courses. Any course with a letter grade must receive a B- or higher to be considered satisfactory for course requirement. If a grade lower than B- is received the Graduate Advisory Committee will review each case for potential recommendations. In addition, students must complete at least two (2) quarters (8 units) of ASTR 298 (Directed Studies) prior to their Qualification Exam with a S/U grad option. First and Second year graduate students are required to take 6 quarters of ASTR 250 (Astronomy & Astrophysics Colloquium) and ASTR 251 (Astronomy & Astrophysics Journal Club) with a S/U grad option. These course requirements must be completed by the end of the second year, unless an approved exception is made by theGraduate Advisory Committee. For more details, see Courses.

  • Qualifying exam: Students are required to complete a research-based written report and oral qualifying exam before the end of their second year. Both the written report and oral presentation will focus on novel research completed by the student, advised by a faculty member as part of the ASTR 298 (Directed Studies) course requirement.  For more details, see Qualification Exam. 

  • Candidacy exam: Qualified students are required to submit a written thesis proposal and conduct an oral presentation with their Dissertation Committee before the end of their third year. Students whose proposal is approved will be designated Ph.D. Candidates. For more GEPA details, see Advance to Candidancy.

  • Dissertation and defense: Ph.D. degree recipients must complete a written dissertation and oral presentation, to be approved by the candidate's Dissertation Committee. The normative time for completion of the dissertation is by the end of the fifth year, with a formal limit of the end of the seventh year. For more GEPA details, see Dissertation Submission.

  • Teaching requirement: All Ph.D. students will be required to be a full-time (20 hour/week) Teaching Assistant (TA) for at least one (1) quarter, following completion of two (2) units of PHYA 500. Students are expected to TA in their first year in the program, unless granted an exception.

  • GPA requirement: In adherence with UC San Diego requirements, a cumulative GPA of 3.0 will be required for Advancement to Candidacy.

For more information on the timeline for completing these requirements, see Timeline.

 

Terminal Master's Degree 

Students who do not complete the requirements for a Ph.D. degree, or choose to leave the program without a Ph.D. degree, may be eligible for a terminal Master's Degree in Astronomy provided that the course and qualifying exam requirements above are met. Recommendation and planning for a Terminal Master's degree is made by either the Qualifying Review Committee or Dissertation Committee, depending on the student's stage of progression. This recommendation will be reviewed by the Graduate Advisory Committee and final approval made by the Vice Chair for Graduate Studies.