Master of Science for Teachers in Physics

Most physics graduate students are supported by either teaching or research assistantships, although some fellowships are available for exceptionally promising students. Most entering graduate students are supported on teaching assistantships, and teach in the introductory physics laboratory. Thereafter, they are usually supported as research assistants on external research grants. Entering graduate students usually have a physics undergraduate degree; however inquiries from students with other technical degrees and a good mathematics background are encouraged, since the program allows minor background deficiencies to be made up. The department's research emphasis includes both fundamental and applied studies in three areas of physics: condensed matter, solid state, and materials physics; cloud, aerosol and environmental physics; and atomic, molecular, and optical physics. Experimental and theoretical research opportunities are available for study in each of these areas. Following their core coursework, graduate students in the department are able to work with faculty on a wide range of problems, including the characterization of magnetic materials, predicting the properties of quantum and classical phase transitions, establishing the structure and properties of atmospheric aerosols, investigating electron transport in polymers, determining electron-atom scattering events, characterizing the particulate in rocket engine exhaust, exploring the structural properties of thin magnetic films, computing the electronic structure of new materials, measuring and imaging ion-atom collisions, investigating water and sulfuric acid cluster interactions, analyzing and characterizing nanostructures on surfaces, ascertaining the properties of charged particles and atoms, studying the nucleation of vapors into droplets, growing and characterizing exotic materials, studying wave propagation in complex media, and exploring quantum electrodynamics’ descriptions of few-electron atoms and ions.