Physics Degree Programs in University of Minnesota

School of Physics & Astronomy at University of Minnesota, Twin Cities:
The School of Physics & Astronomy is one of the sixteen schools and colleges at the University of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs including the B.S. and B.A. in physics. Physics at the University of Minnesota offers a world-class education and cutting edge research to its 120-130 graduate students and growing undergraduate major population. We have 43 faculty members who teach over 3000 undergraduate students per year in their core courses for the Institute of Technology and other colleges of the University.

At the School of Physics & Astronomy, we engage in cutting edge research in pure and applied physics. Our faculty, postdocs, graduate students and undergraduate students are making important contributions in the areas of:
 
- Astrophysics & Cosmology
- Biological Physics
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Elementary Particle Physics
- Space and Planetary Physics
- Nuclear Physics
- Physics Education

Six Nobel Prizes:
Physicists associated with the University of Minnesota have won six Nobel prizes [J. Bardeen (two), W. Brattain, A. Compton, E.O. Lawrence, and J.H. Van Vleck]. Professor J. Valesek discovered the phenomenon of ferroelectricity in Rochelle salts in the 1920s. Professor J. Tate edited the Physical Review at Minnesota from 1926 to 1950, while otherwise carrying on a distinguished career in teaching and research. Under Tate's guidance, the journal went from a secondary journal, to become one of the most important peer-review physics journals in the world. Using the technique of mass spectroscopy, Professor A.O.C. Nier first isolated a detectable amount of U-235 in the basement of Tate Laboratory on February 29, 1940.

We offer undergraduate degree programs that lead to either a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree in physics.

In the Bachelor of Science Physics degree curriculum, students can focus in one of six areas of emphasis: professional physics, physics for engineering, physics for biology, physics for teaching, physics for computation or materials. The Bachelor of Arts in Physics in the College of Liberal Arts is an even more flexible degree, which provides students with a chance to study physics in a liberal arts context. 

We also offer the following undergraduate programs:
- Astrophysics degree program
- University Honors Programs