Undergraduate Program
Senior Matters
Junior Matters
Important Dates - Jr & Sr
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Guidelines for Interdisciplinary Theses:
Thesis advisors from other departments:
Each year a number of seniors have faculty members from other departments
as their thesis advisors. Most of these theses are well within the realm of
physics - it just happens that the best advisor for this topic is in, say,
the Geology Department. In these cases, only one special procedure is
required. The second reader for the thesis is chosen at the beginning
or the year, by the deadline
for reporting the thesis topic.
This person, who must be in the Physics
Department, is consulted as the topic is being finalized. He or she can
then make sure that the topic will meet Physics Department requirements and
that it is likely to turn into a good thesis.
Interdisciplinary thesis topics:
The Department encourages students to follow interests beyond the
traditional fields of physics by pursuing interdisciplinary thesis research.
Many theses advised by faculty outside the Physics Department
(e.g., biophysics, geophysics, various engineering topics)
use standard physics methodology and thus require no special
considerations. On the other hand, several years ago the Department expanded
its thesis guidelines to allow students to choose topics well outside
traditional areas. Examples would be: a history of physics
thesis where the student's research was primarily on the history itself,
rather than physics analysis of a historical topic; an analysis of disposal
options for materials from nuclear weapons that focused on policy issues,
including but not necessarily emphasizing technical ones. As with the
choice of Departmental Courses, choice of such a topic should
represent a serious interest, perhaps an area to which you
intend to apply your physics training after graduation.
The following guidelines, while applicable to any thesis, are
particularly meant to provide guidance to faculty and students who are
considering theses in interdisciplinary areas.
- A. Is there evidence of original research or scholarship?
Good examples are actual
scientific measurements carried out by the student to verify, say, the claim
by Benjamin Franklin that he once roasted a turkey using electrostatics.
Similarly, scholarly research including, for instance,
the critical examination of source material can also be an important
factor in a thesis.
- B. Is there evidence that the thesis research draws heavily on the
training,
course work, and academic experience in the 3-year physics undergraduate
program? Could the thesis have been written by a student that did not go
through the program?
- C. In an interdisciplinary thesis that involves two fields with rather
disparate methodologies or philosophies, is the student sufficiently familiar
with the methodology of the other discipline?
Is the scientific method that should be expected from a physicist
apparent in the work?
The overriding factor, as always, is excellence of academic research.
Is the content of the thesis, at least in principle, appropriate
for a professional journal? Note, it is understood that the thesis as
written is probably not ready for publishing, it is the quality
of the content that should be quite substantial.
Historically, examples have arisen of ill-contrived theses which
turn out poorly because the selected topic did not lend itself easily
to excellence in research at the undergraduate level.
Theses with an interdisciplinary flavor require frequent contacts between
the primary advisor and the student, and a careful choice of the
research topic.
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