Upon arrival, new students should meet with the Graduate Program Advisor, who will help them plan their first year of graduate study. All students should check with the computer support group to open an individual account on the observatory's computer network. Most departmental memos are sent by e-mail, and most students and faculty use the computers for computations, word processing, etc. For office supplies such as pens, pencils, and pads of paper, see Michelle Cournoyer or Erin Carlson in the Departmental Office. For general advice be sure to ask the other graduate students.

Students normally register for classes by using the WebReg on-line computer registration system. Tuition and fees must generally be paid about one week before classes start. Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and Research Associates (RAs) do not have to pay out-of-state tuition, but you will have to pay Registration Fees (about $2000). All students are encouraged to apply for fellowships and scholarships.

All graduate students who have teaching assistantships must have completed the GTA Training Programs administered by the Graduate College and University Teaching Center. Only students who have attended the required two sessions will receive paychecks from the University. The sessions generally occur during the week before the first day of classes.

After the semester is well underway, it may be a good idea for the new student to assess how much time he/she is spending on various professional activities. We feel that the major, long-term emphasis here is on research, with lesser amounts of time devoted to one's own course work and teaching duties.

For a first-year student taking nine hours of courses, the situation is somewhat different, and the student might well be spending 50% of his/her work time on course work (both in class and out).  That would leave 40% for research and 10% on miscellany such as attending colloquia, journal club, etc. Of course, this is just a rough guide, and exceptions will certainly be the rule here.  It is not a requirement for first year graduate students to teach.

About grades in course work: Although one must maintain a 3.0 GPA, the real purpose of any course should be to foster the student's comprehension. Grades per se are secondary, but we realize that there is some correlation between grades and understanding. Certainly, a grade below "B" on a graduate course may indicate serious problems.

Please note that all Graduate Teaching and Research Assistants must register for at least six units of graduate credit per semester. These can include Dissertation (920), when appropriate.

All students have an obligation to teach for a total of two semesters at some point in their graduate careers.  The department recommends that students get involved in research as early as possible. As a result, some students choose to postpone their teaching until their second year or later. Other students compromise by teaching the first semester of their first year and by concentrating on research during the second semester after they've had time to identify a research advisor. These students then complete their second required semester of teaching at a future date. The department is quite flexible on this issue.

Students who wish to hold a research assistantship (RA) during their first semester must notify us by mid July that they plan to do an RA (or to do research using their NSF, NASA, Steward or Graduate College Fellowship, if they've been offered one), although they do not need to know then who their supervisor will be.

Students who decided to do an RA their first semester (and who are not on a Fellowship) must tell us by mid-September who their advisor will be for that semester. If for some reason a student does not have an advisor at that point, he or she will be assigned one.

Sometimes a student will be unable to obtain a research assistantship with their first choice of advisor because that person does not have the time or funding resources. (Fellowship students can work with anyone as long as the advisor has the time.) In such cases, we can remind the students that they are encouraged to pursue several different research projects during their graduate careers, and that a faculty member who is initially unavailable may later become a collaborator or supervisor. In addition, there are ample opportunities for research projects as independent study projects (without salary) or with faculty, staff or postdocs who are not their research supervisors.

During their first two years, students are encouraged to work with at least two different faculty members. We recommend changing research advisors at the beginning of the second year. Research advisors can be chosen from the ranks of research or teaching faculty at Steward Observatory. Members of the faculty of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Planetary Sciences, Physics, Optical Science, and staff members at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory may also serve as student research advisors.

When the student has chosen a research advisor, he/she should check with the Graduate Program Advisor (currently Ann Zabludoff) to see about selecting two or three more faculty members to serve with the research advisor on the student's mentoring committee. This committee meets every term and guides the student up to the prelim exam. After passing the exam, the student then forms a thesis committee, which may or may not include mentoring committee members. The thesis committee meets every term until completion of the Ph.D. and makes sure the student remains on track through his/her career at Steward.

All Ph.D. students are required to teach at least two discussion or laboratory sections of an undergraduate astronomy course (e.g., Natural Sciences 102 or Astronomy 201, 202, 203, and 204) before they graduate.

Course Requirements: Students are required to complete successfully the 8 "core" courses in astronomy, 3 graduate level physics courses, and 2 elective graduate courses which can be in astronomy, physics, mathematics, optical sciences, engineering, etc., for a total of 13 graduate courses. The "core" courses are 515 , 518, 522, 535, 540, 541, 545, and 582. Other courses which are cross-listed with Astronomy and Physics may be used to fulfill the physics requirement, as may Astronomy 571 and 589. Astronomy 589 may be taken twice for credit if the instructor and course material change. The second credit may be applied to the elective requirement. Students may also fulfill one elective requirement by combing 1 or 2 credit electives to total one 3 credit elective. For example, a student may take Journal Club (1 credit) for credit up to two times and combine that with another 1 credit course. In addition, by the end of the second year, students should have taken six units of research credits (i.e., Astronomy 900). A typical study plan is listed below. Variations from this will sometimes occur. Courses below the 500 level are not acceptable for graduate credit.

By the end of the second year, the student should have completed the basic Ph.D. qualification requirement, which consists of eight graduate astronomy courses and three graduate physics courses (possibly including Astronomy 571 and/or 589), with a grade of C or better in each course. One's overall GPA has to stay above 3.0 to hold an assistantship, either teaching or research. The 3.0 is also a graduation requirement for either a Masters or Ph.D.

The Prelim Exams

The preliminary exams generally take place in the grad student's third year, after the 8 core courses have been completed in the first two years.  The exam now consists of two parts: (1) a written, comprehensive examination in September of the fifth semester, and (2) an oral examination on the student's research paper to be taken by the end of the fifth semester.

The written exam is authored, administered and graded by a committee of several faculty members, and is given simultaneously to all in the third year class, in September at the start of their third academic year. This exam will be eight hours long, in one or two days.  The first four hours are "closed book" questions, answered in a classroom.  Typical questions of general knowledge of astronomy and astrophysics might be to write one or two sentences about the meaning of the Tully-Fisher relation, or the nature of brown dwarfs.  In the remaining four hours, the exam is "open book," actually an "open everything" exam. The student may use any and all resources within the building except for the resource of talking to other people about the test.  The philosophy of the exam is to test how well the student can synthesize essential concepts from core courses by posing actual research-type questions which require across-the-board knowledge such as theoretical motivation and observational solution. A folder containing exams from past years is available in the department academic office.  If a student fails the written exam, one more attempt is allowed no more than four months later.  If the student fails a second time, he/she will not be allowed candidacy to pursue a PhD, but may take an oral exam based on a research paper for a possible Masters Degree.  So far, 16 students in three different years of entry have taken the written exam, and 16 have passed since 2002.

The written exam is followed no more than three months later with the successful student taking an oral exam.  It is encouraged that this exam be taken before the written exam if the student's research paper is completed earlier.  While the ultimate goal for student is to finish a paper that would qualify for submission to a publication like the Astrophysical Journal, the bar for passing the oral exam is lower.  While student should get as close as possible to a submission-worthy paper before the oral exam (and many do in fact defend submitted or even published papers), the focus of the exam is on the student's research paper (and what it still requires to be publication-grade), the talk given by the student, and the general area(s) of research the paper covers.  The format of the exam will begins with a 25-30 minute talk on the research paper by the student.  This is followed by the first round of questions.  The focus should be on the content of the paper, and the student's understanding of and ability to defend this research.  After a short break, there follows a second round of questioning in the area(s) of astronomy and astrophysics in which the student's paper and research fit.  A pass will require a good performance on both parts of the oral exam.  A requirement of the Graduate College is that the exam should be no longer than three hours.  If the student fails the oral exam, a second try will generally be allowed up to six months later.  If the exam is failed the second time, the student is dropped from qualification for a PhD, although at the discretion of the committee, a Masters Degree may be awarded.

The Graduate College has dropped the requirement that there be an external representative appointed by them in attendance at the exam.  This representative has been replaced by an internal member called the "recorder."  This should be an astronomy faculty person not associated with the student in research, mentoring or advising.  The recorder will be the official chair of the committee and will also be a voting member who asks questions.  This person is empowered to make sure that correct procedures are followed, and that the rights of the student are protected.  The recorder will also be responsible for filing the signed papers reporting the exam's outcome with the Graduate College. The recorder has the right in extreme circumstances to report directly to the Chairman of the Department afterwards, if she/he feels an exam was conducted improperly and/or with the result not justified.

The Graduate College requires that the examining committee consist of a minimum of four faculty (including the recorder), and four is what this faculty has decided is appropriate.  The policy in appointing these committees is to have no more than two members who are associated with the student in research, mentoring, or advising.  Two additional members not associated with the student, including the recorder, will be appointed.  At least one of these two should work in a markedly different field than that of the candidate.  In rare cases there may be reason for three mentors of the student to be appointed to the committee, but then two non-associated committee members must be appointed, so that the committee would have five people.  (Note that, regardless of committee size, two negative votes are sufficient for the exam to be failed, as has always been the policy). So far, everyone completing the written exam has completed the oral exam successfully.

The Mentoring and Thesis Committees

It is required that each student, in consultation with the principal advisor, form a mentoring committee with 2-3 more faculty, senior postdocs, faculty members from other departments, or other astronomical institutions, interested in the student's likely research.  After passing the prelim, the student forms a thesis committee, which may have a different membership, to replace the mentoring committee. The mentoring/thesis committee meets with the student every term and discuss the student's progress and general wellbeing.  The student can also convey any suggestions for improving the program to the committee, which the committee should then communicate to the Academic Program Committee.  The student needs to inform the department office (currently Erin Carlson) that the meeting has taken place.  After each meeting, a form is filled out by the committee members describing the research progress made by the student.  In those rare cases where the student is past the prelim and has made no research progress in the two subsequent semesters, the student is placed on academic probation. Two additional semesters of no progress without a medical excuse will result in dismissal from the program.

Final Dissertation Defense

A five-person committee, which may be different from the student's thesis committee, is appointed when the student's dissertation is completed.  (The Grad College requires only four, but the faculty agreed to have five members: this gives us insurance if some committee member gets stuck in an airport the day before the exam.)  All five should read the thesis at least three weeks in advance -- or some other length of time agreed to by the committee and student -- and forward questions/comments to the student in advance of the exam.

The oral exam consists of a 30-minute talk by the student, to which the "public" are invited.  In the private session following, questions are asked by each committee member on the thesis work and associated topics in the subject area.

The possible outcomes are (1) pass with no reservations, (2) pass conditional upon changes made to the dissertation recommended by members of the committee, or (3) fail.  In case (2) the committee may grant discretion to the principal advisor to enforce the changes to be made to the thesis recommended by the committee.  The members would sign the paperwork certifying completion of a satisfactory thesis, but the advisor would withhold the paperwork until satisfactory changes are made in the opinion of the advisor.  All requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy must be completed within 5 years of passing the Comprehensive Exam. Should a student not finish within that time period, he or she may be allowed to re-take the Comprehensive Exam with permission of the program, and then proceed to complete other requirements, e.g., the dissertation.

Important Forms Required by the Graduate College

Graduate College Forms & Publications

The Minor

Formally, all PhD students in our program select both a major and a minor subject.  For most, both are astronomy.  However, it is possible for the minor to be in one of the other sciences, including biological and optical.  The course requirement is set by the minor department, but usually four of the five elective courses should be in acceptable graduate courses in the minor department.  At least one representative from the minor department should participate on the preliminary and final oral (thesis defense) exams.

The astronomy department allows graduate students whose PhD major is one of the other sciences to minor in astronomy.  We require that they pass four courses the department considers acceptable for this purpose, preferably from the "core" courses listed below, and that one astronomy faculty member participate in the preliminary and final oral exams.

See the Graduate Catalogue and the "Handbook for Completing the Steps to Your Degree" for more information. These publications also contain requirements involving the dissertation, as does also the Manual for Theses and Dissertations.