Department of Physics
As a graduate student at Oxford’s Department of Physics, you will work alongside world experts and have access to the department’s world-class facilities.
A student undertaking research in a physics laboratory. Credit: Vinesh Rajpaul / Graduate Photography Competition
Overview
Graduate students also get to benefit from the close relations the department foster’s with other facilities in the UK and around the world. In the UK, these include the leading science and innovation campus at Harwell home to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and Diamond Light Source synchrotron among others. Internationally, it extends to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, T2K in Japan, DUNE in the USA and large telescopes around the world.
Each year, the department welcomes approximately 90 graduate research students to study for a 3 to 4-year DPhil research degree – which is equivalent to a PhD. A taught master's degree course is offered joined by the department and the Mathematical Institute and welcomes approximately 50 students annually.
The department’s research students have access to world-class facilities and resources, from the ultra-low vibration and ultra-low temperature labs in the state-of-the-art Beecroft Building, to the in-house specialist research facilities, mechanical and electronic workshops and technicians.
Research students can choose from a range of specialisms across the six sub-departments:
- Astrophysics
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics
- Atomic and Laser Physics
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Particle Physics
- Theoretical Physics
Each of these sub-departments is autonomous, although many of the research projects available are interdisciplinary.