Note: This page provides a general overview. For complete and accurate information, please consult with your advisor. For current course offerings and information, refer to the Cornell University Registrar: Courses of Study.
Degree Requirements
Course work provides a broad education in the mechanics of rigid and deformable bodies, applied mathematics, and modern experimental techniques.
All incoming Ph.D. students with a bachelor’s degree must register for credit and do satisfactorily (B- or better in each course, with a 3.0 overall GPA) in:
- Two graduate courses in Applied Mathematics
- One graduate course in Dynamics and Space Mechanics
- One graduate course in Solid Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics or Mechanics of Materials
These basic requirements (four graduate courses) are expected to be completed by an incoming Ph.D. student within the first two terms at Cornell. An up to date list of courses in each area will be maintained by the director of graduate studies and made available to all students. Courses not appearing on the list can be used but must be approved by the director of graduate studies.
Incoming students with a master’s degree are assumed to have already satisfied some of these basic course requirements, but may take additional coursework in their first term to refresh or augment their prior coursework, as needed. Each incoming student will meet with the director of graduate studies in their first term to make a plan for their first year coursework.
Except for the above basic course requirements, other course requirements for the Ph.D. degree are decided by the student’s Special Committee. The field, however, recommends that a student should register for credit and do satisfactorily in a minimum of nine courses, with multiple areas represented in depth (i.e., by two or more courses).
Minor
All students are required to minor in at least one subject from a field outside of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. Frequently selected minors are aerospace engineering, applied mathematics, applied physics, astronomy, electrical and computer engineering, geophysics, materials science, mathematics, mechanical engineering, physics, and structural engineering.
Major Subject and Concentrations
The major subject for all students in the field of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics is Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. The major concentration must be one of the following:
- Dynamics and Space Mechanics
- Fluid Mechanics
- Mechanics of Materials
- Solid Mechanics
The graduate school has specific definitions for subjects and concentrations, which do not exactly match common usage. Typically, what are referred to as subjects or subject areas map to the graduate school’s concentrations. For the majority of fields, there is only one subject, and so graduate school ‘subjects’ can usually be treated as synonymous with graduate fields. The remainder of this document will adopt the graduate school’s nomenclature.
Special Committee
Graduate study is conducted under the special committee system with the student’s research advisor serving as chair. The typical special committee comprises three faculty members representing the student’s major and minor subjects. Committee members are selected by the student with the guidance of his or her research advisor. The student’s special committee has complete discretion in determining the direction of the student’s studies including necessary coursework. The graduate field and special committee systems are inherently well suited for interdisciplinary studies.
Students must choose an advisor who represents their major field and concentration by the end of the first semester. They must choose their full committee, made up of at least three members of the graduate field faculty, by the end of their third semester.
Examinations
Ph.D. students take a qualifying examination. For incoming students with a bachelor’s degree, the examination is usually held after they have completed two semesters of graduate studies at Cornell. For incoming students with a master’s degree, the examination is held after they have completed one semester of graduate studies at Cornell. Two semesters of teaching experience are required.
Q Exam
The purpose of the Qualifying Exam (Q Exam) is to gauge the candidate’s potential as a doctoral student. The scope of topics should not be so broad as to influence the selection of courses taken by the candidate prior to the exam. A thorough understanding of relevant undergraduate courses and graduate courses already taken should be sufficient to pass the examination.
Students entering with master’s degrees take the Q Exam at the end of their first semester; students entering with a bachelor’s degree take the Q Exam at the end of their second semester.
A Exam
The purpose of the Admission to Candidacy Exam (A Exam) is to determine whether the candidate has attained mastery of the major and minor subjects. In addition, a review may be conducted of the progress of the research and of the plans to complete the dissertation.
Conducted by the student’s special committee, this examination is expected to be taken before the seventh semester of residence and must be taken at least two semesters before the Defense of Dissertation Examination (B Exam). All members of the student’s special committee are expected to participate in the exam.
B Exam
The oral examination is administered by the Special Committee and is based on the candidate’s dissertation and research. This examination is taken only after all other requirements for the degree have been fulfilled, and after the dissertation has been submitted to the committee. The first part of the B examination, consisting of a seminar, is open to the public. Students are encouraged to attend others’ exams.
At least seven calendar days before the date of the exam, a “Schedule of Examination” form, signed by each member of the special committee and the director of graduate studies, must be submitted to the Graduate School and an announcement of the exam made to the field faculty. Within three days after the exam, a “Results of Examination” form, signed by each member of the special committee and the director of graduate studies, recording the outcome of the exam, must be submitted to the Graduate School.
More information on examinations can be found in the Graduate School’s Research Degree Requirements.