<p>in a nod to the thread below me...how is the UVA Physics department</p>
<p>I have heard of the bad rep UVA's math department gets (teachers with accents, etc.) </p>
<p>Does this apply to the Physics Department as well? I also hear a lot of the "engineers get tons of more work"..."egin. classes are very hard!" Is this the same for Physics?</p>
<p>I don't mind working hard for physics, because I enjoy it. Does anyone have any comments on the Physics Department. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!</p>
<p>Well, as a slight physics-related digresssion, I know the honors chemistry programme is amazing. The first-year courses (chem 181 especially) are pleasantly quite physics-oriented, which is a boon because when I first came here I thought chemistry would be busywork while physics would be really where it would be at. So if you love physics but have to take chem for prereqs, take chem 181.</p>
<p>wow g man you read my mind with that post..</p>
<p>in high school my chem teacher was amazing and got me into science...but my twin brothers sucked. We both had the same physics teacher and both love physics now (hes awesome as well), and began to look at chemistry as just simple busy work. But every time I visit my old chem teacher I rekindle my love for chem. </p>
<p>Anyway thats good to hear, because im sure physics majors will have chem preqres. And I may end up in chem by the end of my four years.</p>
<p>Recent internal review report</p>
<p><a href="http://media.gatewayva.com/cdp/pdf/WAG_Report.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://media.gatewayva.com/cdp/pdf/WAG_Report.pdf</a></p>
<p>"Physics
The physics department ranks 35, just above UNC and just below Duke in the USNWR
rankings. It has 33 TT faculty, down from 43 in 1993. Most are active in research. The
department has a diverse research program funded by approximately $6.2 M/year in
outside grants which support 5 research-active faculty, 10 senior research scientists and
92 full-time graduate students working toward PhD degrees. Not counted in the outside
grant total are additional service accounts at DOE national laboratories which are part of
competitively awarded grants that directly support work by UVA faculty members and
their students and research associates. Funds from the Pratt endowment (which have
declined from approximately $400K/year to $300K/year) and university overhead return
(25% of the 54% overhead rate is returned to the department and used for staff that
supports research and supplies) come to the department. Approximately 200
undergraduate students major in physics.
The department offers graduate research opportunities in a broad range of experimental
and theoretical topics that span most of the active areas of current physics research in the
US. UVA scientists and students have a presence at several international laboratories
including Fermilab, Jefferson Lab, CERN and the Paul Scherrer Institute where there are
unique research tools and strong international collaborations in experimental and
theoretical physics.
The chair and his colleagues stated that the most critical resource needed by the physics
department is additional faculty lines. They have 3 faculty searches underway. Their
goals include restoring the number of faculty to its size before the hiring freeze was
imposed, increasing the number of women on the faculty (presently, there are 3 women
members), strengthening parts of their research programs in existing areas of atomic and
nuclear physics, expanding into areas of astrophysics/cosmology and quantumcomputing,
and enhancing their technical research infrastructure to be more competitive
with good physics departments elsewhere. Based on the dynamism of the Physics
briefings, The Washington Advisory Group team feels that this department could climb
significantly in the national rankings if its 1993 size of 43 were restored (a 30% increase
in faculty size).
This department occupies the exact same footprint as they had fifty years ago. To carry
out these goals probably requires additional space and instrumentation; the department is
requesting support from the university to develop plans for a new physics wing of a
campus building. Actually, they believe the cost would be quite modest ($4M), since
their building was designed to have another wing.
Physics participated in one of the BOV distinguished faculty recruitments which,
ultimately, was unsuccessful but the group felt the effort was worthwhile.</p>
<p>wow very informative post, where did you get that? </p>
<p>anyone body else have some insight? possibly some undergraduates, maybe physics majors??</p>
<p>From deep in the UVa site. See the link.</p>