Exploring nature from cosmic to quantum

With its world-renowned faculty and state-of-the-art facilities, the William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy combines the best aspects of a top research university with the more intimate learning environment typical of small liberal arts colleges.

  • Degrees Offered BA, BS, BA/MA, PhD
  • Major Physics
  • Minor Physics, Space Science and Engineering

Explore the Department

graduate students working on rocket in McCandliss lab

PhD Program

Graduate students have flexibility in choosing their course of research and designing their path through the program.

photo of Professor Tobias Marriage with undergrad students and satellite

Undergraduate

Whether your interest is in astronomy, condensed matter, particle physics, or plasma spectroscopy, you'll find state-of-the-art tools at your disposal.

faculty with two students working on project

Award-winning Faculty

Students have the opportunity to work with experts in a wide range of fields, even as undergraduates.

Upcoming Events

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Department-wide Colloquium: Jim Gates (UMD)

TITLE: A Physicist Following Faraday's Hint in the Search for Quantum Gravity, ABSTRACT: Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction occurred due to his inference that magnetic fields about wires must be as […]

AMO seminar: Tom Manovitz

TITLE: to be announced soon, ABSTRACT: to be announced soon

News & Announcements

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Music for the Stars: Thursday, 2/27, 7:30 PM, FREE, Bloomberg Center Lobby

In collaboration with composers from the Peabody Composition department, students from the vocal studio of Prof. Ah Young Hong, and Professor Brice Ménard, Music of the Stars is a performance that features new compositions for voice inspired by images from the James Webb space telescope. See the live performance at 7:30 on Thursday, 2/27, in...

Jun Zhang Named a 2025 Sloan Research Fellow

Assistant Professor Yaojun (Jun) Zhang has been selected by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as one of 126 scholars that represent the most promising early-career scientists working today. The award for being named a Sloan Research Fellow in 2025 is $75,000, which may be spent over a two-year term on any expense supportive of research.