PhD in Physics

The PhD in Physics (PhD PHYS) builds on Khalifa University’s internationally leading research activity in science, engineering, and medicine. It supports the University’s alignment with the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 plan through the provision of internationally excellent education and student experience in Physics, producing highly skilled science professionals capable of transferring state-of-the-art technologies to priority sectors of industry, business and government. The aim of the PhD in Physics program is to produce graduates who are able to conduct independent research in Physical sciences at the highest levels of originality and quality. The degree will be awarded to students who demonstrate a range of advanced knowledge and skills at the forefront of Physics and who complete an independent investigation of a novel specialist topic in order to present a thesis addressing a problem in cutting edge research. Candidates for the degree will be supervised by teams of experienced researchers.

The objectives of the PhD in Physics program are to produce graduates who have the ability to:

Synthesize and critically evaluate complex current knowledge in the Physical sciences in order to plan and implement new and creative approaches so as to generate new knowledge and solve research challenges with effective dissemination of the results to a variety of audiences;
Work to the highest professional and ethical standards in an area of Physical sciences and develop their individual academic, professional and career skills; and
Keep abreast of the latest developments in Physics that contribute to the advancement of knowledge for the benefit of society.

Upon successful completion of the PhD in Physics, a graduate will be able to:

Demonstrate and critically analyse comprehensive, deep and overarching knowledge that is at the frontier of recent developments in Physical sciences.
Conduct and defend original independent research that creates significant new knowledge in Physical sciences of publishable quality that leads to scholarly articles or other intellectual outputs.
Analyse and critically evaluate the uses and limitations of diverse methodologies and techniques for solving problems in Physical research, leading to informed and valid judgements.
Select and deploy advanced experimental and related skills to investigate and solve complex problems in Physical research.
Communicate effectively and professionally, in written and oral forms as appropriate, the major tenets of areas of Physics and their individual specializations to a variety of audiences.
Demonstrate a commitment to safe, responsible and ethical behaviour in all research and professional activities.
Reflect upon their role(s) in their research specialization and in the wider research community to ensure that they take responsibility for their own development and that of peer groups and networks.

The structure and requirements for the PhD in Physics program for candidates with a Master’s degree and those with only a Bachelor’s degree are detailed below.

Candidates with a Master’s Degree

Overall Program Structure

The PhD in Physics consists of a minimum 60 credit hours, distributed as follows: 24 credit hours of coursework, 36 credit hours of PhD Dissertation and two zero credit PhD Seminar courses. The components of the program are summarized in the table below:

Program Component	Credit Hours
SCIE 701 Research Methods Science	3
SCIE 702 Research Seminar I	0
SCIE 703 Research Seminar II	0
Program Electives	21
SCIE 799 PhD Research Dissertation	36
Total	60

Program Requirements

Students seeking the degree of PhD in Physics must successfully complete a minimum 60 credit hours as specified in the program requirements detailed below, with a minimum CGPA of 3.0. Course selection should be made in consultation with the student’s Main Advisor.

Program Core (3 credit hours)

Students must complete the following core courses:

SCIE 701 Research Methods Science
SCIE 702 Research Seminar I (0 credits)
SCIE 703 Research Seminar II (0 credits)

Program Electives (21 credit hours)

Students must complete a total of seven elective courses (21 credits). Program electives are listed below:

PHYS 701 Advanced Computational Physics
PHYS 702 Advanced Quantum Mechanics
PHYS 703 Biophysics
PHYS 704 Electromagnetic Theory
PHYS 705 Nanophysics and Nanotechnology
PHYS 706 Quantum Field Theory
PHYS 707 Advanced Solid State Physics
PHYS 708 Theoretical Astroparticle Physics
PHYS 709 Experimental Techniques in Astroparticle Physics
PHYS 710 Planetary Astrophysics
PHYS 711 Quantum Transport and Optics
PHYS 712 Atomic and Molecular Physics for Space Scientists

Subject to approval of the Main Advisor and the Program Coordinator, up to two electives (6 credits) may be taken from outside the student’s department and chosen from the list below, if these courses support the student’s dissertation topic.

Course	Department	Area of Interest
CHEM713 Recent Developments in Physical Chemistry	Chemistry	Molecular structure, simulation and molecular physics.
CHEM715 Recent Developments in Nanomaterials Chemistry	Chemistry	Nanomaterials preparation and application.
MATH705 Mechanics of Interacting Particle	Mathematics	Many Particle Physics.
MATH708 Partial Differential Equations	Mathematics	Theoretical Physics, Astrophysics.
MATH709 Probability and Stochastic Processes	Mathematics	Helpful for students doing Astrophysics.
CHEG 703 Applied Nanotechnology	Chemical Engineering	Materials synthesis and characterization is a main topic of research in Physics.
ECCE 778 Physics and Manufacturability of Advanced Micro and Nano Devices	Electrical Engineering	Physics of nano-devices.
ECCE 781 The Physics of Solar Cells	Electrical Engineering	Very interesting research topic in Physics for solar energy harvesting.
MSEN 712 Imaging of Materials: Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray Microanalysis	Mechanical Engineering	Essential characterisation techniques in Physics for materials.
MEEN 781 Materials Selection in Mechanical Design	Mechanical Engineering	An engineering approach complements Physical models and characterization.
MEEN 782 Materials Characterization Techniques	Mechanical Engineering	Materials characterization – is highly needed for nanomaterials research in Physics.
MEEN 792 Advanced Nanomaterials and Their Mechanical Applications	Mechanical Engineering	Nanomaterials is a main topic of research in Physics.

SCIE 799 PhD Research Dissertation (36 credit hours)

Students must complete a Dissertation that involves creative, research-oriented work within the field of physics, under direct supervision of a full-time faculty advisor from the Physics Department, and at least one other full-time faculty who acts as a co-advisor. The outcome of research should demonstrate the synthesis of information into knowledge in a form that may be used by others. The research findings must be documented in a formal dissertation and defended successfully in a viva voce examination.

Study Plan

A typical study plan for students enrolled in the PhD in Physics is shown below.

Typical Study Plan for Full-Time Students
	Semester 1	Semester 2
Year 1	SCIE 701 Research Methods Science Elective Course 1 Elective Course 2 Elective Course 3	Elective Course 4 Elective Course 5 Elective Course 6 SCIE 799 PhD Research Dissertation
Year 2	Elective Course 7 SCIE 795 PhD Written Qualifying Examination SCIE 799 Research Dissertation in Science	SCIE 702 Research Seminar I SCIE 796 PhD Research Proposal Examination SCIE 799 Research Dissertation in Science
Year 3	SCIE 799 PhD Research Dissertation	SCIE 703 Research Seminar II SCIE 799 PhD Research Dissertation
Year 4	SCIE 799 PhD Research Dissertation	SCIE 799 PhD Research Dissertation PhD Research Dissertation Examination

Candidates with only a Bachelor’s Degree

Overall Program Structure

Students with only a Bachelor’s degree must enroll on full-time basis. The PhD in Physics consists of a minimum 72 credit hours, distributed as follows: 36 credit hours of coursework, 36 credit hours of PhD Dissertation and two zero credit PhD Seminar courses. The components of the program are summarized in the table below:

Program Component	Credit Hours
Core Courses	12
Technical Electives	24
SCIE 702 PhD Research Seminar I	0
SCIE 703 PhD Research Seminar II	0
SCIE 795 PhD Written Qualifying Exam	0
SCIE 796 PhD Research Proposal Exam	0
PhD Research Dissertation	36
Total	72

All the courses that the students will take are at PhD level. The students will only be able to attempt SCIE 795 PhD Written Qualifying Exam (WQE) after successfully completing a minimum of 27 credits of formal coursework.

Typical Study Plan

All courses in the study plan are 3 credit hours each. PhD Research Seminar I & II are zero credit each.

Typical Study Plan for Full-Time Students

Semester 1

Semester 2

Year 1

SCIE 701 Research Methods in Science

Core Course 1

Core Course 2

Core Course 3

Technical Elective 1

Technical Elective 2

Technical Elective 3

Year 2

Technical Elective 4

Technical Elective 5