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.

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News & Announcements

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Robert L. Leheny Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society

Professor and Department Chair Bob Leheny became a 2024 recipient of the American Physical Society Division of Soft Matter Fellowship. His citation reads "for elucidating dynamics of colloidal glasses, nanoparticles in polymer matrices, liquid crystals, and interfacial layers, employing XPCS and active microrheology.”

OAxFORTIS Sounding Rocket Mission Successfully Completed 

The Off-Axis Far-Ultraviolet Off Rowland-circle Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy (OAxFORTIS) sounding rocket mission successfully launched and collected data late Sunday night (22:00 hours MDT 25 August 2024) over White Sand […]

Brice Ménard Appointed as an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute

Professor Brice Ménard has been appointed as one of seven new external professors at the Santa Fe Institute in 2024. Santa Fe Institute is the world's leading research center for complex systems science. As an external professor, Ménard will help to enrich their networks of interactions, push the boundaries of complex systems science, and connect...