Requirements

The goal of the graduate program is to prepare capable and creative astronomers for careers in research and education. The granting of a Ph.D. degree indicates that the recipient has a mastery of the knowledge and techniques of modern astrophysics. In addition, the recipient is expected to be familiar with problems that are at the frontiers of astrophysical research. The degree ensures the ability to carry out independent forefront research in a significant area of modern science.

As an entering graduate student you will be assigned a major professor and a senior graduate student as advisor and mentor. You can change your major professor at will, after consulting with the faculty. You are encouraged to work with a variety of the faculty and research staff during your first two years. By the time you take the preliminary examination, normally after two years of graduate study, you should have discussed a thesis topic with a professor who will serve as your thesis advisor.

A student ordinarily takes a minor in physics (12 credits) or a distributed minor that includes Physics coursework (12 credits). Suitable physics courses include dynamics, electrodynamics, and quantum mechanics, as well as typical offerings in areas such as electronics, plasmas, space physics, cosmology optics or numerical methods. Questions involving physics will be included in the preliminary examination. Students must complete their minor requirements before taking the preliminary examination. Students entering the graduate program with a Master's degree (or its equivalent) from another university are required to take additional coursework at UW-Madison to complete the minor.

Graduate students from other departments who wish to minor in Astronomy should ask the department for assignment of a minor professor. The minimum requirement for a minor is 10 credits from courses at or above the 500-level, including Astronomy 700 (cross listed courses with other departments are not eligible), and a GPA of 3.0 in the minor courses.

The Department does not have a foreign language requirement.

All candidates are expected to have direct experience in research by the time they take the preliminary examination. Students therefore normally carry out small research projects. Students also will learn how to carry out observations by using telescopes and will participate in the reduction and interpretation of ground-based or satellite observations.

Teacher training is an integral part of our graduate program, and an essential aspect of preparation for the Ph.D. The department is committed to helping students develop their teaching skills, through training programs and mentoring. Ph.D. candidates are normally required to hold a teaching assistantship for between one and three semesters.

See the preliminary examination page for details. After the preliminary examination is passed, students must register for a minimum of 3 credits, normally research (Astronomy 990), each semester.

In collaboration with your proposed major professor, you should begin considering a thesis topic before you take the preliminary examination. Formal approval of the thesis proposal is obtained after you make an oral presentation to the faculty giving the thesis title; the aim of the research (together with a statement of how it is related to current results, research, and trends in astronomy), an outline of the specific steps to be carried out; and a preliminary estimate of the facilities required (e.g. time at observatories or supercomputer centers). This approval should be obtained within nine months of passing the preliminary examination. After the finished thesis has been presented, the final oral examination will include questions on the thesis research and also its relation to the wider field of which it is a part.

To enter as a graduate student you must have undergraduate preparation that includes at least three years of college physics and mathematics through differential equations. While undergraduate training in Astronomy is not required, you should be familiar with the basic facts of modern Astronomy. It is recommended that you review these facts with a text such as Astronomy (Zeilek, 2002) or Modern Astrophysics (Carroll and Ostlie, 1996) It is the student's responsibility to meet the Graduate School and Astronomy department (both minor and major) requirements at the proper times; therefore you should be familiar with the general requirements found in the introductory section of the Graduate School Bulletin as well as the special requirements and course listings given in this Bulletin.

Also, see Satisfactory Progress for more details.