As a result, many research projects of interest to physicists are multidisciplinary in nature. Members of the UK Department of Physics and Astronomy are involved in many such efforts, and graduate students have research opportunities in these areas. Thus, students and faculty have the opportunity for active research collaborations with scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Specifically, collaborations are in progress in the areas of neutron scattering, material preparation, and theory.
Opportunities exist for graduate student research.
In addition, several advanced characterization tools are available through the Consortium such as computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy and Mossbauer spectroscopy. A multidisciplinary environment for materials research exists. A Center, to house all shared equipment, will be a part of the multi-million dollar Advanced Science and Technology Commercialization Center, presently under construction on the Lexington campus. Theoretical research involving large-scale numerical computation can be undertaken through the auspices of the Center for Computational Sciences. The Center encourages the development, and sharing of algorithms for common numerical problems arising from different disciplines.