Physics
The Department of Physics provides its graduate students with a wide range of research opportunities in experimental, theoretical, and computational physics. Active research areas include elementary particle physics, condensed-matter physics, statistical physics, econophysics, materials physics, and biological physics. In all of these areas, the department offers programs leading to a Doctor of Philosophy in Physics. Students admitted to the PhD program may opt for a master’s degree en route to the PhD if they satisfy the appropriate requirements.
The Metcalf Science Center, at 590 Commonwealth Avenue, houses the department headquarters, instructional laboratories, lecture rooms, and offices, as well as laboratories devoted to low-temperature physics, surface physics, condensed-matter physics, molecular biophysics, and materials research. The Physics Research Building, located nearby at 3 Cummington Mall, houses classrooms, laboratories dedicated to high-energy and condensed-matter physics, and outstanding facilities for the design and fabrication of scientific instruments and sophisticated electronics equipment. In addition, several physics research groups have laboratories in the Photonics Center at 8 St. Mary’s Street. An extensive network of computational facilities supports the research activities of the department. There are many networked multiprocessor servers and centralized workstations. For computationally intensive applications, students have access to supercomputing resources supported through the Boston University Shared Computing Cluster (SCC). Researchers at Boston University also perform experiments at a variety of national and international facilities. For a complete list, please visit our website.
Organizations
Graduate Student Council (Grad Council) is a physics graduate student organization dedicated to improving the department by advocating for physics graduate students and organizing departmental events.
Women in Physics (WIP) at BU Physics is an organization that fosters a community promoting the advancement and success of female physicists. WIP is affiliated with Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWISE) at BU, which is a society that works to provide a supportive community for women in STEM disciplines.
