Leading to the Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics

The Physics program equips students with foundational knowledge and technical skills to study all aspects of the natural world. Students build a solid foundation in fundamental scientific principles and computational fluency through active classrooms and hands-on learning while developing experimental know-how in project-focused laboratories. Beyond the core Physics requirements, students explore their specific interests in elective courses, culminating in a two-semester Senior Thesis under the guidance of a faculty expert. The analytic approaches and integrated understanding of physical phenomena built by the curriculum prepares students for a dynamic job market by ensuring they have the flexibility and self-directed learning capability to pursue a variety of careers.

Program Educational Objectives

• To be working in a variety of fields in industry, government, and academia, either in jobs directly related to STEM (such as research laboratories or data analytics) or indirectly (such as public policy or consulting).
• To be developing an expertise within their chosen field by leveraging the self-directed learning skills developed during their undergraduate experience.
• To be pursuing advanced degrees in fields such as science, medicine, law, or business.

Student Outcomes

• The ability to describe and model a variety of physical systems starting from basic principles, building to more specific and accurate models as the situation demands.
• The ability to construct a research question, design and carry out an experiment to test that question, and analyze any outcomes with mathematical and computational techniques.
• The ability to report their findings by written, verbal, and visual means to a range of audiences.
• The ability to function effectively on a diverse team, plan projects, design tasks, develop metrics for success, and communicate within and without the team.
• The ability to transfer all of the preceding skills into non-physics contexts.

Total credits for degree: 120

Plan of Study Grid

First Year
Fall Semester		Credits
MATH1776	CALCULUS 1A	2
MATH1777	CALCULUS 1B	2
PHYS1250	ENGINEERING PHYSICS I	4
FYS1000	FIRST YEAR SEMINAR	1
English Sequence		4
Exploratory Physics Elective 1		4
	Credits	17
Spring Semester
MATH1876	CALCULUS 2A	2
MATH1877	CALCULUS 2B	2
PHYS1750	ENGINEERING PHYSICS II	4
English Sequence		4
Exploratory Physics Elective 1		4
	Credits	16
Second Year
Fall Semester
PHYS3200	OPTICS (or other advanced elective) 3	4
MATH2025	MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS	4
HSS Elective*		4
Science/Math/CS Elective 1 2		4
COOP2500	INTRODUCTION TO COOPERATIVE EDUCATION	0
	Credits	16
Spring Semester
MATH2500 or MATH2860	DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS or LINEAR ALGEBRA & MATRIX THEORY	4
PHYS3100	MODERN PHYSICS	4
PHYS3500	THERMAL PHYSICS (PHYS3500, PHYS3600, PHYS4500 and PHYS4700 can be taken in any order)	4
HSS Elective*		4
	Credits	16
Summer Semester
Co-op Semester C
Prerequisite(s): COOP2500 and PHYS1750
	Credits	0
Third Year
Fall Semester
MATH2860 or MATH2500	LINEAR ALGEBRA & MATRIX THEORY or DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS	4
PHYS3600	CLASSICAL MECHANICS (PHYS3500, PHYS3600, PHYS4500 and PHYS4700 can be taken in any order)	4
Science/Math/CS Elective 2 2		4
HSS Elective*		4
	Credits	16
Spring Semester
PHYS4700	ELECTRODYNAMICS (PHYS3500, PHYS3600, PHYS4500 and PHYS4700 can be taken in any order)	4
Science/Math/CS Elective 3 2		4
HSS Elective*		4
General Elective		4
	Credits	16
Summer Semester
Co-op Semester C
Prerequisite(s): COOP2500 and PHYS1750
	Credits	0
Fourth Year
Fall Semester
PHYS3700	ADVANCED LABORATORY TECHNIQUES IN PHYSICS	4
PHYS4500	INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM MECHANICS (PHYS3500, PHYS3600, PHYS4500 and PHYS4700 can be taken in any order)	4
PHYS5000	SENIOR THESIS I	4
	Credits	12
Spring Semester
PHYS3000	COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS (or other advanced elective) 3	4
PHYS5500	SENIOR THESIS II	4
HSS Elective*		4
	Credits	12
Summer Semester
Co-op Semester C
Prerequisite(s): COOP2500 and PHYS1750
	Credits	0
	Total Credits	121

Math Placement may alter the course schedule above. 

¹Exploratory Physics Electives

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
PHYS1050	VIDEO-GAME PHYSICS	4
PHYS1100	THE COSMIC SYSTEM	3
PHYS1300	EARLY-UNIVERSE COSMOLOGY	4
PHYS1400	INTRODUCTION TO MEDICAL PHYSICS	4
PHYS2000	INTRODUCTION TO ASTRONOMY	4
PHYS2300	SPACE EXPLORATION	4

 ² Science/Math/CS Elective - Any BIOL, CHEM, SCIN, MATH, DATA, or COMP course over 1000

³Advanced Electives

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
PHYS3000	COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS	4
PHYS3800	SPECIAL TOPICS IN PHYSICS	4
PHYS3200	OPTICS	4
PHYS2990	INDEPENDENT STUDY IN PHYSICS	4

^CA minimum of two required co-op education courses (COOP3500 and COOP4500) must be completed. COOP5000 can also be taken as an additional optional co-op experience.

Math Placement may alter the course schedule above.