M.A. Degree

The goal of the MA in Physics degree program is to offer a superb graduate education that prepares you for either the challenges of today's workplace or the requirements of a Ph.D. program. To satisfy these diverse demands our MA program offers a great deal of flexibility ranging form an option focused on the needs for working in industry to an option that includes mostly advanced graduate courses.  More than 50% of our incoming class goes on to a PhD program, either or own or elsewhere. The outcomes for the classes that started between Fall 2017 and Fall 2021 are shown below (this analysis was performed in the Fall 2023 semester).

The MA degree is offered both as an option without thesis that requires the student to pass the Compehensive Exam at the Master level, and as an option with a thesis that does not require taking the comprehensive exam.

The admission requirements for the MA program are a Bachelor degree in Physics or Astronomy with a minimum GPA of 3.25, a satisfactory GRE score and, for international students, an internet based Toefl score of at least 85 (or equivalent for different exam such as the IELTS).

M.A. Degree Requirements

A MA degree requires a minimum of 30 credits in graduate courses that have been deemed appropriate by the Physics graduate program. No more than 6 credits of comparable graduate courses taken at another university can be transferred . Transfer eligibility must first be approved in writing by the professor teaching the comparable course at Stony Brook and then by the Graduate Program Director, who will authorize departmental approval. Such credit transfers should be requested in the student's first semester at Stony Brook. The requirements for the Master's degree can be satisfied in two ways.

 

Requirements for the "Master Project/Thesis" option:

• Passing of satisfactory program of study approved by the Graduate Program Director. Normally such program includes at least two approved graduate courses and two semesters of the graduate seminar (PHY598 and PHY 599). The total number of credits with passing grades (which normally is B or better) including the Master Research credit should be at least 30
• Completion of a Master Project/Thesis.The Master project is supervised by an advisor and has to be documented in the format of a scientific paper or a thesis. The Master project has to be defended before a committee of 3 faculty members, your advisor and any other 2 faculty members.  At least half of the committee (including the Chair) must be full-time faculty. The advisor cannot be the Chair of the committee. Thesis Requirements: The thesis should be a single author work in which any contributions from other members of the research group the student is working with are made clear. Naturally there may be many such contributions and this is totally fine, but it should be clear that the student performed a significant piece of research work themselves. There is no need to submit the Master thesis to the graduate school, but if it is submitted, it must be prepared in accordance with the guidelines presented in the university's "Guide to the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations."  The Master thesis is not expected to be especially long. It can be in the form of a scientific paper or a thesis similar in style to a PhD thesis. While we do not have precise guidelines a reasonable expectation might be that it would be between 20-50 pages long (regular 11-12 pt font pages, not two column journal pages)The thesis should demonstrate that an understanding of the background to the research question has been obtained by the student and that progress on a research question has been made by a student. It is not a requirement for the Master’s thesis that the work be sufficiently original or complete to be published, though if a Master’s thesis does contain publishable work we highly encourage both the student and advisor to try to see that publication does occur, though this does not have to be done before graduation. Defense Requirements: The Masters defense should generally be a talk of around 30-40 minutes, so that the total duration of the defense is around one hour.  Students should arrange their committee, defense time and location themselves and then have the Chair of the commitee contact the GPD after the defense to verify that it was successful.

 

Requirements for the "No Master Project/Thesis" option:

• Passing the written part of the Comprehensive Exam at the Master level.
• Passing of Graduate Courses approved by the Graduate Program Director with a grade of B or better. The number of courses should be such that the minimum number of 30 credits is satisfied. An approved Program usually includes two semester of the Graduate Seminar (PHY598 and PHY599).

 

Sample schedules for the MA Program 

A MA degree requires a minimum of 30 credits in graduate courses that have been deemed appropriate by the Physics graduate program. In most cases this program can be completed in three of four semesters, but in exceptional cases of very well prepared students, it is possible to complete this program in two semesters and one Summer. Realistically, most students wanting to be admitted in to a highly ranked US PhD program will need to spend more than two semesters in our MA program to build a good case for admission.

Below we give four examples of approved course sequences for an MA degree. There is a great deal of flexibility, and depending on your interest, courses can be substituted by other physics graduate courses. The schedules below are designed for full time students with 12+ credits the first 2 semesters and 9 credits in the third semester, with optional 4th semester as needed. All programs of study require approval of the Graduate Program Director.

Schedule I and II prepare for admission to a PhD program. Schedule I is the default option which focuses more on research while Schedule II caters for well prepared students interested in theory. Doing more research has the advantage that your advisor will be able to write a stronger letter of recommendation.

Default Program for preparation for admission to a PhD program with Master Thesis Research -- Schedule I

Undertaking Master thesis research is one of the best ways to prepare an application for a PhD program. It gives you skills that will make you a desireable recruit and provides your advisor with the insight they will need to be able to write you a strong letter of recommendation during semester 3 of the program. It is advisable to take one core course (but only one) in each of the first two semesters.

Semester 1:
PHY501 Classical Mechanics/ PHY 511 Quantum Mechanics I/PHY540 Statistical Mechanics (3 credits)

PHY 503 Methods of Mathematical Physics (3 credits)

PHY xxx Elective in your area of interest (3 credits)
PHY 599 or PHY 598 Graduate Seminar (1 credit)

Semester 2:

PHY 505 Electrodynamics (3 credits) /PHY 512 Quantum Mechanics I (3 credits)

PHY 504 Computational Methods in Physics and Astrophysics I  or PHY xxx Elective in your area of interest (3 credits)

PHY 580 Special Research Project (3 credits) 

Summer 1:

While it is not required to be at Stony Brook during the summer it can be an excellent opportunity to make significant progress on your research project. Enroll for PHY800 Summer research for 0 credits.

Semester 3:
PHY 595 Master Thesis Research (9 credits) 

Semester 4: 
PHY 595 Master Thesis Research (1 credit) (International students require permission from VIS to underload, it is typically granted)

Schedule II - Coursework focused Program for preparation for admissions to a PhD program with A focus on theoretical physics

This schedule does not include a Masters thesis as the student will be very busy with courses. It does require passing the comprehensive exam at the Master level. Students following this track should be confident that they can obtain good grades in demanding courses and pass the comprehensive exam by the start of Semester 4 at the latest.

 Semester 1:
PHY 501 Classical Mechanics (3 credits)
PHY 511 Quantum Mechanics I (3 credits)
PHY 599 or PHY 598 Graduate Seminar (1 credit)
PHY xxx Electives (3-6 credits)

Semester 2:
PHY 505 Electrodynamics (3 credits)
PHY 512 Quantum Mechanics II (3 credits) 
PHY 610 Quantum Field Theory I (3 credits) 
PHY xxx Elective (3 credits) 

Summer 1:

While it is not required to be at Stony Brook during the summer this is a good time to do a reading project, go to Simons Center talks and study for the comps. Enroll for PHY800 Summer research for 0 credits.

Semester 3:
PHY 540 Statistical Mechanics (3 credits)
PHY 611 Quantum Field Theory II (3 credits) 
PHY xxx Elective (3 credits) 

Semester 4: 
PHY 585 Special Study  (1 credit) (International students require permission from VIS to underload, it is typically granted)

Schedule III - Program focused on practical skills with Master Thesis Research 

This is a good option to build practical skills and research experience that could be applied in either further academic research or in real world applications.

Semester 1:

PHY501 Classical Mechanics/ PHY 511 Quantum Mechanics I/PHY540 Statistical Mechanics (3 credits)
PHY 514 Current Research Instruments (3 credits)
PHY 515 Methods of Experimental Research (3 credits)
PHY xxx Elective (3 credits) 

Semester 2:
PHY 504 Computational Methods (3 credits) 
PHY 546 Python (1 credit)
PHY 598 PHY 599 Graduate Seminar (1 credit)
PHY 580 Special Research Project (4 credits)
PHY xxx Elective (3 credits) 

Summer 1:

While it is not required to be at Stony Brook during the summer it can be an excellent opportunity to make significant progress on your research project. Enroll for PHY800 Summer research for 0 credits.

Semester 3:
PHY 604 Comptational Methods II (3 credits)
PHY 595 Master Thesis Research (6 credits) 

Semester 4: 
PHY 595 Master Thesis Research (1 credit) (International students require permission from VIS to underload, it is typically granted)

Schedule IV - This sequence includes an advanced graduate certificate in Data and Computational Science

Note: This track requires a full time 4th semester

Courses in Italics are required for the Certificate. Students should ensure that at least one of the PHY electives they take is listed on the Certificate Course Catalog

Semester 1:
PHY 503 Mathematical Physics (3 credits) 
PHY 501 or PHY 511 (3 credits) (Physics emphasis) or PHY52x (3 credits) (Astronomy emphasis)
PHY Elective (3 credits)
JRN 501 Communicating Science I (1 credit) 
PHY 598/599 Graduate Seminar (1 credit)

Semester 2:
PHY 504 Computational Methods in Physics and Astrophysics I (3 credits) or AMS 561 Data and Computational Science (3 credits) 
PHY 546 Python (1 credit) 
PHY 505 or PHY 512 (3 credits) (Physics emphasis) or PHY52x (3 credits) (Astronomy emphasis)
PHY 580 Special Research Project involving computation (3 credits)
JRN 503 Communicating Science II (1 credit) 
PHY 598/599 Graduate Seminar (1 credit)

Semester 3:
PHY 604 Computational Methods in Physics and Astrophysics II (3 credits)
CS xxx Elective in Computer Science (3 credits) or AMS xxx Elective in Applied Math (3 credits)
PHY 595 Master Thesis Research involving computation (3 credits)

Semester 4:
PHY 595 Master Thesis Research involving computation (3 credits)
CS xxx Elective in Computer Science (3 credits) or AMS xxx Elective in Applied Math (3 credits)
PHY xxx Elective (3 credits)