Kryon Williams
B.S. Physics 1997, Ph.D. 2004
Postdoctoral Fellow Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
"My physics education was excellent. I had the wondefull experience of working with brilliant professors performing world-class research."
The FAMU Department of Physics awards both the M.S. and the Ph.D. degrees in physics. In order to be considered by the Department for admission, the student must have, as a minimum, an overall undergraduate GPA of 3.0 and/or a minimum overall GRE of 1000 along with two letters of recommendation. Additional issues concerning admission are handled on a case-by-case basis. Details concerning course requirements are provided in the University catalog. Generally stated, we expect our students to earn the M.S. degree after the first two years studying for the Ph.D. degree. At this time, the student completes a Masters Project. The Ph.D. degree requires satisfactory performance on the Ph.D. Candidacy examination (usually taken during the first year of graduate study), satisfactory performance on the Second Ph.D. Examination (which focuses on specific graduate coursework and the Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal), a Ph.D. Dissertation, satisfactory performance on the Dissertation Defense and an overall graduate GPA of at least 3.0.
The Ph.D. in physics is a research-based degree. Support for the students matriculation normally comes from tuition remission provided by the University and research stipends from the research group the student joins. The student, in conjunction with her/his major Professor, is expected to choose a research topic, under the advisement of a Dissertation Committee chaired by the major Professor. The FAMU Physics Department has a research faculty of 15 (2006-07) who conduct world class experimental and theoretical research in a wide variety of areas. The Department expects to provide excellence with caring to each student.
