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2011-2012 Archived Catalog Information
- Physics
Mission
The department will provide to its students an excellent undergraduate education suitable for entering graduate school or the job market.
Goals
To respond to this mission, the department has formulated the following goals:
- Programs: The department will offer its students an appropriate selection of majors which have graduate degrees available in schools across the country and which have a variety of job possibilities upon completion of the baccalaureate degree.
- Faculty: The department will provide a faculty with a variety of backgrounds and skills to serve a diverse student body and support the major program offerings.
- Research opportunities: The faculty will engage in research and encourage students with good academic records to participate in joint faculty/student research projects.
Capable students are encouraged to participate in any of several research projects during their junior and senior years. Students may choose research projects at the Nanoscience Research Center or the F.A. Sagan Research Laboratory on the Boston campus. In addition, students and faculty work on joint projects at the University's 70 acre Friedman Field Station located adjacent to Cobscook Bay in Maine. They may work with faculty studying energy production using wind turbines, geothermal sensors, and photovoltaics. Projects in nanotechnology, tidal power generation, ocean monitoring systems, and environmental RF mote applications are also available. Other projects include robotics, neural networks, x-ray fluorescence, palladium structure, and ellipsometry. Multidisciplinary projects with Electrical Engineering, Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Engineering majors are encouraged.
Majors are encouraged to participate in the students’ club, the Society of Physics Students, which has been successful in obtaining research grants to support student research. Physics majors take part in field trips to the university’s research station in Maine and also attend conferences where students may present papers based on their research work.
Grade Point Requirements
To graduate from Suffolk University with a bachelor’s degree in majors offered by the Physics Department, a student must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.25 in all Physics and related science core requirements.
Medical Sciences
A major in Radiation Biology is available which is a joint collaboration between the Suffolk University Physics Department, Biology Department, and Massachusetts General Hospital’s Department of Radiation Oncology. The core requirements, suggested course sequences, and course descriptions are shown in the section of this catalog entitled Medical Sciences.