Key information about the Physics Graduate School
- Warwick Physics PhD students must obtain 6 graduate credits during the first two years of study.
- Decide the modules you will take for credit in agreement with your Supervisor (you may take more than 6 if appropriate).
- Most modules will take place online
- Suitable graduate-level modules are offered by the Midland Physics Alliance Graduate School (MPAGS) as well as other modules offered by the Departments of Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Engineering at Warwick as part of our taught Masters degrees. See the tabs on choosing MPAGS modules and other Warwick modules.
- Some external courses, such as summer schools, or tutorials at major conferences, may be used for credit: see external courses.
- As a PhD student, it is your responsibility to record the credits that you have obtained.
- If you have already completed substantial graduate level training in Physics or a related discipline (e.g. a two-year Masters degree, or equivalent) then you may be exempt from some or all of this course requirement. Please contact the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS).
Recording your credits
- Please complete the self-certification form for every course that you wish to count towards your graduate credits (this includes all MPAGS courses). Your module convenor will email you directly to confirm you have passed the course.
- Typically an external course will provide a certificate of attendance. (You should also record these in your Skillsforge portfolio). If not, please upload a screenshot of the course website, programme or similar material.
- You should keep an accurate record of your progress through the Physics Graduate School. You will be asked to confirm your graduate credits during progress reviews towards the end of year 1 and at the end of year 2.
Choosing modules from the Midland Physics Alliance Graduate School
Choosing other modules from Warwick
- Please check the Module Catalogue for suitable current modules, these will usually be PG modules from Physics (PX4XX or PX9XX) Chemistry (CH4XX or CH9XX) and Maths (MA4XX or MA9XX). You may also be interested in Institute of Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL) modules (Please note for IATL modules you are able to register for the course for 10 CATS), or taught modules from a Warwick-based Centre for Doctoral Training, such as the HetSys CDT.
- Undergraduate (e.g. PX3) modules are not usually acceptable as graduate level training.
- Modules from our taught degrees have a specific CATS (Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme) weighting.
- The CATS weighting determines the number of graduate credits these modules are worth. The conversion for CATS to graduate credits is: 7.5 CATS=1 graduate credit; 15 CATS=2 graduate credits; Most CDT modules = 1.5 graduate credits if assessed, otherwise 1 graduate credit. In other cases please contact the DGS for an assessment of how many credits the course is worth.
- To sign up for a Warwick taught module:
- Contact the Module Leader and request they "audit" your completion of their course.
- Determine whether there is any assessed component to the course (it is not necessary to take the final University-administered examination).
- Where there are assessments discuss whether the Module Leader would be willing to mark the assessments, in which case passing the assessed components could provide additional graduate credit(s).
- Where there are no assessed components, or the Module Leader would not have the capacity to mark your assignments, or you do not wish to take the assessments; you should provide a 2 page written summary of the module content focusing its relevance to your research topic and submit this to your supervisor for approval.
| Physics & CDT Modules (auditing of these modules is at the discretion of the Module Leader) |
Credits |
| PX420 Solar MHD |
1 |
| PX431 Functional Properties of Solids |
2 |
| PX446 Condensed Matter Physics 2 |
2 |
| PX425 High Performance Computing |
1 |
| PX443 Planets, Exo-Planets and Life |
2 |
| PX447 Quantum Computation and Simulation |
2 |
| -> full list of PX9 coded modules...Link opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window |
|
| PX911-15 Multiscale Modelling Methods & Applications I |
2 |
| PX913-15 Introduction to Scientific Software Development |
2 |
| PX918-15 Electronic structure theory for experiments and models |
2 |
| PX917-15 Computational Plasma Physics |
2 |
| CH978 - Surfaces, Interfaces and Coatings |
1.5 |
| PX904: Properties and Characterisation of Materials |
1.5 |
| PX905: Defect and Dopants |
1.5 |
| IATL modules |
Credits |
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1.5 (10 CATs) |
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Choosing external courses External courses are an excellent way of obtaining specialised training in your field and can be used towards your graduate credits. Students can therefore plan to use such schools to satisfy a substantial part of their Physics Graduate School training obligations. Generally a week long (3-5 days) external course would be equivalent to 1 credit. Where a course has a formal assessed component the credits are doubled:
| Research conference |
Not Eligible |
| 1-2 day workshop, summer/winter school or training course |
0.5 Graduate Credits |
Self Certify using form |
| 3-5 day workshop or training course |
1 Graduate Credit |
Self Certify using form |
| 2 week workshop or training course |
2 Graduate Credits |
Self Certify using form |
| + Substantial assessed or hands-on practical element |
Double credit |
Upload evidence using form |
Training falling straightforwardly into the above categories does not need confirmation from the Director of Graduate Studies and should be uploaded (with evidence) to the self-certification form. Any course aimed primarily at PhD students, early career researchers or research professionals is deemed to be at a graduate level. If you are uncertain whether a course qualifies as being at graduate level or it falls outside the above categories, please contact the DGS for confirmation with a link to the appropriate course details. Examples: We add here some courses that other students have attended in the past, however this should not be considered a complete list as new courses are made available all the time.
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