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Department: Physics

Executive Officer: Professor Alexios Polychronakos

The Graduate Center

365 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10016-4309

Email: Physics@gc.cuny.edu

https://www.gc.cuny.edu/Physics

FACULTY

Viviana Acquaviva, Gregory Aizin, Robert Alfano, Euclides Almeida, Andrea Alù, Luis Anchordoqui, Stefan Bathe, Keaton Bell, Jillian Bellovary, Timothy Benseman, János Bergou, Oleg Berman, William Bialek, Angelo Bongiorno, James Booth, Timothy Boyer, Fred Cadieu, Sultan Catto, Ngee-Pong Chang, Xi Chen, Ying-Chih Chen, Tak Cheung, Eugene Chudnovsky, Leon Cohen, Kelle Cruz, Lev Deych, Andrew Douglas, Adrian Dumitru, Andrew Edmonds, Cherice Evans, Jacqueline Faherty, Efrain Ferrer, Andrea Ferroglia, Mark Feuer, Miguel Fiolhais, Kathleen Ford, Sebastian Franco, Sriram Ganeshan, Dmitry Garanin, Swapan Gayen, Li Ge, Azriel Genack, Christopher Gerry, Joel Gersten, Pouyan Ghaemi, Ranajeet Ghose, Nicolas Giovambattista, Sarang Gopalakrishnan, Anshel Gorokhovsky, Steven Greenbaum, Daniel Greenberger, Gabriele Grosso, Godfrey Gumbs, Marilyn Gunner, Qiushi Guo, Rupal Gupta, Spencer Hill, Mark Hillery, C. Douglas Howard, Vivian Incera, Andrii Iurov, Jamal Jalilian-Marian, Seogjoo Jang, Daniel Kabat, Michio Kaku, Dimitra Karabali, Roman Kezerashvili, Alexander Khanikaev, Alexander Kheyfits, Ramzi Khuri, Ronald Koder, Oleg Kogan, German Kolmakov, Joel Koplik, Lia Krusin-Elbaum, Anatoly Kuklov, Igor Kuskovsky, Carlo Lancellotti, Themis Lazaridis, Sebastien Lepine, Alfred Levine, Larry Liebovitch, Hyungsik Lim, Tony Liss, Alexander Lisyansky, Charles Tsun-Chu Liu, Sharon Loverde, Michael Lubell, Marcello Lucia, Kevin Lynch, Nicholas Madamopoulos, Neepa Maitra, Hernan Makse, Ariyeh Maller, Eugene Mananga, Louis Massa, Desmond McKernan, Vinod Menon, Carlos Meriles, Mohammad-Ali Miri, Ken Miyano, Lev Murokh, V. Parameswaran Nair, Mim Lal Nakarmi, Matthew O'Dowd, Vadim Oganesyan, Peter Orland, Giovanni Ossola, Timothy Paglione, Vladimir Petricevic, Andrew Poje, Alexios Polychronakos, James Popp, Alexander Punnoose, Yuhang Ren, Emily Rice, Elisa Riedo, Vladimir Rosenhaus, Samah Saeed, Viraht Sahni, Karl Sandeman, Myriam Sarachik, Tobias Schäfer, David Schmeltzer, Brian Schwartz, Matthew Sfeir, Mark Shattuck, Aidong Shen, Kai Shum, Ruth Stark, Richard Steinberg, Sophia Suarez, So Takei, Maria Tamargo, Allen Tesdall, Brian Tiburzi, Micha Tomkiewicz, Jiufeng Tu, Raymond Tung, Justin Vazquez-Poritz, Georgios Vernardos, S. Vitkalov, Charlotte Welker, Min Xu, Chuixiang Yi, Alexandre Zaitsev

THE PROGRAM

The Ph.D. Program in Physics prepares students to enter into the mainstream of contemporary physics by providing them with an opportunity to pursue original research. Students in the program receive a sound background in the fundamentals of physics through intensive coursework in core subjects as well as an opportunity to develop individual interests through a selection of modern electives. Most graduate courses are given at The Graduate Center. Generally, thesis work is done on the participating campuses.

The graduate student may choose a research specialization from the principal areas of modern theoretical and experimental physics. The research programs are particularly strong in the following areas: elementary particle and high-energy physics; solid state and condensed matter physics; laser physics and quantum optics; atomic and molecular physics; astrophysics; geophysics and fluid dynamics (including earth and planetary physics); biophysics; biomedical physics; low-energy nuclear physics; relativity; organic insulator radiation damage; thin film superconductor physics; and theoretical plasma physics. These research programs are carried out at one or more of the campuses participating in the Ph.D. Program in Physics, where students have access to excellent modern facilities, shops, libraries, and various departmental and university computers. Some research opportunities are also available at other senior colleges of CUNY. Brooklyn College participates in the use of the light source at Brookhaven National Laboratories. The City College also participates in cooperative programs in experimental high-energy physics with the major facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and in astrophysics with the NASA Goddard Space Center, which is 10 minutes away from the college.

The program encompasses many of the most active areas of research in present-day physics. In addition to research in well-defined and traditional areas such as high-energy and particle physics, solid state and condensed matter, laser physics, atomic and molecular physics, nuclear physics, plasma physics, and others, the program is very sensitive to the changes now occurring in physics, such as the resurgent interest in high-temperature superconductivity and superstring theory. Several interdisciplinary areas such as biophysics, biomedical physics, computational physics, and fluid-geophysics have been developed, and others are planned as the need arises. Students interested in research in any of these areas will be helped by the faculty to design a suitable program.

In addition to the program’s large doctoral faculty, including many with national and international reputations, numerous visiting professors and postdoctoral research associates from all over the world join the various departments temporarily and add to the lively spirit of research. A high ratio of faculty to students makes for a great deal of intimate contact and small class size. Close association with the faculty permits students maximum benefit in choosing a program and in pursuing their graduate studies.

Stipends of approximately $21,000 a year that permit students a modest but decent living standard in New York City are available at the colleges. Financial assistance is also available to doctoral students through fellowships and assistantships awarded by the Graduate Center. In practice, most graduate students in Physics are supported during their entire course of study.

En-route M.A.

Upon completing 45 credits with an average grade of B, passing the First Examination, and satisfactorily completing a major research paper, the student may apply for an M.A. degree. The degree is awarded formally by one of the participating CUNY colleges.