Thesis Preparation Theoretical Physics

3 EC

Semester 1 & 2, period 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

5354TPTP3Y

Owner Master Physics and Astronomy (joint degree)
Coordinator Edan Lerner
Part of Master Physics and Astronomy, track Theoretical Physics,

Course manual 2024/2025

Course content

This course constitutes a platform for coordinating compulsory academic activities within the theoretical physics msc program.

Objectives

    Teaching methods

    • Lecture
    • Seminar

    Learning activities

    1. attendance of colloquia, seminar, journal clubs
    2. attendance of msc bazaars
    3. meetings with the track coordinator

    Attendance

    Requirements concerning attendance (OER-B).

  • In addition to, or instead of, classes in the form of lectures, the elements of the master’s examination programme often include a practical component as defined in article A-1.2 of part A. The course catalogue contains information on the types of classes in each part of the programme. Attendance during practical components is mandatory.

    • Additional requirements for this course:

    see Canvas webpage

    Assessment

    Item and weight Details

    Final grade

    Fraud and plagiarism

    The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

    Course structure

    During the first year of your MSc programme, you must enroll in the Thesis Preparation Theoretical Physics course. Within this course, you need to attend IoP colloquia, research seminars and journal clubs in one of the ITFA research groups, and the project Bazaars. Besides being interesting and giving you an idea of what goes on at ITFA, attending these events will help you prepare for choosing a research project at the end of your first year.

    IoP colloquia (big events with famous speakers) are held roughly once a month. Seminars and journal clubs in the various research groups (more informal, often with local speakers) occur almost weekly during term time. These include:

    Most of them are announced on the IoP events calendar (events with no location mentioned typically take place in the Theory Lounge). Nikhef has different calendars for colloquiaLinks to an external site. and seminarsLinks to an external site.. 

    Theory Project Bazaars 2025 will be organised in April and May and announced on this canvas site.

    In order to complete ThesisPrep, you should attend:
    - at least 3 IoP colloquia
    - at least 6 seminars or journal clubs, spread over at least 2 research groups

     

    For the colloquia, seminars and/or journal clubs, you are expected to keep a portfolio, in which you note down for each event you attended:
    - the date, speaker and title of the talk.
    - a 3-line description of the subject of the talk in your own words.
    - 1 new thing that you learned from the talk.
    - 1 question that you had about the talk (which you may have asked the speaker).

    At the end of the academic year, you submit your portfolio over the Canvas webpage of 'Thesis Preparation Theoretical Physics".

    Contact information

    Coordinator

    • Edan Lerner