Welcome to the Department of Physics. We pride ourselves on our excellence in research, undergraduate education and postgraduate training. We play a leading role in physics nationally and internationally and use our expertise to contribute to society's future through conducting cutting-edge research and by teaching and developing the careers of the next generation of physicists.

We work on major facilities worldwide, develop the most advanced experimental techniques and the most sophisticated theoretical methods to investigate nature at every scale – from the unimaginably large, probing the earliest epochs of the universe to the unimaginably small, hunting for the Higgs boson at the LHC and to the everyday scale of the earth’s climate – and at every temperature – from the plasmas created using powerful lasers to the search for room temperature superconductors and to quantum phenomena only observable close to absolute zero.

We pursue fundamental science and in doing so make discoveries that enable us to contribute directly to tackling the challenging problems facing society – from advising on climate science to developing new technology for renewable energy and researching novel technologies for particle accelerators to lead to better manufacturing and medical therapy systems.

Teaching the next generation

Each year about 195 young people join our challenging undergraduate courses. They receive a rigorous education in modern physics from academic staff who are not only world leaders in research but dedicated and talented teachers of the next generation.

Each year about 100 people with outstanding undergraduate records join our research groups from all over the world to work for a doctorate with leading physicists and make the next step towards becoming a professional physicist themselves.

We are committed to providing a positive environment that supports everyone in reaching their potential.

Head of Department: Professor Ian Shipsey

Head of Administration and Finance: Simon Probert