Welcome to the Physics Department

The importance of physics in the intellectual and economic life of the 21st century is clear to thoughtful individuals. The increased use of complex technologies in microelectronics, environmental physics, optics, space and renewable energies, defense, health care, nanotechnology, manufacturing and other industries provides ample evidence that the value of understanding physics will continue to increase for individuals and society.

Announcements

Congratulations to Dr. Lev Gasparov! Dr. Gasparov has been selected as the recipient of the Terry Presidential Professorship!

Welcome to Dr. Daniel Santavicca (post-doc, Yale and Ph.D., Yale) who has joined the physics department this fall as a new assistant professor of physics. Daniel’s background is experimental condensed matter physics with specialization in nanoelectronic and nanophotonic devices. He will be setting up his new research lab (right across from the large lecture hall, 50/1202) this year. Daniel will also regularly teach the Modern Physics course in the Fall and Electronics for Scientists course in the Spring in addition to other physics department courses. Please warmly welcome Daniel to the department as our newest permanent faculty member.

BEGINNING FALL 2012 - NEW COURSE REQUIRED FOR ALL PHYSICS MAJORS: PHY 1024 Introduction to Physics for New Physics Majors. This one credit hour physics course will be required for new freshman physics majors, new transfer physics majors and current UNF students who change their major to physics. This course is a requirement for the BS physics degree and will be offered each fall semester.

Students

The Physics Department at UNF endeavors to create new learning opportunities for our students, as evidenced by the launch of these new initiatives:

For the Physics Internship Program, see the Chair of the Department of Physics. Also, note that the host internship and student internship application forms are linked on this page to the top right under "Helfpul Links".

Two-thirds of the UNF physics graduates over the past decade have continued their studies in graduate or professional schools, including the likes of Stanford University, Ohio State University, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, University of California-Berkeley, Cologne University in Germany, University of Florida, Florida State University, Mayo Clinic Medical College, and the American University of Beirut. Other graduates have taken positions in national laboratories (Los Alamos, NASA), the military, private industry (e.g., General Electric, Lockheed Martin, etc.) and secondary teaching (e.g., Stanton College Preparatory School, Paxon School of Advanced Studies, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, etc.).

Faculty

Our faculty are noted researchers and contribute regularly to the community at large.

Our faculty have secured research grant sponsorship from national research granting agencies, including NASA, Department of Defense (DOD), Research Corporation, and the National Science Foundation (NSF.)
Dr. Thomas Pekarek is a Terry Presidential Professor and 2011's Distinguished Professor.

Research

The department has an extraordinary array of major research instruments for a comprehensive university of UNF’s size, which is valued at well over $3 million dollars. Our equipment includes: