The doctoral program is designed to produce graduates broadly educated at the highest level who are capable of actively identifying, conducting, directing and evaluating research at the frontiers of knowledge. The successful student should be able to able to perform duties as a research scientist/engineer and scientific manager in order to develop the basic science and technology base required for new Air Force weapons systems.

Programs

• Applied Physics
• Optical Science and Engineering
• Material Science
• Nuclear Engineering

For more information, please see one of the three links below.

Specialization Areas

• Lasers, optics and optical systems
• optical processing, remote sensing and signature analysis
• semiconductor physics and devices
• photonics, plasma physics and processing
• chemical physics, transport theory and nuclear engineering

Curriculum

The Ph.D. program is typically 36 months in length (beyond the M.S. degree), with a total of 48 to 60 credit hours plus dissertation. Program content and length are largely determined by the areas and depth of knowledge required by the student in order to adequately carry out the research required in his or her chosen specialty. These program requirements are embodied in the student's "approved program" and reflect certain departmental requirements as well as the doctoral degree requirements. These degree requirements adhere to standards defined by the faculty of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management.

Department Requirements

The faculty of the Department of Engineering Physics has specified a set of core requirements to be met by candidates for the Ph.D. degree in the various disciplines offered by the department. These requirements are designed to insure that students who enter the program with varied backgrounds will develop sufficient knowledge in their chosen doctoral area to qualify for the Ph.D. degree in that area.