The Physics Department of the City College of New York offers qualified students the opportunity to pursue a doctoral or master's degree in physics. The program is designed to prepare its graduates to enter the mainstream of contemporary physics through a solid grounding in the fundamentals of advanced physics followed by original research under the supervision of a member of our outstanding graduate faculty of experienced and renowned physicists.
Students may choose a research specialization from the principal areas of modern physics. Our department is particularly strong in the areas of: elementary-particle and high-energy physics, solid-state and condensed-matter physics, laser physics and quantum optics, atomic and molecular physics, fluid dynamics, as well as biophysics and biomedical physics. There is also much activity in the category of general theoretical physics. Work in all of these areas is carried out primarily in our well-equipped and extensive experimental laboratories and theoretical research centers located in the Robert E. Marshak Science Building at City College. In addition, there are several multi-disciplinary, physics-related institutes active on our campus, where work includes frontier investigations in laser science, fluid dynamics, and chemical physics. Moreover, many cooperative programs between our department and other laboratories exist. These include several collaborations with scientists at nearby Brookhaven National Laboratory and at industrial laboratories, as well as at other branches of the City University of New York.
Each year, our 30 full-time faculty members host large numbers of visiting professors and postdoctoral research associates from all over the world. These visitors, as well as regular new additions to our faculty, add to the lively spirit of inquiry we enjoy. The Physics Department has a variety of regularly scheduled seminars that enable faculty and students to exchange knowledge about the most recent developments. In addition to the department's weekly colloquium, there are weekly seminars in high-energy theory and in solid-state physics. Workshops in experimental light-scattering, picosecond spectroscopy, theoretical statistical mechanics, atomic and molecular physics, and biophysics are also held regularly. Furthermore, since the present graduate student enrollment is roughly 50, our large faculty-to-student ratio makes professors easily accessible and class sizes small and intimate. The graduate student at City College benefits from close association with our faculty in the choice of an overall program of study and in the possibilities that can flow from close, long-term professional relationships. At this website, we briefly describe our programs and try to convey a sense of the excitement, the challenge, and the potential rewards that graduate work at City College can mean for you.
Write or call if you need more information (See the contact information at the bottom of the top page.) Meanwhile, consider seriously the possibility of studying physics with us in the Big Apple!