Regular PhD Program

updated: 02.03.2022

Regular Ph.D. Program

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) is the highest degree awarded by Tel Aviv University. Doctoral students are accepted into one of two programs: the regular or direct program.

The regular Ph.D. program is designed for M.Sc. graduates and leads to a Ph.D. degree after 4-5 years of study and research. Students interested in acceptance as Stage A research students in their doctoral studies must meet the requirements listed in the Admissions requirements & study framework document.

 

Terms of Acceptance:

Students can be accepted to the regular Ph.D. program under the terms detailed in the Admissions requirements & study framework document.

Student who work in industry and can carry out research at their workplaces may be eligible for the PhD program. Registration for the program is detailed under the Registration Procedure at the PhD at place of work link.

 

Registration procedure

  • The required documents must be submitted to the School of Physics & Astronomy Ph.D. Students' Secretary.

  • The application will be reviewed by the School's Ph.D. Students' Committee who will consider the application.

  • Applicants approved by the School Committee are then referred to the Graduate Studies Committee for online registration.

  • After online registration the case is reviewed by the University Ph.D. Students' Committee.

 

Prerequisites:

  • Diploma or Certificate of B.Sc. Graduation or equivalent, signed by the institution (original certificates or certified copies).

  • Diploma or Certificate of M.Sc. Graduation or equivalent, including thesis grades and GPA signed by the institution (original certificates or certified copies).

  • Transcripts of BSc and MSc studies, signed by the institution.

  • Advisorship certificate from a TAU faculty member authorized and willing to serve as an advisor for the Ph.D. student, as well as to commit funds for a fellowship.

  • Curriculum Vitae

  • Passport photo

* Prior to the registration process, all overseas material of previous studies will be evaluated for equivalence.

 

Course of studies and PhD thesis:

Students are required to complete 7 semester-hours of coursework in the following way:

  • Students must enroll in, and pass two courses, for a total of 6 semester hours before completing the first year of stage II studies, with a minimum grade of 80.

  • Students must take part in the departmental seminar, which is credited 1 semester hour. Students will present their Ph.D. work at one of these seminars, and proof of attendance will be provided by the seminar coordinator.

  • Course in Academic Writing in English

    A course in academic writing in English will open in the second semester of the 2018-19 academic year. This is a 4-hour course, and includes 2 hours of frontal classroom study, and 2 hours of personal meetings with the lecturer. All PhD students must take this course at the earliest date possible after registration.

    All stage I research students must take this course. Starting with the second semester of the 2017-18 academic year, students must pass this course in order to become stage II research students. Student who submitted their research proposal in the first semester of the 2017-18 academic year are exempt.

    Students seeking exemption from this course must take an exam. Should the results be satisfactory, they will be awarded an exemption. 

Students must submit their PhD research proposal within a year and a half after being accepted to Stage A (the date of acceptance to the Doctoral program).

Students must submit their Ph.D. thesis within 5 years of acceptance as Stage A students. The Ph.D. Students' Committee can permit exceptions to the timeframes mentioned above.
In specific circumstances, it is possible to submit a PhD thesis composed of published articles.

 

Regulations and updates

Student Regulations appear in the Admissions requirements & study framework document, in the University Guidelines and in the amendments published on the web and updated online.

 

 

Student benefits and useful information:

  • Student card: 
    After tuition has been paid, a student card will be sent to the student's address as listed in the student records. For more information and additional student services please refer to the Dean of Students website.
     

  • Opening an email account: 
    The University allocates a username and an initial password to each student for identification in online services.
    More information on initializing an email account can be found in the Infomation Technology and Computing Division website.
     

  • School scholarships and Teaching Assistant positions: 
    For information regarding eligibility for a Teaching Assistantship and for a scholarship as well as the required forms, please see the Scholarships and Teaching Assistant positions for PhD webpage.
     

  • Excellence awards: 
    At the beginning of each semester, students are encouraged to submit their CV and list of publications to the Ph.D. secretary, for consideration for research awards.
     

  • Funding scholarships for travel to conferences

    The University will help fund travel expenses and attendance at conferences, workshops and summer schools in Israel and abroad. Each Ph.D. student may take part in at least one of these activities. Financial support can be up to $1000 (one thousand US dollars).
    Scholarship students who have "Kishrei Mada" funds in the University are eligible to use these funds to complement the funds mentioned above, if needed, up to a total of $1500 per trip. Scholarship recipients who make use of their "Kishrei Mada" funding for complementing these funds will not be eligible for additional funding for these expenses.
    Scholarship students who do not redeem the rights granted to them in section 13 in the course of their PhD studies, may redeem them for post-doctoral purposes within 12 months of the final approval of their Ph.D. thesis.
    For more information please contact Yakira Navaty, the Teaching & Scholarship Coordinator, Tel: 03-6408310 or via email: yakiran@tauex.tau.ac.il.

  • Funds for printing a thesis
    Ph.D. students receiving a scholarship from the school are eligible for funding support in the printing of their PhD thesis, according to the guidelines issued by the Academic Secretary.
    The University will fund printing of up to 10 Thesis copies. Please contact the Print Shop (located in the basement of the Main Library building) at Tel: 8485, for printing the thesis. In addition, please contact the Research Students Department at Tel: 8161 and request a confirmation letter from the University authorizing the printing of the copies.
     

For further information, please see Contact Information - Graduate Degrees.

 

Tel Aviv University makes every effort to respect copyright. If you own copyright to the content contained
here and / or the use of such content is in your opinion infringing, Contact us as soon as possible >>