Undergraduates
I know that matter can be converted into energy. Is it not possible, then, that energy can be converted into matter? If so, how?
The undergraduate program in engineering physics at Illinois is currently ranked #2 in the country. It was rated higher in 2010 than MIT, Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Cornell by U.S. News and World report.
Illinois is committed to undergraduate education. In the last 10 years, we have completely recreated the way we teach, incorporating innovative educational technologies and drawing on the results of our nationally recognized physics education research group. We believe we are establishing a paradigm for science education for the 21st century—one that develops higher-order thinking competencies, promotes collaborative learning, and improves communication skills. Our approach to teaching benefits not only our undergraduate students, but it also gives our graduate teaching assistants excellent training in best practices for their own career development.
We have one of the biggest physics departments in the country. We value that size not for size itself, but for the wide range of opportunities it offers our students. Our undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is about 4 to 1 (same for graduate students). In a typical semester, we offer more than 50 courses in physics, and we host more than a dozen special seminars.
The breadth and diversity of our research programs offer an outstanding range of research options. We enjoy outstanding research facilities with state-of-the-art equipment for everything from the latest materials characterization and fabrication facilities to biological physics to quantum information to massively parallel computing.
We provide many opportunities for undergraduates to tackle independent, hands-on research, which is becoming increasingly important for admission to the nation's premier graduate programs. To prepare undergraduates for research, we have developed a unique three-semester course sequence combining classroom learning with research group experience.
One of many rewarding, challenging careers open to people with physics degrees is teaching. Hear, in their own words, why these physicists chose teaching...
Explore our teaching option for physics majors in our Curricula/Programs section.
