UCI provides an atmosphere conducive to creative work and scholarship at all levels, to the exploration of the accumulated knowledge of humanity, and to the development of new knowledge through basic and applied research. The campus challenges its students both academically and personally and relies on the commitment, curiosity, imagination, and judgment of its faculty and students to assure its continued intellectual and cultural vitality. Physics and Astronomy at UCI The Department of Physics and Astronomy in UCI's School of Physical Sciences has 35 faculty members, an approximately equal number of research physicists, and 15 to 30 visiting scientists each year. There are about 55 graduate students in the Ph.D. program. Each faculty member is actively engaged in forefront research and creative activity in physics, as well as in graduate and undergraduate teaching.
Research is critical to graduate education.
Active programs of research are underway in particle physics, condensed matter physics, low temperature physics, plasma physics, gravitational physics, medical physics, and astrophysics. The quality of the Physics and Astronomy faculty is evidenced by its ability to compete successfully for federal research funding. Department faculty are awarded funding annually by the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Office of Naval Research, and several other national institutions. The Department of Physics and Astronomy also supports the Institute of Surface and Interface Science, which brings together collaborating faculty and researchers in physics, chemistry, and electrical engineering. The Department offers both the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics.