Physics Postgrad FAQ

Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions page of for Postgraduate students of the Physics Department of the University of Auckland.

This page is maintained by me, A/Prof Nicola Gaston, also to be found in room 303-723 or via email at n.gaston@auckland.ac.nz.

I receive a large number of emails requesting advice on how to do various tasks related to the PhD and MSc research degrees, and so the usual answers, in simple form, are given on the following pages.

• MSc FAQ
• PhD admissions
• PhD First Year Interview
• PhD completion
• Changes to registration

If this is enough to answer your question - great! If not - please do not let this put you off getting in contact. Email if you can't find me in my office.

You can also download Latex templates for the

• BSc (hons) dissertation
• MSc/PhD thesis.
• and a word template for the MSc thesis

Finally: while work opportunities in the department are not something I can help you with directly, if you are interested in teaching work during your PhD, the following message from Anna Yang, who coordinates TAs in physics, may be useful:

• The physics teaching assistantships are open for applications online twice a year. Applications for Semester 1 open around late October/early November and close in January. Applications for Semester 2 open in May and close in June. Announcements are made via Canvas (if taking a physics course) and the physics PhD mailing list (currently managed by Sithra in the 6th floor office).
• To get an idea of the criteria, courses and workload, interested students could visit https://www.tagta.physics.auckland.ac.nz to see information from the last round. (Students will need to use their UoA Google account to access the link, i.e. yourUPI@aucklanduni.ac.nz). PhD students are recommended to observe their time commitment required for PhD studies in the first semester of arrival and try this in the second semester of their studies if interested. PhD students should consult their advisors before applying.