Briefing Session for New Students

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Briefing Session for New Students 930 Welcome
(Prof. Ng) 940 Programs and Options (Prof.
Wong) 1030 Break 1045 Academic Advisement
(Prof. Yang) 1115 Course Registration (Prof.
Wong) 1200 Lunch Break 1400 Lab Safety
Orientation (Mr. Mak) 1600 End of Todays
Program
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The Life of Physics Students
The Scientific Attitude Science in social
thinking Science and experimentation Problem
solving skills
The Department Academic quality Teaching
quality Options and sequences Seminars and
tutorials 1-credit courses and projects Exchange
programs
The Relations With students With IAs, TAs,
Instructors Presentation skills Language skills
The Person Your independence Your honour Your
initiation Your time management Your money
management
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• Introduction to Degrees offered by
• Department of Physics, HKUST
• 3 Programs and 4 Options
• B. Sc. in Physics
• Pure Physics Option
• Physics and Mathematics Option
• B. Sc. in Physics and Science Education
• B. Sc. in Applied Physics
• Science and Technology Option
• Management Science Option

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• Pure Physics Option
• Designed for students who want to study physics
• Most flexible among all options (for students who
  want a more general education)
• Slight change in the name from B. Sc. in Physics
  to B. Sc. in Physics (Pure Physics Option)
• How to use the FREE electives?
• take advanced physics courses
• minor (MATH, HUMA, SOSC)
• any other subjects you are interested in

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• Physics and Mathematics Option
• Designed for students who want to study both
  physics and mathematics
• EM2/QM2, 4 required MATH courses
• Less electives
• Designed for sequence B students only (A1
  students have to use MATH001104 to substitute
  MATH101, A2 students have to use PHYS111112 to
  substitute PHYS121)
• To be selected in two rounds
• Round 1 15 pre-registered places in MATH201 for
  students SGA B or above
• Round 2 interview in Spring of Year 1, 5 to 10
  places in Year 2 for students with CGA B or above

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• Double degree (B.Sc. in Math. and Phys.)
• Students in PM option can get double degree if
  they satisfy additional requirements of B.Sc. in
  Math (MP option)
• This can be done by a careful choice of FREE
  electives

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• B. Sc. in Physics and Science Education
• Designed for students who want to be teachers
• 4-year course with B. Sc. in Physics and
  Qualified Teacher Status on graduation
• Education courses in 2nd Spring
• Courses in HKIEd in 3rd FallWinter and 4th
  WinterSpring
• 7 Science electives (Chemistry and Biology)
• Very broad but not deep
• To be selected in two rounds
• Round 1 15 pre-registered places for students
  with SGA B- or above
• Round 2 interview in Spring of Year 1, 5 to 10
  places in Year 2 for students with CGA B- or above

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Science and Technology Option More
specialized Designed for students who have made
up their mind to be specialized in special areas
of physics Includes specialized courses
in Materials science Optics Computational
physics Less flexible
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• Management Science Option
• Basic physics courses
• Computational physics
• Information physics
• ISMT courses Business statistics, operational
  management, forecasting
• Need to take ISMT111 in Fall semester
• Students to be selected in two rounds
• Round 1 15 pre-registered places in ISMT161
  (Spring of Year 1) for students with SGA B- or
  above
• Round 2 interview in Spring 2004, 5 to 10 places
  in Year 2 for students with CGA B- or above

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• Default Arrangement
• If a student cannot obtain pre-registered places
  in MS, P M and P SE, he/she may like to
  register in the required courses (ISMT161 or
  MATH201) by themselves, and may apply for
  interview in Spring of Year 1
• All Physics students who are not accepted into P
  M, P SE and MS will be arranged to take Pure
  Physics in the following semester
• AIl Applied Physics students who are not accepted
  into P M, P SE and MS will be arranged to
  take S T in the following semester
• Students can apply to switch between Physics and
  Applied Physics after they have taken PHYS211

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No. of credits required
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• Comparison between different options
• Between Physics and ST
• Core essentially the same except
• PHYS311 can be substituted by PHYS382 in ST
• Recommended study pattern
• Required
• Physics PHYS (9), FREE (22) 3
• ST APHY PHYS (18), FREE (15)
• (APHY chosen subset of PHYS)
• ? Choose S T if you want to make sure that you
  can take some of those specialized courses in
  APHY.

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• Between MS and others
• A highly specialized option
• Quantitative analysis technique required
• Designed for students who are keen at
  mathematical and computational skills in Physics,
  and want to apply these skills to business world.
• NOT a degree in management Physics
• ? Many mathematical and computational Physics
  course requirements.

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• Between P M and others
• A highly specialized option
• Theoretical and analytical skills required
• Less emphasis on experimental skills
• Only 4 credits of FREE electives if double degree
  is intended
• Designed for students who have interest in both
  Mathematics and Physics, and does not necessarily
  mean that they are more superior than other
  options

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• Between P SE and others
• Very broad but not very deep
• Students without biology background should take
  BISC001
• Only 3 credits of FREE electives if BISC001 is
  taken
• It is not realistic to take both P M and P SE
  together
• Designed for students who intend to be teachers

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• 3 sequences of study
• Sequence A1
• Without AL Mathematics background
• Take PHYS121 and MATH001 in Fall semester
• Take MATH104 and MATH111 in Spring semester
• Take MATH151 in Summer semester

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• Sequence A2
• With weak AL Physics background
• Or need consolidation in AL Physics
• Take PHYS111 and MATH101 in Fall semester
• Take PHYS112 in Winter semester
• Students who are weak in both AL Mathematics and
  AL Physics are assigned to Sequence A1. If they
  would like to take PHYS111 PHYS112 instead of
  PHYS121, they can discuss with me, if spaces in
  PHYS111 PHYS112 allow.
• Students who are weak in both If students would
  like to take PHYS121 instead of PHYS111
  PHYS112, of PHYS121, they can discuss with me.

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• Sequence B
• With AL Physics and AL Mathematics background
• Take PHYS121 and MATH101 in Fall semester
• No courses in Winter semester
• No required courses in Summer semester
• If students who are not confident in their
  mathematical background, they can discuss with me
  about the possibility of switching to Sequence
  A1, if spaces in PHYS111 PHYS112 allow.

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• Curriculum structure
• Year 1 Basic training
• Fundamentals of Physics
• Mathematics, esp. calculus, linear algebra,
  differential equations
• Computer programming
• Modern Physics
• Modern Physics Lab

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• Year 2 Solid training
• Classical Mechanics
• Electricity and Magnetism
• Quantum Mechanics
• Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
• Experimental Physics

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• Year 3 Advanced training
• Electives of specialized courses in theoretical
  and applied physics (solid state, materials,
  optics, information, etc.)
• Advanced experimental physics, or Computational
  physics (for Applied Physics)
• Independent study project

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Recommended Pattern of Study (Fall
2001) Sequence A1
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Recommended Pattern of Study (Fall
2001) Sequence A2
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Recommended Pattern of Study (Fall
2001) Sequence B
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• Example Alice is in sequence B, but she failed
  MATH101 in the Fall semester. In the Spring
  semester she took MATH104, and planned to take
  MATH001 later. Is this switch from sequence B to
  A1 allowed?
• No way!
• Because after taking MATH104, she was not allowed
  to take MATH001 anymore. (MATH104 is an exclusion
  of MATH001.)
• She cannot even take MATH101 again, because
  MATH104 is also an exclusion of MATH101.
• In fact, this was a real case last year, and it
  was misleading that MATH104 was a pre-registered
  course!
• The case was still under review by the
  university.
• Sequence B students do not switch sequence
  without the recommendation of UG Coordinator!

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• Course Registration
• You should follow the recommended pattern of
  study in the Academic Calendar
• If you deviate from the recommended pattern of
  study, you may need program level approval and/or
  course level approval
• Both program level approval and course level
  approval must be obtained before you can
  successfully enrolled in courses
• Students deviating from the recommended pattern
  of study will have scheduling risks
• Students can use their FREE electives to take
  minor programs (e.g. MATH, HSS)
• Advice Treat minors as interests, not jetsos

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• Program Level Approval
• Program level approval is needed if
• You have overcredit
• You want to drop a course specified by the
  recommended pattern of study in the Academic
  Calendar
• Approval requests are sent to your academic
  advisor (Year 1 PHYS Michael Wong, Year 1 APHY
  Philip Sou)
• Approval requests are sent everytime you make a
  change in course registration
• Overcredit requests are approved only if CGA B
• Advice Do not overcredit in 1st semester
• Academic advisors welcome you to discuss with
  them

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• Course Level Approval
• Course level approval is needed if
• You cannot satisfy course pre-requisite or
  exclusion
• Project courses (PHYS191/291/391/398)
• Approval requests are sent to your course
  instructor
• When the class quota is full, you will be put in
  the waiting list with a queue position
• Normally you cannot jump queue in the waiting
  list
• Inside Physics, class quota expands only if
  teaching resource allows (lab space, room size,
  environment)
• Outside Physics, class quota is not controlled by
  Physics, especially if you do not need the course
  to graduate

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• Exchange Students
• Every year there is a limited number of
  exchange-out opportunities to a few overseas
  universities
• The list of exchange universities can be found in
  the Website of the School of Science
• Students who are interested in exchange studies
  should plan ahead their course sequences,
  especially required courses
• Please discuss with the UG Coordinator about the
  course sequences, and the overseas courses to be
  transferred back
• It is your responsibility (not the departments)
  to take care of the course changes due to
  exchange plans

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• Swapping Courses
• Swapping courses is the best way to avoid
  overcredits, much better than overcrediting
• If your favorite course A is full, try to swap it
  with your second favorite course B
• That is, you are temporarily enrolled in course
  B. Once there is space in course A, you can
  automatically get in
• If there is no space in course A at the end of
  the add/drop period, you still have course B

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• Random Numbers
• Random numbers determine your time of course
  registration
• Your time of course registration in Fall semester
  will be reversed in Spring semester
• If you have a good random number, use your chance
  to take those popular courses you like
• If you have a bad random number, be careful not
  to drop your pre-registered courses

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• Add/drop Period
• If you are in the waiting list of some courses,
  please check your enrollment status at the end of
  the add/drop period, no matter how low your
  position in the waiting list is
• There are incredibly large changes in the waiting
  list at the end of the add/drop period!
• Students neglecting this may risk finding
  themselves enrolled in a course they do not
  attend, often very late!
• Late drop requests have to get 4 signatures and
  are usually rejected by the School of Science

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• Example Bob is in the waiting list of both GEE1
  and GEE2, and his overcredit request is rejected.
  On 5 Sep, GEE1 has space for him, but he cannot
  get in! What should he do?
• He cannot get in because his overcredit request
  is rejected.
• But he can get in by simply dropping GEE2.
• If he wait past the add/drop period, he cannot
  get in either course.

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• Special Cases COMP102/104
• All students (except MS) are pre-registered in
  COMP102 (3 credits) in Spring of Year 1.
• However, some students would like to take COMP104
  (5 credits) in Fall or Spring of Year 1.
• COMP104 can replace COMP102 after program level
  approval.
• Advice It is risky to take COMP104 in Fall of
  Year 1.

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• Special Cases ISMT111
• ISMT111 can be a GEE(SBM) course.
• ISMT111 is also a required course for MS option.
• If you plan to take MS option, try to enroll in
  Fall of Year 1.
• Even if you cannot get into MS option later, you
  can fulfill the GEE(SBM) requirement.
• If you cannot enroll in Fall of Yea 1, note that
  ISMT111 is normally offered in Spring semesters
  as well.

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• Information Sources
• Academic Calendar (2003-2004) is your Basic Law.
• The university distributes the CD-ROM version to
  you.
• This is also available in the HKUST Website.
• Helen Lai can distribute one copy to every three
  students on a first-come-first-serve basis.
• Read e-mail messages regularly.
• Do not ignore messages from department
  (especially those from PHKYWONG, PHIKSOU, PHHLAI,
  PHSHTAM, PHHELEN, PHJACMA, or your academic
  advisor).
• This Powerpoint file will be placed in the
  PHYS180 Website.

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• Future Careers
• Further studies
• Information technology
• Commercial (especially technically related)
• Education
• We focus on educating your person!