Applied Physics and Materials Science, Doctor of Philosophy

In addition to University Requirements:

• Complete individual plan requirements.

Purpose Statement

The creation of the PhD program in Applied Physics and Materials Science will position NAU to attract students to a unique state program.  Students within this research-intensive PhD program may pursue emphasis in either: Applied Physics (e.g. condensed matter physics, application of quantum phenomena to materials) or Materials Science (e.g. interfacial science, soft or hard materials synthesis, analytical method development).  Each student within the program will complete common courses to provide the students with a breadth of knowledge in physics and materials science, while also creating a common language for scientific collaboration.  Each student may then focus their area of coursework study with electives taken within or external to the program.
 
The Applied Physics and Materials Science PhD program, with institutional support, will have a launch date of Fall, 2019.  This new academic plan will be supported within the College of Engineering, Informatics and Applied Sciences, however academic mentors to PhD students will be from units within CEAIS and CEFNS.   Students completing their PhD in this program will be conferred a degree in Applied Physics and Materials Science, with emphases in Applied Physics or Materials Science.
 
Applied Physics: This area of emphasis is focused on condensed matter physics and is the application of physics to technological targets, such as materials science.  This area of research is a direct bridge between traditional phenomena-based science to application-based engineering.  Applied Physics does not necessarily seek to integrate physics into products or devices, but instead the practical application space drives the fundamental Physics-based questioning.  While focused on fundamental studies, research in this area can be transformative and have tremendous impacts that lead to development of new breakthrough technologies (e.g. in the areas of quantum information, laser development, microscopy and spectroscopy development, etc.).  Students with a B.S. in Physics, Applied Physics or Engineering will typically create this cohort, however students from other disciplines with fundamentals in Physics and Mathematics capable of transitioning to advanced quantum mechanics and thermodynamics may also participate. 
 
Materials Science: Materials science is inherently a transdisciplinary field and one in which the core fundamentals shift depending on the desired emphasis.  Materials science is often considered to be a subdiscipline of engineering and thus PhD programs in this area often closely resemble traditional Engineering discipline programs.    In the proposed program, however, the area of emphasis is focused on the use of the physical sciences (chemistry, physics) to describe, understand and synthesize quantum and multi-scaled materials. This area of focus encompasses electronic, photonic, magnetic and mechanical hard and soft materials and involves synthesis and characterization of quantum materials as well as their integration into multi-scaled and adaptive assemblies.  Students with B.S. degrees in Physics, Chemistry, Engineering and the Biological Sciences will create this transdisciplinary cohort. 
 
The proposed PhD emphases and APMS program create transdisciplinary opportunities while enabling disciplinary rigor. Both are achieved through program designs intended to create PhDs with breadth of knowledge and diverse scientific appreciation while simultaneously creating rigorous educational and research training paths.  Breadth of knowledge will be achieved through core courses designed to 1) create a common language; and 2) encourage engagement outside of areas of expertise.  This is achieved through core course(s) that are team-taught and provide exposure to multiple areas of applied physics and materials science.  The goal is to create a common language and appreciation that encourages students to move beyond their comfort zone.  Scientific rigor will be achieved by allowing PhD students to select the majority of their curriculum from a list of acceptable electives combined with their PhD thesis research.  Each PhD student’s curriculum will be tailored and created in conjunction with the student’s PhD advisor and APMS faculty advisors.  The goal is to create PhD scientists capable of not only contributing to emerging cross-sector opportunities, but actually driving transdisciplinary research. Being trained to work collaboratively with researchers from a multitude of fields, these transdisciplinary scientists will be uniquely positioned to excel in leading cross-sector research projects and teams.  The transdisciplinary nature of this program with the ‘individualized’ PhD curriculum will enable student and faculty participation from CEIAS and CEFNS academic units.

Student Learning Outcomes

Core Applied Physics and Materials Science Outcomes

• Evaluate the major theories, research methods and approaches to inquiry in Applied Physics and Materials Science, articulate significant challenges involved in practicing the field of study, elucidate its leading edges, and explore the current limits of theory, knowledge and practice.
• Create, design and execute experiments (theoretical or experimental) and develop necessary analytical skills for interpretation and analysis of data to create data-supported conclusions.
• Evaluate and formulate new ideas and recognize unsolved opportunities in their field to demonstrate independent and critical thinking.
  • Recognize the best paths toward publication.
  • Design experiments (theoretical or experimental) around those ideas for pursuit of meaningful publication.
• Compose and engage in highly-effective oral and written communication in Applied Physics and Materials Science; demonstrate clear argumentation and logical cohesion for all avenues of scholarly and lay-person dissemination of results.

• Elucidate the fundamental concepts of phenomena-based science and apply these to solve problems in materials science:
  • Apply mathematical and computational tools to quantitatively describe and understand a wide range of materials systems.
    • Develop new methodology to create new materials and describe their physical phenomena.
• Examine or develop modern analytical instrumentation and techniques in order to identify materials and elucidate their functional properties.

• Elucidate the fundamental concepts for the application of the physical phenomena and apply concepts to solve applied physics problems:
  • Elucidate modern problems in physics with molecular dynamics, computation or predictive methodology.
  • Examine how concepts from macroscopic observations are related to the description of microscopic states that fluctuate around an average state.
  • Develop new analytical tools, through the synthesis of the fundamental understandings of physics phenomena.