Admitted Undergraduates
Our Community
Illinois Physics is a tight-knit community. There are many ways for students to learn more about the inner workings of the department and interact with their peers through the physics student organizations. The Physics Societies Discord server is a great place to ask questions and interact with these organizations and the students within them. Be sure to check out our fantastic student organizations below!
Physics Student Advisory Board (PhySAB)
PhySAB represents the Physics student body and advises department administrators. The advisory board changes every year and has representatives for each class. Our projects include planning departmental town halls, physics research symposia, and more!
President: Jiri Kataman-Kustwan
Vice Presidents: Noori Khurshid, Zoe Zhang
Secretary: Luo Zhou
Treasurer: Samyak Jain
Social Chair: Aarnav Varanasi
Lounge Manager: Albert Han
Society for Underrepresented Physics Students (SUPS)
SUPS aims to promote solidarity among and equity for marginalized undergraduate students in physics at Illinois. We work to provide social spaces and community, offer networking with graduate students and professors, improve access to professional resources, and foster and spotlight student excellence in physics. Everyone is welcome! This club is open to all eligible students regardless of race, color or national origin.
Student Organizer:
Cynthia Nolan (they/them)
Top Row (left to right): Keira Kelliher, Katie Powers, Srishti Gupta, Refia Caliskan
Bottom Row (left to right): Rebecca Shi, Belinda Li, Nishna Aerabati
Society for Women In Physics (SWIP)
The goal of the Society for Women in Physics (SWIP) is to support women in physics and provide a social and professional network among the female students in the physics department. All majors and genders are welcome!
2025 SWIP Officers
President: Srishti Gupta
First Pet: Moop
Vice President: Belinda Li
Secretary: Katie Powers
Treasurer: Nishna Aerabati
Department Liaison: Refia Caliskan
Social Chair: Keira Kelliher
Internal Affairs: Rebecca Shi
Society of Physics Students (SPS)
2024 - 2025 Officers:
President: Jason Li
Vice President: Emily Kinnicutt
Secretary: Refia Caliskan
Treasurer: Aarnav Vyas
Project Chairs: Kevin Wu, Jerry Wang
Membership Director: Reena Baswa
Internal Liaison: Vicente Chomali
External Liaison: Stephen He
KC Ciaccio
Physics Van
The Physics Van travels to elementary schools in Champaign-Urbana, IL, and towns in the surrounding area. We show kids that as long as you want to learn and have fun, there's a world of physics waiting to be discovered!
Coordinators:
Emily Kinnicutt
KC Ciaccio
Guidance for Physics Students (GPS)
We are a student group dedicated to fostering a diverse, open, and scientifically-minded community within the graduate and undergraduate physics students at the University of Illinois. Among the activities we run to promote those goals are graduate-undergraduate mentoring, a yearly retreat, and periodic social activities. This organization is open to all eligible students, regardless of race, color, or national origin.