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Physics

Major/Minor

The Physics program explores events and interactions that occur in nature in order to comprehend the truths or laws that govern the physical world. As a fundamental and all-inclusive science, our curriculum forms an educational base for future careers in science and engineering.

Program Locations

Available Majors

  • Physics

Available Minors

  • Physics

Additional Study Options

What Makes Our Program Unique

The sequence of introductory physics courses in your first year are all taught by the same professor, providing a coherent presentation of foundational courses.

Upper level classes may be taken at Loyola University of Maryland, which is just a short walk away.

Faculty

Four-Year Plan
Fall Spring
First Year
PHY-101 General Physics I 4 PHY-102 General Physics II 4
MAT-211 Calculus I 4 MAT-212 Calculus II 4
General Education/Elective 3 MAT-243 Linear Algebra or
CST-171 Program Concepts		 3
ENG-101 College Writing 3 Foreign Language 3
NDM-100  3 General Education 3
[17 credits]   [17 credits]  
Second Year
PHY-201 Modern Physics 3 PHY-316L Classical Mechanics* 3
MAT-213 Calculus III 3 MAT-315 Differential Equations or Elective 3
CHM-110 General Chem I 4 CHM-111 General Chemistry II 4
General Education/Electives 6 CST-171 Program Concepts or
MAT-243 Linear Algebra		 3
[16 credits]   General Education 3
    MAT-214 Calculus of Vector Fields 1
    [17 credits]  
Third Year
PH 415L Quantum Mechanics* or
PH 417L Electricity & Magnetism I*		 3 #PH 450L Quantum Mech II* or
+PH 474L Electricity & Magnetism II*		 3
+PH 307L Math. Meth. Phys.* 3 Elective or #MAT-315 3
Gen Education/Electives 9 Gen Education/Electives 9
[15 credits]   Physical Education 1
    [16 credits]  
Fourth Year
PH 417L or PH 415L 3 #+PH 474L or +PH 450L 3
+PH 317L Thermal Physics* 3 Physics elective 3
Gen Education/Electives 9 Gen Education/Electives 9
[15 credits]   [15 credits]  

Notes:
# offered alternative years
+ need to take at least two physics courses at level 300 or higher
*Courses with a designation of "L" are taught at Loyola. Notre Dame students take the courses through the cooperative program. For more information, contact the program chair

View Course Catalog

What to Expect Studying at Notre Dame of Maryland University

Small class sizes and personal attention enhance the student expertise, allowing for a combination of rich lecture and robust discussion.

Student
Danielle Neumeister
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Future Engineer

Student, NDMU Class of 2015 Mathematics, Physics

Notre Dame’s campus has seen lots of construction activity—and one of our students has helped bring some of those projects to fruition. Danielle spent the summer of 2014 as a project engineer intern with the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, one of the country's largest general contracting and construction management companies.

Read story
Educating Women in Science, Technology and Math
STEM Degrees and Careers Are Thriving at Notre Dame

Research Opportunities

One of the hallmarks of our rich educational environment is the opportunity to participate in research in your field of interest.

You may choose to conduct a research project and present your findings at Nancy Kreiter Student Research Day to fulfill the capstone requirement of the Physics program.

Additional Opportunities

  • Work with Dr. Christy on NANOGrav, a collaboration of radio astronomers attempting to detect low-frequency gravitational waves. This experience provides many opportunities for training programs, visits to radio telescopes, and a supportive environment at conferences.
  • Connect to researchers through the UMD GRAD-MAP program. GRAD-MAP offers a winter boot camp designed to instruct students in typical skills needed in graduate school and connect them to possible summer projects with researchers at UMD College-Park.
  • Discover even more opportunities at Research Experience for Undergraduates.

Faculty Student Collaborations

Past student collaborations with Dr. Christy have led to three papers [two published in Astrophysical Journal].

  • Brian Christy, Ryan Anella, Andrea Lommen, Lee Samuel Finn, Richard Camuccio, and Emma Handzo Optimization of NANOGrav’s Time Allocation for Maximum Sensitivity to Single Sources Astrophys. J. 794, 163 (2014) [arXiv:1409.7722].
  • Joseph Simon, Abigail Polin, Andrea Lommen, Ben Stappers, Lee Samuel Finn, F.A Jenet, and Brian Christy Gravitational wave hotspots: Determining probable locations of single-source gravitational wave emission Astrophys. J 784 60 (2014) [arXiv:1402.114]
  • Emma Handzo, Brian Christy, Andrea Lommen, Delphine Perrodin The scaling of the RMS with Dwell Time in NANOGrav Pulsars [arXiv:1510.09084] Technical note, not for publication. 

Physics Careers

  • Science Research
  • Space and Astronomy
  • Engineering
  • Energy
  • Technology
  • Healthcare
  • Geophysics and Meteorology

Internships & Employment

Graduates are employed at:

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