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Welcome to the Physics Department!

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The Department of Physics at Southern Connecticut State University offers bachelor's and master's degrees with versatile program options for students wishing to focus on applied physics, engineering, teaching, and/or the path to becoming a professional physicist.  Coursework and research are led by an energetic and accomplished group of nine full-time and six adjunct faculty members.  The department continues to grow in size and course offerings, with more than 80 undergraduate physics majors and a graduate program serving 15.  The department has a tradition of holding significant external grants, continues to acquire cutting edge research instrumentation, and is now housed in the new state-of-the-art science building, which has an architectural design as technologically innovative as it is aesthetically impressive.
The Physics Department has collaborative ties with technology-oriented companies in Connecticut to complement our interactions with physics and engineering faculty at nearby Yale and other universities. We are also actively involved in public outreach, including work to promote science education in Connecticut public schools and other activities. Physics degree programs all include extensive opportunities for undergraduate and master's-level student research participation and guided independent study.  Including elementary courses, the department's total annual enrollment is the largest of all physics departments in Connecticut institutions of higher education.  With all of our students, we seek to build active curiosity, investigative skills, intellectual independence and confidence.  We teach for understanding and assess for long-term mastery.  Faculty carry out scholarly work leading to publication or presentation at professional meetings, commensurate with the primary teaching mission of the institution.  Physics faculty scholarship involves students, and encourages them to see themselves as part of the larger community of scientists.  Within the past few years, six of our undergraduate students co-authored peer-reviewed papers that were accepted for publication in the proceedings of major research conferences. We have numerous laboratories equipped with research-grade apparatus dedicated to:
  • nano-materials synthesis
  • materials characterization by atomic force scanning probe and electron microscopy, spectrophotometry, custom apparatus for measurement of electrical and thermal transport properties (superconductors) at low temperatures
  • advanced sample preparation techniques for transmission and scanning electron microscopy
  • laser spectroscopy, interferometric, fiber optic and other photonics studies
  • astronomical imaging and instrument development
  • computational modelling of exotic magnetic systems and other many body events
  • high temperature superconductivity
Faculty also have ongoing work at leading national facilities such as Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Gemini Observatory.
discharge sphere
This has been a time of rapid progress for the department. Course enrollments have risen annually at every level. An NSF award of $1.5 million over six years went to Prof. Broadbridge of our department, as part of a joint Materials Research Science and Engineering Center Grant with Yale. Two other NSF grants support Prof. Cummings' research in physics education. Prof. Enjalran is the recipient of a Cottrell College Science grant for his work in theoretical condensed matter physics. Our chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) has received numerous awards from the national SPS organization and hosted a regional conference that brought well-known physicists S. James Gates and Michio Kaku to Southern as guest speakers.
If you are curious about how the universe works, if you like to tinker and explore, if problem solving is a passion, then you are interested in Physics. Come discover the beauty and power of fundamental science at Southern.
Department of Physics
Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street  
New Haven, Ct 06515 
Main Office: Jennings 108
Phone: (203) 392-6450
email: physicsinfo@southernct.edu