Welcome!

Welcome to the NC State Department of Physics. Our award-winning researchers and teachers guide students through a broad, rigorous curriculum, and our graduates have been highly successful in both academia and industry. Our research programs cover a diverse spectrum including astrophysics, general relativity, condensed matter theory and experiment, computational physics, biophysics, nanoscale science, physics education, experimental nuclear physics, particle and nuclear theory, experimental optics, and atomic and molecular theory. Total funding for our research programs ranks in the top three among departments at NC State University and in the top twenty-five of physics departments in the nation.

The Physics Department Faculty at its 2007 retreat. Every year, departmental faculty enjoy a one day retreat where they review the state of the department and plan for the future. The retreat this year featured break-out sessions designed to focus on several research thrust areas.

Thank you for visiting our website. Here are some brief facts and figures about us:

Distinguished faculty: Faculty size 40. With seven tenured and tenure-track women, our department has the largest number of such women on the faculty of any department in the country. Twenty of our faculty are Fellows of the American Physical Society, two have named chair in the university, and one is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Instruction: Ninth largest physics instructional program (out of 751) in the US. 90% satisfaction with teaching Spring 2006. Twelve members of the NC State Academy of Outstanding Teachers, five alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professors, two Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professors.

Research: In the NSF's survey, we rank twenty ninth nationally in total R & D expenditures for FY05. Total awards for July 2004 - June 2005 were $11,874,695.

To our alumni and friends everywhere:

The NC State Department of Physics is well on its way towards becoming one of the top 25 departments in the country. But continuing this momentum will require effort and excellence at all levels--recruiting top faculty and students, building and maintaining state-of-the-art facilites, and cultivating cutting edge innovation in physics research and education. You can help by:

• Sharing your ideas about improving the department
• Supporting our efforts by volunteering or helping out financially
• Helping us find potential donors who could help us achieve our goals

• Endowed Faculty Chairs and Professorships in Physics (used to attract top faculty who can make an impact on the department)
• Physics Enhancement Fund (used for the most urgent research and instructional needs of the department)
• General and named scholarship fund (used to attract top students to the department and to support juniors and seniors with financial need) Link to currently available scholarships.

For more information on how to make a donation to the NC State Department of Physics please click here.