Research

NC State supports a broad range of research topics that are being vigorously pursued by faculty and students alike. Click the Facilities link above to familiarize yourself with the many research facilities NC State Physics has to offer. Under Areas of Research you'll find a list of research areas, linking to their respective main sites. Publications links you to a list of publications, sorted by date, including student-authored papers. For descriptions of current faculty research, click Current Projects. To find out how students are getting involved, click Undergraduate Research.

As a Research I institution, NC State boasts a wide variety of cutting edge research. The Physics Department plays a major role in this effort as its faculty engages in research ranging from basic to applied; from the nano scale to the cosmic scale; from table-top experiments to monumental team efforts; and from pure theory to concrete experiment. The department offers research opportunities spanning an educational range from summer high school internships, to undergraduate programs, to graduate thesis and dissertation research, to post-doctoral fellowships. All research programs are based on the philosophy that one learns best by doing, and that a complete academic program must involve research.

The success of the Physics Department is based on excellent facilities, an outstanding research faculty, and a continuing record of strong support. Research on the NC State campus is undertaken in the department's 60,000 square feet of space on both the main campus and at the university's new Centennial Campus. Current external research includes, for example, efforts at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, The Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory, The Advanced Photon Source, the Spellation Neutron Source, and the KamLAND Neutrino Telescope.

• Astrophysics, Astronomy, and Relativity • Atomic & Molecular Physics • Biophysics and Soft-condensed Matter • Educational Research in Physics • Weak Interactions and Nuclear Physics

• Materials Physics and Nanoscale Science and Techonology • Nanoscience/Materials and Biomolecular Simulations • Optics • Synchrotron Radiation Research • Theoretical Nuclear and Particle Physics

The Physics Department at NCSU consists of 37 faculty members and some 55 graduate students with additional technical support personnel and more than 22 post-doctoral research associates. The research program currently receives annual funding amounting to about $5 million from external competitive grants. Sources of funding include the U. S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Office of Naval Research, and a wide variety of commercial and industrial organizations. A broad range of research topics are being vigorously pursued by the faculty of the Physics Department.