The doctor of philosophy degree is designed to educate scientists to be capable of independently formulating and solving problems of fundamental scientific importance. Detailed policies for the PhD degree are listed at the MU Graduate School. Here we give details specific to the Physics program. A Ph.D. Degree requires completion of a minimum of 18 hours beyond the Master's Degree, with a grade of 3.0 (B) or better, and completion of the Department Qualifying Examination at the PhD pass level. The degree candidate must also meet the residency requirements. There is no foreign language requirement. Additional graduate-level courses to make a total of 18 hours beyond the Master's Degree are required. See the graduate courses in Physics and Astronomy for electives. In addition, students can choose selected 7000 and 8000 level courses in Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and Engineering.A student is required to have taken a minimum of three full years of graduate work beyond the Bachelor's Degree. All acceptable graduate work, including one year's residence for a Master's Degree, is used to compute the three-year requirement for the PhD Degree. It is important to note that this is not a requirement for three calendar years of work, but rather a three-year's equivalent of full time study. When this three-year residency requirement is satisfied, a student should have finished a minimum of 72 credit hours of graduate work. Within the three-year residence, each doctoral student must successfully complete at least two 12-hour semesters or three 8-hour semesters of graduate level program within a period of 18 calendar months. During this period, the student must be fully involved in academic pursuit, be it study, teaching, or research. This period of full-time reading, reflection, study, teaching, and research is considered necessary to give the student's program continuity and to fulfill the spirit and special demands of the doctoral program.<br><br>Credits - 72