Honours structure 2012

For last year's honours course please see the 2011 structure page.

Timetable

All part A lectures will be held in the LeCouter seminar room, level 3 (room 3.17).

Assessment

50 % Coursework 50% Research Project

Coursework

The coursework is entirely in Semester 1.
It consists of 4 compulsory Part A courses: (Each of these is for half a semester).

These courses are on fundamental parts of physics and are foundational.

Quantum Mechanics (Joe Hope)
Electromagnetism (Matthew Hole)
Statistical Mechanics/ Thermodynamics (Edie Sevick)
Classical Mechanics (David Williams)

You must then choose 4 Part B courses for the second half of the semester. These are usually more specialised and include:
Surface Physics
Non-equilibrium thermodynamics
Quantum Control
General Relativity
Scattering
Motor Vehicle Physics
Advanced Electromagnetism
Non-linear Physics

We also allow students who have not previously done so to do Theoretical Physics PHYS3001 in place of Quantum Mechanics.

It is also possible to take Topics in Mathematical Physics MATH3351, and also some other courses outside of physics – with permission from the convenor.

Research project

The research project makes up 50% of your mark, and as such is an important part of the honours experience.

The project is expected to be a substantial and original piece of research in physics, supervised either by someone in the physics school, or by a physicist who is working at ANU outside of the school (for example in Chemistry or Geophysics).

As part of the research project Prof. Hans Bachor runs a science communication course which starts of Feb 8. This is aimed mainly at helping you write a thesis. It is assessable and is worth 5% of the overall project mark.

The project mark is divided as follows:
5% science communication course
2% mid-year talk
5% end of year talk
88% written thesis.

Dates

Science Communication starts Feb 8.

Part A courses start on Feb 20 and Finish on March 30.

There is then a 1 week examination period, followed by a 2 week break.
Students are encourage to take a holiday during this 2 week period.

Part B courses start on April 23 and finish on June 1 followed by a 1 week exam period.