It boasts a dedicated staff who have created a vibrant and youthful environment in which to work and learn. The Department is unique in using the concept of teaching studios. Each upper year-group is allocated a teaching studio which is theirs for the year, where most lectures, seminars, tutorials and some laboratory work take place. Students can use the room outside formal teaching hours for private study and to meet with colleagues to discuss group and project work. The studios have flexible work spaces and are equipped with PCs linked to the University network, video facilities and some non-specialist experiments.
Studios provide a focus for student activity and more closely model the real work environment.
All students within the Department have access to specialist laboratories for nuclear physics, optics and spectroscopy, image processing, microcomputer interfacing and laser physics, as well as photographic dark rooms and a projects laboratory. Students also get the opportunity to use some of the sophisticated equipment used in the Department's research groups. Another unique feature of the Department is its two astronomical observatories which provide experimental facilities for courses in Astronomy and Astrophysics. This is the main astronomy teaching site with lecture and laboratory classes held in the afternoons and evenings giving students the opportunity to make real astronomical observations. The facilities at Alston are second to none in the university sector.