M.S. The M.S. program in has two options, a thesis option and a non-thesis option. Most students take the thesis option, which requires 24 hours of course work in physics and astronomy, with at least 18 hours at the 800 level or above, plus at least six hours of PHYS 891, Research in Physics and Astronomy, which culminates in the writing of a thesis submitted to the Graduate School. The non-thesis option requires 30 hours of course work plus at least six hours of PHYS 890, Directed Studies in Physics and Astronomy, which leads to a written paper describing those studies. Both options require a final examination (defense). Students with a normalpysics B.S. background are expected to complete the M.S. program in two to two-and-a-half years.

Ph.D. Most students apply for direct admission to the Ph.D. program. The course requirements for the Ph.D. are the same as for the thesis option M.S. program, i.e., 24 hours of course work in physics and astronomy that includes the core courses in the area. Students are also required to complete the following in the five-year period prior to graduation: 1) the Ph.D. qualifying exam, 2) the dissertation defense and 3) approval of the dissertation by the Graduate School. Students who enter the program with a bachelor’s or equivalent degree must take the written Ph.D. qualifying exam for the first time in or before the fifth semester of study at Clemson. Students who enter the program with a master’s or equivalent degree in physics must take the written exam for the first time in or before the third semester of study. Students who pass the written portion of the exam must pass the oral section of the qualifying exam within six months.

Financial Aid

Graduate teaching assistantships are the most common type of financial aid support for incoming graduate students. The duties usually entail teaching two or three undergraduate labs per semester, plus some grading for large courses. For the 2006-2007 year, teaching assistantships are $13,900 for the calendar year. There are no specific teaching duties in the summer, but students’ duties include research and course work.

Research assistantships are available to graduate students through research grants and contracts held by faculty members in the department. They may have a somewhat higher rate of pay than the teaching assistantships and are awarded based on availability and the qualifications of the recipient. Most students work as research assistants after one or two years as a teaching assistant.

Most assistantships carry a waiver of tuition, so graduate assistants pay tuition of only approximately $1,079 per semester for spring and fall and $348 for each summer session.

R.C. Edwards Fellowships and Alumni Fellowships are awarded by the Graduate School. The department nominates candidates who compete with other nominees throughout the university. These fellowships currently pay $5,000 per academic year in addition to an assistantship granted by the department. Fellowships require no explicit duties.

Research Facilities

The department houses several multi-million dollar laboratory facilities with equipment that includes tunneling and atomic force microscopes, X-ray equipment and low temperature cryostats. Extensive crystal growing equipment for bulk materials, epitaxial materials, and carbon and other nanomaterials is available. Extensive characterization equipment under computer control is available. Two multiparallel computers (Beowulf) are used by the Astrophysics, Biophysics and Solid State Physics groups. Raman and photoluminescence spectrometers, optical tweezers and optical absorption apparatus are in place. Telescopes in Arizona and Hawaii are accessible to departmental astronomers. The department has facilities for developing rocket instrumentation, as well as optical and radar instrumentation, for studies of the upper atmosphere. Large atmospheric radars and lidars at national and international facilities for studying the upper atmosphere are also accessible to atmospheric physics researchers in the department.

The University also has a state-of-the-art electron microscopy facility, which houses an SEM (Hitachi S3500N), an FESEM (Hitachi S4700), an STEM (Hitachi HD2000), a TEM (Hitachi H7600T), a Focused Ion Beam Scope (Hitachi FB2000A) and an XPS-Kratos Axis 165.

Student Group

There are approximately 20 students in the M.S. program. Of those, 75 percent are male, all are full-time students, and 40 percent are international students. There are approximately 33 students in the Ph.D. program. Of those, 73 percent are male, 85 percent are full-time students, and 39 percent are international students.

Student Outcomes

Graduates of Clemson’s Ph.D. program have gone on to excel in positions at national labs, including NASA, NOAA and various Defense Agency research labs, in various positions in industry, and in faculty positions at colleges and universities. Students graduating with an M.S. degree have been successful at research labs, in industry, in consulting firms and in some non-traditional jobs, such as Wall Street analysts and network analysts for a power company.

Faculty Listing

• Alexov, Emil; Associate Professor; Ph.D., Sofia University, 1990, Plasma physics. Research interests include computer modeling and prediction of protein-protein complexes, 3D structure prediction, sequence analysis, computational biophysics, analysis of protein families.

• Barnes, Peter A.; Department Chair; Ph.D., Simon Fraser University (Canada), 1969, Engineering Physics.

• Daw, Murray S.; R.A. Bowen Professor; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 1981, Physics. Research interests include solid-state theory; defects in solid and relationship to mechanical properties; surface structure and growth modes; and dynamical phase transitions.

• Drymiotis, Fivos R.; Professor; Ph.D., Florida State University, 2002, Physics. Research interests include materials synthesis (growth of single crystals); investigation of novel intermetallic compounds, particularly materials for thermoelectric applications magnetic materials, zero- and negative-volume-expansion materials and magnetic semiconductors; materials characterization using RUS (Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy), thermal, transport and magnetic measurements.

• Flower, Phillip J.; Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Washington, 1976, Astronomy. Research interests include stellar structure and evolution of stars; and color-magnitude diagrams of galactic and extragalactic star clusters.

• Hartmann, Dieter H.; Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of California-Santa Cruz, 1989, Astronomy & Astrophysics. Research interests include gamma-ray astronomy; bursts; galactic structure and evolution; stellar structure and evolution nucleosynthesis and chemical evolution.

• Ke, Pu-Chun; Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Victoria University (Australia), 2000, Physics. Research interests include single-molecule fluorescence imaging of biomaterials; manipulation of macromolecules using laser tweezers; diffusion of carbon nanotubes for drug delivery; polymer physics; and molecular and cell biology.

• King, Jeremy; Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Hawaii, 1993, Astronomy. Research interests include high resolution stellar spectroscopy; stellar abundances; nucleosynthesis; and Galactic populations.

• Larcom, Lyndon L.; Professor; Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, 1968, Biophysics. Research interests include DNA damage and its repair; effects of nonionizing radiation on biological systems; and mechanisms of carcinogenesis.

• Larsen, Miguel F.; Professor; Ph.D., Cornell University, 1979, Atmospheric Science. Research interests include studies of ionospheric physics and neutral atmosphere dynamics using rockets and radars.

• Lehmacher, Gerald A.; Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Bonn University (Germany), 1993, Physics. Research interests include atmospheric turbulence and rocket instrumentation.

• Leising, Mark D.; Professor; Ph.D., Rice University, 1987, Physics & Astronomy. Research interests include Gamma-ray astrophysics; radioactivity from stellar explosions; gamma-ray transients; the cosmic gamma-ray background; high-energy processes in compact stars and accretion disks; and supernovae.

• Manson, Joseph R.; Professor; Ph.D., University of Virginia, 1969, Physics. Research interests include surface physics and solid-state theory; information about the nature of surface structure and surface interactions, obtained by studying the interactions of atomic and molecular beams impinging upon solid surfaces.

• Marinescu, Domnita Catalina; Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Purdue University, 1996, Physics. Research interests include magnetic, optical, and transport properties of artificially structured semiconductors; and non-equilibrium superconductivity.

• McNulty, Peter J.; Professor; Ph.D., State University of New York, 1965, Physics. Research interests include modeling radiation environments in space and the effects on microstructures; interaction of radiation with matter; microdosimetry; and elementary particle theory.

• Meriwether Jr, John W.; Professor; Ph.D., University of Maryland, 1970, Chemical Physics. Research interests include optical studies of atmospheric dynamics using Raman, Rayleigh, and resonance lidar techniques.

• Meyer, Bradley S.; Professor; Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1989, Astrophysics. Research interests include nuclear astrophysics; stellar collapse; cosmology; and interstellar dust.

• Rafert, J. Bruce.; Professor; Ph.D., University of Florida, 1979, Physics. Research interests include hyperspectral remote sensing, observational astrophysics of eclipsing binary stars, autonomous astronomical observatories, all-sky monitoring.

• Rao, Apparao M.; Professor; Ph.D., University of Kentucky, 1989, Physics. Research interests include synthesis and solid-state spectroscopy of nanostructured materials.

• Sosolik, Chad E.; Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Cornell University, 2001, Physics. Research interests include surface physics; ion-surface collisions and charge transfer; scanning tunneling microscopy; manipulation of single atoms and molecules at a surface; growth, modification, and characterization of nanoscale surface features

• Tritt, Terry M.; Professor; Ph.D., Clemson University, 1985, Physics. Research interests include Investigation of solid-state materials for thermoelectric applications; colossal magnetoresistance systems, thermal conductivity and electronic properties of low-dimensional conductors.

Applying

Applicants to the M.S. program must have top scores on the GRE and strong letters of recommendation. International applicants should take the TOEFL exam and will be required to pass a test of spoken English after arriving on campus. Admission is based on academic performance, standardized scores, and reference letters. An applicant’s statement of purpose provides insight into his or her goals and mutual interests. Relevant work experience should be highlighted in the application. For more admissions and application information, please visit the department’s Web site at http://physicsnt.clemson.edu/.