Msc.Physics

Course Introduction

Physics majors seek to understand the laws that govern the universe. From gigantic stars trillions of miles away to the subatomic particles within our own bodies, physics takes on matter and energy in all its forms.Physics is the scientific study of matter and energy. Topics covered include classical and modern theories, electricity and magnetism, and relativity.

Master level physics syllabus has been upgraded and updated as per four years B.Sc. physics. The new courses have been designed keeping in view with recent developments in Physics. Availability of additional specialties in new areas and upgraded quality of course will meet the requirement of prospective students. Various elective courses are incorporated in the syllabus and some of the old courses are thoroughly revised.

Objectives

The courses are designed with the following objectives:

To give students up to date knowledge of recent trends in physics.

To impart skills to the students in the areas of theoretical, experimental and applied physics.

To develop manpower in teaching physics at the tertiary level and to conduct research in physics.

To produce high level research manpower in physics.

Msc.Physics at SNSC

• Excellent academic environment.

• Preferences for Seminars, Workshops, and Field Visits.

• Provides Guest Lectures.

• Technical Research & Presentations.

• Well-equipped laboratories and digital laboratories.

• Educational Tours in related places.

• Preparing students for research in recent technologies for future development

Eligibility for Admission

Admission Criteria:
An applicant seeking admission to M.Sc. physics must appear in an entrance examination conducted by the Central Department of Physics. The applicant who fails to appear in the entrance examination or to obtain a minimum qualifying score will not be given admission.

Salient features

Evaluation

The evaluation mode is 40% internal and 60% final examinations.

Internal Examination: The in-semester (internal) examination shall have a total weight of 40% in each course. Students have to obtain 50% to pass the internal exam. The breakdown of in-semester exam will be as follows: Class Attendance: 5%, Home Work + VIVA Examination: 10%, Mid-Term Test: 10% (60 minute exam / scheduled in the calendar) and Final-Term Test: 15% (90 minutes exam / scheduled in the calendar). Evaluation will be based on GPA system. Concerned faculties will provide grades to the students. In case a student remains absent in the internal examination due to serious illness will given one-time opportunity to appear in the exam if he/she is able to produce authorize medical certificate.
Final Examination: Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University will conduct final examinations. The students will have to pass each course at each level separately. The final examination in each course will be a written examination carrying 60 full mark (this will be reduced to 30 later) and of 3 hours duration. In case percentage of marks obtained by the students in the internal exam exceeds the end-semester (final) examination marks by 20 or more, the marks obtained in the internal examination will be reduced to 80%. The six hours final practical examination should be held according as semester calendar. Students are required to give one practical examination.

Grade & Grade Point Average (GPA):

Total marks obtained in internal (40%) and end-semester (60%) exams shall be graded on absolute bases. The performance of a student shall be made on a four point scheme ranging from 0 to 4 grades. Students shall receive their semester grades and academic transcript grades only in letter grades and GPA scores. The percentage equivalent of the grade and GPA is as follows:
A student must secure a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.7 or Grade B minus (B-) in each course. Student securing only 2.7 in grade point are considered as “pass in individual subject”.
Semester Grade Point Average (SGPA) is the grade point average of the semester, is calculated as
Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) which is the grade point average of all semester, is calculated as

Grade	GPA	%equivalent	Performance
A	4.0	90 and above	Distinction
A-	3.7	80-89.9	Very good
B+	3.3	70-79.9	First Division
B	3.0	60-69.9	Second Division
B-	2.7	50-59.9	Pass
F	0.0	Below 50	fail

5) In order to pass the semester examination the student must secure a minimum of grade “B” or Cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.0.

6) A student who scores CGPA less than 3 may request for the opportunity to improve the grade in two subjects. The office of the Dean will provide one time opportunity to appear in end-semester exam. The exam of the courses to improve grade shall be held as per the course cycle.

7) Students failing in not more than 2 subjects (courses or credits) in first, second and third semester exams shall appear in make-up exams in the following cycle of exams.

8) Students failing in two subjects in fourth semester shall be given opportunity to appear in make-up exam within the one month after the final result.

Curriculum Structure

Download:

Master of Science (M.Sc) in Physics Semester system Curriculum.pdf

Course Structure

There will be four regular semesters in two years. The semester duration will be 15-18 weeks (15 weeks for course work and 1-3 weeks for evaluation). A student should complete 60 credit hour (hereafter CH) courses in order to earn Master’s degree in physics from Tribhuvan University.

A credit hour (CH hereafter) means teaching a theory course work for 60 minutes each week throughout the semester. For the laboratory work, 3 CH is for a semester. There will be three hours laboratory class everyday throughout the semester for 3 CH. This includes laboratory assignments and evaluation. The course load will be 12-18 credit hours per semester.

This course offers compulsory theoretical courses, laboratory work, computation work, elective and optional thesis/dissertation work in physics. There will be altogether twenty courses.

In the first two semesters, all ten courses are compulsory and in the third and fourth semesters, there will be five compulsory courses and five elective courses.

Table 1: List of the Compulsory and Elective Courses offered for the semester system.

Sem- ester	Course Code No.	Course title	Full Mark	Pass Mark	CH	Lecture/La b+ Tutorial (hrs)
1st	Phy501	Mathematical Physics I	50	25	3	45+15
1st	Phy502	Classical Mechanics	50	25	3	45+15
1st	Phy503	Quantum Mechanics I	50	25	3	45+15
1st	Phy504	Electronics	50	25	3	45+15
1st	Phy505	Physics Practical I (Compulsory)	50	25	3	180+45
2nd	Phy551	Mathematical Physics II	50	25	3	45+15
2nd	Phy552	Statistical Mechanics	50	25	3	45+15
2nd	Phy553	Solid State Physics	50	25	3	45+15
2nd	Phy554	Electrodynamics I	50	25	3	45+15
2nd	Phy555	Physics Practical II (Compulsory)	50	25	3	180+45
3rd	Phy601	Electrodynamics II	50	25	3	45+15
3rd	Phy602	Quantum Mechanics II	50	25	3	45+15
3rd	Phy603	Physics Practical (Advanced)	50	25	3	180+45
4th	Phy651	Quantum Mechanics III	50	25	3	45+15
4th	Phy652	Nuclear & Particle Physics	50	25	3	45+15
4rd	Phy653a	Electronics Practical	50	25	3	180+45
4th	Phy653b	Computational Physics	50	25	3	180+15
4th	Phy653c	Project	50	25	3	-
Elective courses (Any Two) Including dissertation
3rd Phy611		Advanced Solid State Physics I	50	25	3	45+15
3rd Phy612		Micro andOptoelectronics I	50	25	3	45+15
3rd Phy613		Seismology (Geophysics) I	50	25	3	45+15
3rd Phy614		Atmospheric Physics I	50	25	3	45+15
3rd Phy615		Plasma Physics I	50	25	3	45+15
3rd Phy616		Biomedical Physics I	50	25	3	45+15
3rd Phy617		Gravitation & Cosmology I	50	25	3	45+15
3rd Phy618		Astrophysics I	50	25	3	45+15
4th Phy661		Solid State Physics II	50	25	3	45+15
4th Phy662		Micro andOptoelectronics II	50	25	3	45+15
4th Phy663		Seismology (Geophysics) II	50	25	3	45+15
4th Phy664		Atmospheric Physics II	50	25	3	45+15
4th Phy665		Plasma Physics II	50	25	3	45+15
4th Phy666		Biomedical Physics II	50	25	3	45+15
4th Phy667		Gravitation & Cosmology II	50	25	3	45+15
4th Phy668		Astrophysics II	50	25	3	45+15
4th Phy699		Dissertation	100	50	6	-
Total			1000	400	60	720+720+6 00

Note: The Course Number (Phy505 & Phy555) is for Physics Practical I & II (Compulsory). The term ‘Compulsory’ means the general, nuclear, optical and electronics experiments in separate laboratories. The number of teachers in the laboratory classes depends on the number of laboratories and number of students as per TU rule (1 teacher for 10 students & at least one teacher in a laboratory)

A student can choose any two courses from the electives including dissertation. There will be an option between one of the elective courses and the dissertation. Student should have at least B- grade in all credits of first semester in order to enroll for the dissertation. The practical course in the third semester is compulsory however in the last semester, three optional courses namely electronics practical, project and computational physics will be offered. One can choose project work or perform electronics experiments or take computational physics course. However, one student cannot choose dissertation and project work both.

The first and the second semesters mainly focus on general theoretical courses as well as general experimental courses. The third semester mainly focuses on research oriented courses including computation courses. The fourth semester will be allocated for completion of the research work and the thesis writing or advanced courses. Elective courses will be offered by the Central Departments and other TU constituent and affiliated colleges on the basis of the availability of subject experts. In any case, at least 15% students of full quota are required to run an elective course. The physics subject committee may also develop new elective courses in the future.