Physics (BA/BS)

Explore the laws of nature and the relationship between energy and matter with the Department of Physics. You will have the opportunity to research with award-winning faculty, participate in practical applications such as labs and demonstrations, and develop career skills through internships. We encourage physics majors to study across disciplines, pairing their work with chemistry, biology, or anything else of interest—at the University of Oregon, you have the freedom to choose your own path.

A degree in physics will give you a solid foundation to pursue careers and graduate studies in astrophysics, engineering, teaching, astronomy, medicine, technology, communication, and a host of other disciplines.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Have knowledge of principles and concepts for specific core subject areas listed above.
• Apply principles and concepts to analyze problems within specific core areas.
• Have capability with quantitative methods appropriate for the core areas.
• Analyze and interpret quantitative results.
• Have experience with integration of concepts: analysis of complex problems cutting across multiple core areas.
• Collect and appropriately analyze data working independently and in collaboration with others (experimentation; data collection, reduction and analysis; model-based computation including simulations and inversion of observations; and literature research using basic and state-of-the-art technology).
• Communicate orally and in writing by making appropriate use of current presentation technology.
• Have familiarity with current developments in physics.

Physics Major Requirements

Courses used to fulfill the major requirements must be taken for letter grade. Coursework transferred in from Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams are acceptable with a mark of P*. 

Physics majors must keep an average Physics GPA of 2.0 or better in all Physics/Astronomy courses.

¹

To be repeated, totaling 2 credits.

²

Students are strongly urged to complete this requirement in the first two years.

³

Students must complete a minimum of 6 credits in upper-division laboratory courses from any combination of PHYS 401, 424, 425, 431, 432, 481, 491, 492, and 493. A maximum of 12 credits from these courses may count toward the major.

Honors

To be recommended by the faculty for graduation with honors in physics, a student must complete at least 46 credits in upper-division physics courses, of which at least 40 credits must be taken for letter grades, and earn at least a 3.50 grade point average in these courses.

As an alternative, undergraduate research leading to the defense of a thesis accompanied by at least a 3.30 grade point average can lead to recommendation for graduation with honors. Contact the director of undergraduate studies for more information.

Four-Year Degree Plan

Bachelor of Arts in Physics

Bachelor of Science in Physics