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UCLA Graduate Curriculum Committee 2010

Steve Furlanetto Brad Hansen Jean-Luc Margot Mark Morris Rene Ong

This Graduate Curriculum Committee met in the Fall of 2010 to reconsider and update the required curriculum for Astronomy graduate students. The Committee was specifically charged with addressing the following issues: · Which, if any, of the current core courses are no longer necessary for students? · Which, if any, areas are missing from the core but should be required? · Which, if any, areas are missing from the current course offerings but should be offered regularly? · How can we balance the students’ workload more effectively? · In the longer term, how can the curriculum be designed flexibly, so as to allow interdisciplinary approaches, new course technology, etc.? The particular issues of immediate concern were: (1) is the two-quarter Electricity & Magnetism course necessary?; (2) how can we best incorporate new fields such as exoplanets into the curriculum?; and (3) how can we smooth out the student workload?

To answer these questions, ** the Committee believes that the “core” curriculum must provide the following benefits to students: ** · // Provide the physics tools and techniques necessary to study astronomical objects //, such as dynamics, radiative transfer, and quantum mechanics · // Provide a broad base of knowledge in the fundamental areas of astronomy //, such as stars, galaxies, and the interstellar medium · // Provide practice in the tools, techniques, and methods of astrophysical research //, so that students may develop the necessary problem-solving skills to be independent researchers. · // Prepare students to begin a research project in any area of astrophysics represented at UCLA //, so that they may (through their thesis) produce original work of the highest quality.

1. ** The establishment of a “two-tier” curriculum of seven required core courses supplemented by a “menu” of electives from which students must choose two **. a. The seven required courses are: Astrophysical Dynamics; Quantum Mechanics; Radiation I; Radiation II; Stellar Astrophysics; Extragalactic Astrophysics I; and Diffuse Matter in Space. Of these, Radiation I should be taught every year for new students in the Fall quarter. All other courses should be offered in alternate years. A recommended syllabus for all of the new courses is included below; Note #1 also contains a comparison to the existing curriculum. b. The menu of electives must include, during any two-year span, all of the following course offerings: Exoplanets; Extragalactic Astrophysics II; High-Energy Astrophysics; Instrumentation and Observational Methods. c. In addition, the division commits to teach the following elective courses at least every other year, although these do not serve to fulfill any graduation requirements: Numerical and Statistical Methods; Order of Magnitude Astrophysics. Special Topics Seminars should be taught as possible. d. This revised plan places the same teaching burden on astrophysics faculty (averaged over any two year span) as the current system (when the average load of special seminars over the past few years is included), although a larger number of individual courses are offered. e. This plan // reduces // the required total number of courses students take from eleven to nine (plus the second year project), in line with university-wide requirements for a PhD. 2. ** The second-year exam will cover material // only // in the seven required courses, and // not // in electives. **Students may therefore complete their elective requirements during their third or fourth year, although they should not wait longer than that. 3. This curriculum should be scheduled in such a way that ** students take no more than two (and at least one) required courses each quarter during their first two years **, and no more than three including electives. Such a schedule is included below. 4. T** he second-year research project should remain unchanged. **
 * The Committee therefore recommends the following: **

In addition, the revised curriculum creates three new elective courses: Exoplanets, High-Energy Astrophysics, and Numerical and Statistical Methods. The net result is a relatively modest change to the existing curriculum, with most courses having clear correspondences: Fluids and Dynamics --> Astrophysical Dynamics, Interstellar Medium Radiation --> Radiation I Electricity & Magnetism (2) --> Radiation I and II  Stellar Atmospheres --> Stellar Astronomy Stellar Interiors --> Stellar Astronomy Cosmology --> Extragalactic Astrophysics I/II Galaxies --> Extragalactic Astrophysics I/II Quantum Mechanics --> Quantum Mechanics Instrumentation --> Instrumentation OOMA --> OOMA The curriculum also covers several mostly new topics: The Interstellar Medium (previously taught as 278 seminar) Numerical and Statistical Methods (new) Exoplanets (previously taught within M285) High-Energy Astrophysics (previously taught as 278 seminar) Two other changes are worth noting: the revised core teaches dynamics and quantum mechanics only every other year. This is not ideal but was recommended because: (1) it maintains the same total teaching commitment for the faculty, (2) these courses are typically not // essential // for the remaining core courses, although they may be helpful (in cases where they are essential – such as Dynamics for Galaxies – the schedule places them sequentially in the same year), and (3) our peer institutions typically treat these courses in a similar fashion (and, in the case of Quantum Mechanics, often simply have no similar course).
 * Note #1: ** The principal changes from the current core sequence are: (1) remove the required two-quarter Electricity & Magnetism sequence and move the relevant material to the Radiation I and II sequence; (2) expand Astrophysical Dynamics to a full-quarter course, while adding some astrophysical context about the solar system, the Milky Way, and other stellar systems; (3) add a required course including material on fluid mechanics and the interstellar medium (called “Diffuse Matter in Space” here); (4) consolidate Stellar Atmospheres and Stellar Interiors into a single course (with some of the Atmospheres course content serving as examples in the Radiation sequence); (5) redistribute the current Galaxies and Cosmology course content into Extragalactic Astrophysics I and II (as well as to some extent the Astrophysical Dynamics course).