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Informal Aspects of the Graduate Program
In addition to the usual academic courses and the necessary research involvement, students will find that there are a number of other activities within the Department, which can contribute in a major way to their development as scientists.
Probably the most important single mode of learning for any student who aspires to become a serious scientist is self-study by reading books and journal articles. Familiarity with the general literature of physics and with the specific literature of the area of the student's specialization is an absolute essential. Students taking formal courses should read in books other than the assigned texts, and students engaged in research should be reading current journals to learn what others in the same and related fields are doing. The hallmark of the productive scientist is a never-ending curiosity about the natural universe.
The Department presents, almost every week of the regular academic terms, the Physics Colloquium, Wednesdays at 4 p.m., at which scientists, usually from other laboratories, discuss results of their recent research activities. Although these talks are not always completely intelligible to first year graduate students in physics, they provide an excellent way for a student to discover how research physicists do their work. One also learns, over the months, the nature of various fields of research in physics and gets a feeling for where the forefront of investigation is in these fields. Students and faculty are expected to attend the regular colloquia, not only those in their own area of specialization.
The various subgroups within the Department in particular research areas regularly organize seminars, at which both students and faculty, as well as outside visitors, present and discuss talks on topics of current interest in these areas. Most seminars meet once a week. Students may, with their advisor's permission, register for academic credits in these seminars. They will then normally be expected to present one or more formal talks themselves.
The Department organizes a meeting, usually in October, for first-year students to provide information about the research going on in the Department and the opportunities for graduate students to undertake thesis projects in various areas.
The Department maintains the H.B. Huntington Computer Laboratory in Room 1C28 of the Science Center. The Lab is intended for quiet study. The Lab will be open throughout the day M-F (usually 8:30 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.). During this time, anyone may use the lab. During weekends or evening hours, the lab will be locked although after-hours access is available for graduate students.
The Institute library collection (housed in the Folsom Library building a short distance west of the Science Center building) has a very good collection of physics books and journals, as well as many useful books and journals in related fields, as well as a wide selection of electronic journals. Interlibrary loan arrangements can be used for rare materials not in the library, and arrangements can be made at the library for use of the libraries of neighboring institutions when that is necessary.
Other departments and groups in the Institute present colloquia and seminars which are open to all. Notices appear frequently on bulletin-boards, Reviews, Poly, and students are encouraged to attend any which seem to be of possible interest.
Occasionally a group of students may organize, on their own initiative, a study group on a topic not normally available in formal courses. These may meet with or without informal participation by faculty members.
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