PHYSICS FACT SHEET

The Department of Physics educates students at all levels from general education, through preparation for teaching and scientific careers, to doctoral and post-doctoral education. The department encourages the involvement of undergraduates in research; currently more than 180 undergraduates participate in research within the department.

Students

Summer/Autumn 2021

• 380 Undergraduate majors
• 67 Master’s students
• 164 PhD students

Degrees Awarded

2020-21

• 182 Bachelor of Science degrees
• 34 Master of Science degrees
• 24 PhD degrees

Recent Student Awards

Since 2017

• 5 ARCS Awards
• 3 Clean Energy Awards
• 1 Goldwater Scholarship
• 47 Mary Gates Scholars
• 1 Microsoft Research Fellowship
• 4 NSF Fellowships
• 1 Perimeter Institute Fellowship

Subjects of current interest to physicists range from the behavior of the universe at the earliest times and largest distances, to the collective behavior of large numbers of particles, the properties of nuclei and their constituents, and the fundamental nature of space, time, gravity and other interactions.

Current work includes studies of basic symmetries in atoms and nuclei, properties of diverse forms of matter, quantum information and entanglement, searches for dark matter or other new particles, physics of living systems, and many other areas. Research highlights include:

• hosting the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX), is a world-leading dark matter search experiment;
• classification and study of states of matter with unique topological properties;
• formation and study of atomically thin layered materials which exhibit diverse properties and may form the basis for new quantum information devices;
• leading roles in the KATRIN and MAJORANA neutrino experiments;
• studies of the period in the early universe when the earliest stars and galaxies first lit up; 
• major roles in the muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab and in ATLAS and novel future experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN; 
• studies of duality in string theory and quantum field theory;
• calculations of hadronic and nuclear properties; and
• statistical physics of biological systems.

Areas of Research

• Astrophysics and Dark Matter
• Atomic Physics
• Biological Physics
• Condensed Matter Experiment
• Condensed Matter Theory
• Elementary Particle Experiment
• Elementary Particle Theory
• Gravitational Physics
• Nuclear Experiment
• Nuclear Theory
• Physics Education
• Quantum Information

The Department of Physics has 63 faculty — 57 research active and 6 who anchor the instructional programs of the department. They include: 

• 28 Professors
• 14 Associate Professors
• 8 Assistant Professors
• 2 Research Professors
• 1 Research Associate Professor
• 4 Research Assistant Professors
• 1 Teaching Professor
• 3 Associate Teaching Professors
• 2 Assistant Teaching Professors

The department is also home to 42 Postdoctoral Scholars.

Recent (since 2016) faculty and emeritus faculty honors include:

• 1 Nobel Prize (David Thouless)
• 1 New Horizons Prize
• 5 Breakthrough Prize recipients
• 1 Presidential Early Career Award
• 1 Packard Fellow
• 1 Kavli Fellow
• 2 Sloan Fellows
• 1 American Physical Society Bonner Prize
• 1 American Physical Society Feshbach Prize

The Physics Education Group has been involved for 30 years in programs to help pre-service and in-service physics teachers understand physics and how to help students deal with the concepts. Multiple faculty and students are involved in sharing physics with local K-12 schools and community organizations.

Department of Physics
Box 351560
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
(206) 543-2770
phys.washington.edu

last update: November 2021