UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS IN PHYSICS

Physics student working with lab equipment.

The Department of Physics offers a variety of customizable undergraduate degrees in physics, with the opportunity to pursue a BS or a minor.

Villanova’s Physics faculty embrace the teacher-scholar model, striving for teaching excellence while involving our students in cutting-edge research in physics.

In the classroom, we teach our students to inquire about the laws that govern the world around us using theoretical principles, laboratory experiments, and computational methods. Our small class sizes foster a close-knit community in the department.

Outside the classroom, our faculty enthusiastically engage our students in research ranging from the properties of matter to the evolution of the universe. Our students frequently attend conferences, publish papers in internationally respected journals, and win research internships around the country.

WHY PHYSICS?

Career Possibilities

Villanova physics graduates have strong quantitative skills that are highly transferable, and there is great demand for physicists in many fields including research, data science, industry, finance, consulting, and teaching. Our graduates have pursued successful careers in medical physics and medicine, biotech, engineering, chemistry, computer science, technical writing, and even law and business!

Small Classes and Community

Physics students at Villanova benefit from small class sizes; many of our upper-level courses have fewer than ten students. These small courses promote active learning and hands-on instruction, and they help build a tight-knit learning community of professors and students.

Research Opportunities and Curiosity

Physics is the pursuit of the laws of nature: it is fundamentally an exercise of curiosity! In the Physics Department, we hone our students’ curiosity by offering research experiences in many areas of physics and astrophysics. Students work alongside nationally- and internationally-respected physicists as they explore how the world works.

WHO WE ARE

David Chuss, PhD, ’95 CLAS

David Chuss, PhD, ’95 CLAS returned to Villanova in 2015 after a decade at NASA. He works in the field of astrophysics to develop new instruments and technology for addressing questions such as “What powered the Big Bang?" and “How do stars form?” “My Villanova Physics education forged my love of science and provided the tools needed to make contributions to the field of astrophysics. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to return to Villanova to share my experience and love of learning with new generations of Villanovans."

Lauren Hurley ’21 CLAS

Lauren Hurley ’21 CLAS earned an REU at UC Boulder to study the motion of charges in photovoltaic cells. “Studying Physics at Villanova has been a wonderful experience for me due to the outstanding support I received from faculty. Professors’ doors are always open for me to stop by and ask questions, which not only improved my understanding of the material but also built my confidence. When I worked on research projects here, my mentors taught me the theory behind the experiments instead of merely teaching me data analysis. I have felt truly cared for in this community, which is invested in my success both inside and outside the classroom.”

Thomas Longo ’19 CLAS

Thomas Longo ’19 CLAS is pursuing his doctorate in interdisciplinary Chemical Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park. “Working through problems, collaborating with my classmates, and studying challenging concepts in the Villanova Physics department taught me myriad skills and technique. The most important of these was how to think critically in order to reduce complex and intricate problems to something simple, familiar, and manageable. I apply this skill in many aspects of my professional life, especially as I start my PhD project.”