The Doctor of Philosophy program in physics requires a minimum of 72 s.h. of graduate credit. For students interested in doing doctoral work in astronomy, the department offers an optional astronomy subprogram, including dissertation, within the Ph.D. program in physics.

Graduate students who wish to pursue a Ph.D. in physics must pass a qualifying examination in all principal areas of physics at the level of advanced undergraduate work. The examination, which may be repeated only once, is given each year before the beginning of the?spring semester. Students must pass the qualifying examination before the beginning of their fourth semester of graduate work at the University of Iowa. Students with high scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) subject test in physics may be exempt from this requirement.

All students must take comprehensive examinations; participate in advanced seminars; do original research in experimental physics, theoretical physics, or astrophysics; and prepare and defend a written dissertation based on this work.