Skip to main content
Astronomy & Astrophysics Astronomy
  1. HOME
  2. Graduate Program
  3. Degree Requirements

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. 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.

Policy on Exams in Core A & B Graduate Courses (Nov 2025): Astronomy and Astrophysics PhD students are required to complete a research-based qualification exam that includes an oral exam component. In order to prepare Astronomy and Astrophysics graduate students for the oral portion of the exam, Core A & B grad course exams should be structured within the following parameters:

i) All Core A graduate courses should hold an oral final exam; exceptions will be considered in rare and compelling cases.

ii) Oral final exams are encouraged for Core B graduate courses. In cases where the primary final assessment is not an oral exam (i.e. a final project), the assessment should include a substantial oral component, which involves a Q&A session.

Policy on Substitutions for Core B Course Requirement (Nov 2025): Astronomy & Astrophysics PhD students are not able to take a course outside of the Astronomy & Astrophysics Department as a substitution for a Core B graduate course requirement; exceptions will be considered in rare, clear, and compelling cases. Students seeking such a substitution must submit a petition to the Department Graduate Advisory Committee (GAC) in advance and receive approval.

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.