The UAlbany Physics Department gives high priority to undergraduate education, which results in the fact that the department graduates a large number of physics seniors per year. Our faculty is active in research, and a variety of research opportunities exist for motivated undergraduate students. Several of our talented and motivated undergraduates have been awarded summer internships at prestigious institutions, and many have gone on for Graduate Studies.
The objective of the department is to provide students a solid foundation in both classical and modern physics. Students are prepared either to undertake graduate study in Physics, to apply physics principles and techniques successfully for advanced work in other disciplines, to enter industry usefully, or to teach in the secondary schools. We offer a wide variety of electives, e.g., General Relativity, Foundations of Quantum Physics, Particle Physics and Cosmology, Computational Physics and Information Physics.
Additionally, courses in environmental problems, astronomy and space physics, physics in the arts, and physical science for humanists bring physics concepts to the non-major. We offer minors in Physics and Electronics, which are easily accessible by non-majors.
Careers
Graduates holding the bachelor's degree in physics find employment as laboratory or theoretical research assistants in physics or engineering, high-level medical technicians, science writers and editors, computer programmers, business analysts, and secondary school teachers. A B.S. in Physics is ideal training for advanced study in other sciences, engineering, and the business and medical professions. A graduate degree in physics opens a broad spectrum of opportunities in pure and applied research in academia and industry.
Special Programs or Opportunities
Each Physics major is assigned a faculty advisor to help them design their curricula, and get advice on their future career paths; this one-on-one student-faculty interaction is rare at a large university. Computer use at all levels of instruction is afforded by means of terminals in the Physics building, and modern equipment is available in all laboratories. Opportunities for valuable experience, training, and financial support exist in the form of undergraduate assistantships in the research and teaching laboratories.