Ph.D. Curriculum Requirements
The Space Sciences and Computational Astrophysics
area of concentration within the CSI Ph.D. program
comprises 48 credit hours of course work plus 24 credit hours in
dissertation research. Candidates with M.S. degrees can reduce the
number of credit hours of course work by up to 24 hours. It should
be noted that flexibility will be allowed depending on individual
circumstances (e.g., a candidate who has already taken the equivalent
of one of the core courses can substitute another course as long as
the advisor approves).
1. Common Computational Core (12 credit hours)
 | CSI 700 (Numerical Methods)
| CSI 701 (Foundations of Computational Sciences)
| CSI 703 (Scientific and Statistical Visualization
| CSI 710 (Scientific Databases) |
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2. Scientific Core (15 credit hours)
| CSI 661/ASTR 530 (Astrophysics) |
| CSI 784/PHYS 732 (Quantum Mechanics)
|
To complete the Scientific Core, students are required to take one of the
following two courses:
|
CSI 781 (Plasma Science) or CSI 782/PHYS 711 (Statistical Mechanics) |
and one of the two electromagnetism courses:
|
CSI 785/PHYS 722 (Electromagnetic Theory) or PHYS 513 (Applied Electromagnetic Theory)
|
Students are also required to take at least one of the following courses on
simulation:
| CSI 721 (Computational Fluid Dynamics I).
| CSI 761/ASTR 761 (N-body Methods and Particle Simulations
| CSI 788/PHYS 728 (Large Scale Physical Simulations)
|
| |
3. Scientific Electives (9 credit hours)
After consultation with their advisor, students should take at least three
courses from but not limited to the following:
| CSI 660/ASTR 535 (Space Instrumentation and Exploration)
| CSI 722 (Computational Fluid Dynamics II)
| CSI 761/ASTR 761 (N-body Methods and Particle Simulations
| CSI 764/ASTR 764 (Computational Astrophysics)
| CSI 765/ASTR 765 (High Energy and Accretion Astrophysics)
| CSI 766/ASTR 766 (Relativity and Cosmology)
| CSI 781 (Plasma Science)
| CSI 758 (Visualization and Modeling of Complex Systems)
| CSI 763 (Statistical Methods in Space Sciences)
| CSI 741 (Nonlinear Dynamical Systems)
| CSI 788/PHYS 728 (Large Scale Physical Simulations)
| MATH 686 (Numerical Solutions of Differential Equations)
| MATH 678 (Partial Differential Equations)
| CSI 746 (Wavelet Theory)
| CSI 748/MATH 629 (Symbolic Computation)
|
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4. Colloquia and Seminars (3 credit hours)
All students are required to take three credit hours of Seminar and/or Colloquia:
 | CSI 898 (Scientific
Colloquium)
| CSI 899 (CSI Colloquium)
| CSI 991 (Scientific
Seminar) |
| |
5. General Electives (9 credit hours)
6. Thesis Hours (24 credit hours)
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