2015-2016 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Applied Physics
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Faculty
Marvin M. Antonoff, PhD, Cornell University
- Theoretical Solid State Physics (Emeritus)
Stephen B. Arnason, PhD, Stanford University
Mathew Bell, PhD, SUNY Buffalo
- Superconducting Electronics
- Quantum Computing
Walter Buchwald, PhD, Rutgers University
- Integrated Quantum Optics
- Photonics
- Semiconductor Devices and Materials
- Nanotechnology
- Plasmonics
- Metamaterials
Jonathan Celli, PhD, Boston University
- Cancer BioPhysics
- Biomedical Optics
- Photodynamic Therapy
- Microrheology
- Mechanobiology
Filip Cukov, PhD, Old Dominion University
- Embedded Systems
- Computer Architecture
Adolfo del Campo, PhD, Basque Country Univeristy, QUINST
- Theoretical and Condensed Matter Physics
- Ultracold Gases
- Formation and Control of Topological Defects
- Quantum Non-equilibrium Dynamics
- Foundations of Quantum Mechanics
Arthur Eisenkraft, PhD, Stonybrook University
- STEM Education and Pedagogy
Christopher Fuchs, PhD, University of New Mexico
- Foundations of Quantum Mechanics
- Quantum Information Theory
Edward S Ginsberg, PhD, Stanford University
- Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics
- Physics Education Research
Kurt Jacobs, PhD, Imperial London University
- Quantum Noise and Feedback Control
- Stochastic Processes
Rahul Kulkarni, PhD, Ohio State University
- Biological Physics
- Stochastic Modeling of Gene Expression
- Non-equilibrium Physics
Tomas Materdey, PhD, Cornell University
- Quantum Statistical Mechanics
- Signal Processing
- Scientific Computation
- Science and Engineering Education
Benjamin R. Mollow, PhD, Harvard University
- Theoretical Quantum Optics
Maxim Olchanyi, PhD, Institute of Spectroscopy
- Quantum Integrable Systems
- Inertial Sensors
- Cold Atomic Gases
D. V. G. L. N. Rao, DSc, Andhra University of India
- Experimental Laser Research
- Nano- and Biophotonics
- Medical Imaging and Image Processing.
Gregory Sun, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
- Semiconductor Opto-Electronic Devices and Materials
Bala Sundaram, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
- Quantum and Classical Nonlinear Dynamics
- Mesoscopic Systems
- Mathematical Biology
Chandra Yelleswarapu, PhD, Alabama A&M University
- Biomedical Imaging and Sensing
- Non-Linear Photoacoustics
- Microscopy
The MS Program
The primary goal of the applied physics master’s program is to give students a broad spectrum of skills that will allow them to work as researchers in a range of capacities and to adapt to new employment opportunities. Recent graduates are employed in corporate and government research laboratories, hospitals, and finance and high tech startups. In addition we provide the opportunity to develop the quantitative skills necessary to proceed to doctoral work. Finally, the program also offers courses meeting the professional licensure requirements for the Master of Education program.
The requirements of the program split evenly between practical laboratory and theoretical courses. Our goal is to train students in a balanced way, developing practical laboratory skills and facility with the quantitative techniques of theoretical analysis, both sides of the education being enriched through the understanding of the other perspective.
In addition to coursework, the program also requires a credit-bearing research project. This project can take several forms. First, it can be work done under the direction of a faculty member on a subject of the faculty’s expertise. Alternatively, the research can be pursued as an internship co-administered by a faculty advisor and an extramural advisor, either in another department on campus or in a research or development facility outside of the UMass system. The department views the spectrum of acceptable projects broadly. We are interested in giving students the tools to pursue a deep understanding of the world around them and are willing to consider any reasonable project that allows the students to employ and cement the skills developed within the programs course work.
The PhD Program
The PhD in applied physics operates largely with the same motivations as our stand-alone thesis master’s program—to prepare students for broad career options and not just academic positions. The PhD provides a framework that allows inclusion of capable, non-traditional candidates for a PhD. Unlike many PhD programs that seek to train academics, the constituency for this degree consists primarily of those who wish to work as independent researchers in high tech industries, positions that demand the independent thinking developed during PhD training. Our emphasis is on problem solving broadly construed. We seek students for whom the discipline of thought inherent in advanced study of physics will be an aid in finding solutions to a broad spectrum of problems.
Training in physics promotes the ability to build conceptual frameworks and concomitant models to describe natural phenomena. These very same skills can be used to address questions which arise in a myriad of applications, e.g. photonics, oceanography, meteorology, finance, medicine, to name but a few. The range of these issues extends from mathematics to engineering to computational sciences and is collectively referred to as applied physics.
The program is intended to accommodate local working professionals in a variety of sectors where physics skills, appropriately contextualized, would be useful for career advancement. The curriculum is considerably different from a traditional physics PhD structure. For example, there is a significantly greater emphasis on labs skills and data acquisition and a greater accommodation of cross-disciplinarity. At its core, the curriculum develops the “three-legged stool” of theoretical, experimental and computational skills, which together promote the widest range of applicability of core physics ideas.
Programs
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