Undergraduate Program
Our department has recently undergone a dramatic expansion, including the hiring of several new faculty members and development of world-class research programs, which has propelled us into the forefront of research into complex materials. The department strongly encourages undergraduates to become involved in faculty research -- there is no better way to learn physics than by doing physics!
We are a relatively small and closely-knit department, with a ratio of undergraduate majors to faculty of about 4:1. Students are welcomed in a friendly environment in which they can easily interact with faculty for help with their coursework, advising, or just an informal chat.
What Can You Do With a Physics Degree?
A field trip to IBM
As a physics major, you will:
- Study laws of classical and quantum physics and their applications
- Develop mathematical and computational skills for solving quantitative problems
- Learn how to obtain, organize, analyze, and interpret scientific data.
In addition to an academic career in physics, engineering, or a related area, a physics degree opens a wide range of professional opportunities. Physicists are highly valued and sought for numerous industrial and governmental positions, including in the following fields:
- Climate Change and Sustainability
- Health and Medicine
- Aerospace and Defense
- Instrumentation and Manufacturing
- Material Science and Nanotechnology
- Computer Science and Quantum Information
- Finance and System Management
Undergraduate Alumni Spotlight
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Chris Bedell
Chris Bedell
Chris Bedell was an undergraduate student in the BC physics department from 2003-2007. While completing his undergraduate degree Chris performed research with Professor Jan Engelbrecht in computational neuroscience, where he created mathematical models to understand the behavior of neuron interactions, and originated correlations between neuron interactions and mean field theory, which was presented at the APS conference in 2006. Chris also performed research at the Institute for Scientific Research at Boston College where he used statistical data analysis and mathematical modeling to understand magnetic fields and how they interfere with GPS signals in the ionosphere. Upon graduation, Chris decided to pursue another one of his interests in Finance and Economics. He completed his Master's in Finance at Boston College in 2008 while working at State Street in Quantitative Operational Risk Management, and then at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College as an economic research associate.
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Marisa Romanelli
Marisa Romanelli
Marisa Romanelli was an undergraduate student in the physics department at Boston College from 2016 to 2020. She worked in Prof. Ken Burch’s condensed matter physics group from 2017 to 2020, where she made transition metal dichalcogenide devices and automated Raman spectroscopy measurements. After graduating from BC, Marisa joined Prof. Vidya Madhavan’s group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is now a third-year graduate student studying magnetic and topological materials using scanning tunneling microscopy.
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Erin Sheridan
Dr. Erin Sheridan
Dr. Erin Sheridan was an undergraduate student in the BC physics department from 2012-2016. From 2014-2016, she performed research in experimental condensed matter physics with Professor Ken Burch, where she investigated the excitonic behavior of two-dimensional materials. Upon graduation, Erin joined Professor Jeremy Levy’s group at the University of Pittsburgh, where she studied ultrafast nonlinear optics as a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow. She has also studied the philosophy of physics. After obtaining her PhD in 2021, she began working with the Quantum Information Sciences group at the Air Force Research Laboratory as a National Academy of Sciences postdoctoral fellow. Her current research focuses on quantum networking with superconducting, trapped ion and photonic qubits.
Undergraduate Resources
Learning Outcomes for Physics Majors
The Department of Physics curriculum is designed to help our students achieve the following learning outcomes upon graduation:
- demonstrate a broad understanding of classical and quantum physical principles;
- understand and articulate current prominent research questions in physics;
- structure and implement independent inquiry on substantive questions in physics;
- communicate research results in a scientifically appropriate manner;
- demonstrate a level of knowledge and research skills level sufficient to compete successfully for admission to graduate programs.
The department will assess our majors’ learning outcomes, and modify the curriculum as appropriate, on a yearly basis in order to help students better achieve these goals.
Learning Outcomes for Students Taking Physics Core Courses
Students completing a Natural Science Core course in the Physics Department will have:
- expanded their understanding of the principles, body of knowledge, and investigative strategies that comprise physics and its technological applications;
- developed a scientific literacy that will promote curiosity, respect for the scientific method, and general awareness of the limitations of scientific conclusions;
- recognized the role of scientific discovery, past, present, and future, in interrelated concerns such as human health, societal well-being, and planetary sustainability; and
- appreciated the role of physics in defining their relationship with the natural world and their position within the cosmos.