Introduction
The Physics Department welcomes students interested in the master’s degree. Master’s candidates can perform research in any of the areas covered by the department. They develop laboratory and computational skills which are of value in many fields. These include electronics design, computer simulation and visualization, cryogenics, X-ray scattering, complex novel materials and devices, materials science and biophysics. Each M.S. student is assigned a faculty adviser who helps to design a coursework plan suited to the interests of the student.
Physics students and faculty use a number of UC Santa Cruz research facilities described at the beginning of this section and elsewhere in this catalog, including facilities of the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics(SCIPP) and the UC Observatories (headquartered at UC Santa Cruz). There is strong interaction with other disciplines, especially astronomy and astrophysics, biology, chemistry, Earth sciences, electrical engineering, and mathematics. Proximity to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory provides additional local research opportunities. UC Santa Cruz faculty and graduate students also participate in research programs at CERN in Geneva, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, NASA Ames, NREL, Lucent, Xerox, IBM, Bell Labs, and other national and international laboratories.
Application materials and brochures describing the physics M.S. and Ph.D. graduate programs in more detail may be obtained by visiting the Physics Department website or by contacting the Division of Graduate Studies.
Students pursuing the Ph.D. degree can apply for a master's degree upon successful completion of the requirements for a master's degree.
Requirements
Course Requirements
The following courses are required for M.S. students:
| PHYS202 | Introduction to Teaching in Physics | 1 |
| PHYS210 | Classical Mechanics | 5 |
| PHYS212 | Electromagnetism I | 5 |
| PHYS214 | Electromagnetism II | 5 |
| PHYS215 | Introduction to Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics | 5 |
| PHYS216 | Advanced Topics in Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics | 5 |
| PHYS219 | Statistical Physics | 5 |
Choose two of the following courses:
| PHYS217 | Quantum Field Theory I | 5 |
| PHYS218 | Quantum Field Theory II | 5 |
| PHYS220 | Theory of Many-Body Physics | 5 |
| PHYS221A | Introduction to Particle Physics I | 5 |
| PHYS221B | Introduction to Particle Physics II | 5 |
| PHYS222 | Quantum Field Theory III | 5 |
| PHYS224
/ASTR 224
| Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology | 5 |
| PHYS226
/ASTR 226
| General Relativity | 5 |
| PHYS231 | Introduction to Condensed Matter Physics | 5 |
| PHYS232 | Condensed Matter Physics | 5 |
| PHYS233 | Advanced Condensed Matter Physics | 5 |
| PHYS234 | Soft Condensed Matter Physics | 5 |
| PHYS240 | Polymer Physics | 5 |
| PHYS242 | Computational Physics | 5 |
| PHYS251 | Group Theory and Modern Physics | 5 |
| PHYS290 | Special Topics | 5 |
With approval from the graduate committee chair, courses from outside of physics may be used as electives toward the M.S. degree.
M.S. Thesis Requirement
Students may obtain a master’s degree through coursework (nine physics graduate courses) and submission of an approved thesis. The thesis requirement may be waived by passing four sections of the written pre-qualifying examination. Master’s candidates are encouraged to write a research thesis and may do so in any of the research fields in the program, thereby developing laboratory and computational skills in areas such as electronics design, computer simulation and visualization, cryogenics, X-ray scattering, complex novel materials and devices, or materials science. Each M.S. student is assigned a faculty adviser who helps to design a coursework plan suited to the interests of the student.
Applying for Graduation
Students must apply for graduation in order to receive their M.S. degree. The form can be found here and should be submitted to the Graduate Division.