Physics Department | SUNY Oswego

Physics is a basic natural science that tries to explain the workings of the Universe by studying the effects of force and energy on matter from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies.

At the core of modern science, physics has applications in all aspects of modern life including engineering, medicine and computing. Our department is committed to preparing students for the challenges of the 21st century through a rigorous curriculum that emphasizes active and hands-on learning experiences in experiment, theory and computation. Our exceptional faculty and research facilities allow students to gain real-life experience to prepare them for the future.

Beyond the Classroom

Oswego offers top notch internships and co-op opportunities, most notably with NASA's CalTech Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as well as Global Laboratory research partnerships in Brazil, India and Taiwan. Our students gain plenty of hands-on research opportunities, with many publishing papers in peer-reviewed literature or giving talks and presenting posters at leading regional, national and international conferences. Many have won awards for these presentations.

Beyond the Classroom

Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project

The Atmospheric and Geological Sciences and Physics departments seek undergraduate students interested in actively participating in the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses. Visit our Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project page for more information.

Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project

Meet Kenny Roffo, who discusses his astrophysics research opportunities at NASA and in India, why he loves tutoring and how he believes people can do anything. Kenny has been offered a job with NASA upon May graduation.

Watch the Video

Kenny Roffo, '17

Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science

Facilities

Laboratories in the new Shineman Center support work in optics, quantum physics, nanotechnology and nuclear and condensed matter physics. Additional resources not available on most campuses include a modernized digital planetarium and an automated astronomical observatory.

Facilities

Planetarium Show: All About Black Holes

Host Richard Frieman will explore what black holes are, how they are created, the effect they have on the universe and whether they deserve their negative connotations. Show also will briefly discuss past and present research on black holes by notable scientists such as Einstein and Hawking.

All About Black Holes

Preparing for the Future

Students with a physics degree go on to work in engineering, finance, software engineering, the health industry and many other fields. A physics degree provides evidence to an employer that you have a critical, logical and systematic way of thinking that can tackle a wide range of problems.

After Oswego

Department News

Carolina Ilie earned an international honor as a Sigma Xi Fellow

Physics professor Carolina Ilie earns international honor as Sigma Xi Fellow

Shashi Kanbur earned the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activity for his research and tremendously positive impact on students

Astronomical contributions earn physics professor Chancellor's Award

Alok Kumar with still of video he produced, this showing Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, a honeycomb structure built in 1799 that employs the Venturi effect for natural air conditioning

Professor joins team to produce science-themed videos to teach Hindi

Professor Kanbur's work accepted into book

Kanbur co-authored "The Role of Opacities in Stellar Pulsation," accepted into the book "Workshop on Astrophysical Opacities" published in the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series. Kanbur is working on a long-running project to calculate the scale and age of the universe.

Professor Islam lead author on published paper

Mohammad A. Islam of Oswego's physics faculty served as lead author on a paper, "High Capacity Lithium Ion Batteries Composed of Cobalt Oxide Nanoparticle Anodes and Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of Nanoparticle Strain Dynamics in Batteries," published in the journal Nanotechnology.

Contact

294 Shineman
Phone: 315.312.3044
Email: [email protected]

Hours

Hours: Monday–Friday, 8–11:45am

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