Graduate Education in Physics: Which Way Forward?

January 31 – February 2, 2008
American Center for Physics
College Park, MD

  Conference Flyer
  Program Outlines and Speaker Notes
  Conference Photos
  Suggested Resources
  Attendees/Abstracts
  Conference Posters
  PhD Requirement Survey (Excel ®)
  Attendee Exit Survey: Suggested APS/AAPT Actions Relating to Graduate Education

The American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers held a conference to address to the status and future of graduate education in physics.  The conference participants included department chairs and directors of graduate studies from large and small physics departments in the nation, as well as members of the physics community from industry, funding agencies and professional societies.

Texas A&M graduate students, Tracey Wellington and Arlene Ford, and Amber Stuver, post doc at LIGO/Caltech, attended the conference, representing the Forum on Graduate Student Affairs.

The conference was held at the American Center for Physics in College Park, MD, from Thursday evening (January 31) to Saturday midday (February 2). Keynote speakers included Ken Heller, Past President of AAPT; and Renee Diehl, co-author of the APS/AAPT Joint Report on Graduate Education in Physics.

Topics included the graduate curriculum, preparation for non-academic careers, communication skills and professional development, TA training, ethics, comprehensive exam, departmental climate, advising. Departments were encouraged to share their experiences in the form of posters, and to participate in panel sessions and discussions with colleagues. Posters and other resources.

Conference Organization

The National Science Foundation supported this program under Award No. PHY-0701352.

• Janet Tate, Oregon State University, APS Committee on Education
• Theodore Hodapp, Director of Education and Diversity, American Physical Society
• Chandralekha Singh, University of Pittsburgh, APS Committee on Education
• Michael Thoennessen, Michigan State University, AAPT Committee on Graduate Education in Physics
  

• Sue Otwell, APS Education Programs Administrator

• Renee Diehl, Professor of Physics, Penn State University; Member of the Joint APS-AAPT Task Force on Graduate Education in Physics
• Steven Girvin, Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics & Applied Physics; former Director of Graduate Studies, Yale University
• Kenneth Heller, Past President (2006), American Association of Physics Teachers; Professor of Physics, University of Minnesota
• Theodore Hodapp, Director of Education and Diversity, American Physical Society; Professor of Physics, Hamline University.
• John Markert, Professor and Chair of Physics, University of Texas, Austin
• Margaret Murnane, Professor & Assoc. Chair of Graduate Studies of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder; Fellow of JILA
• Horst Stormer, Professor of Physics & Applied Physics, Columbia University, Nobel Laureate & former Director of the Physical Research Laboratory, Bell Laboratories.