Features of a Bucknell Physics Education
Low student to faculty ratio -- With an average of eleven students per graduating class, and a faculty of eleven physicists, the department provides ample opportunities for individualized learning experiences. Small upper level classes -- Students benefit from small upper level classes, where faculty can tailor course content and pace to students' interests and abilities. Small class sizes also allow for more personal interaction between students and faculty. Research opportunities -- Faculty maintain active research programs that involve undergraduates in meaningful ways as active collaborators. Research experiences are considered an important component of a Bucknell Physics education, and students are encouraged to participate in research activities during the school year, and especially during the summer. Breadth -- Academic and research activities cover the breadth of modern physics. Coursework ranges from the traditional fields of electricity and magnetism and quantum mechanics to astrophysics, biophysics, nonlinear dynamics, and cosmology. Physics majors can be designed to concentrate in any of these subfields. | Bucknell Physics Distinctions
Research funding -- Bucknell physicists hold more than $700,000 in research grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and other national funding agencies. These funds primarily support research activities with undergraduate participants. Off-campus research activities -- Bucknell students and faculty regularly conduct their research at national and international facilities such as the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, The National Radio Astronomy Observatory Very Large Array, the Daresbury (U.K.) National Synchrotron Radiation Source, and the Australia Telescope National Facility. Summer research activities -- The Bucknell physics department operates a National Science Foundation funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site for students interested in summer research opportunities. The nationally-competitive program attracts undergraduates from Bucknell and many other universities to the Bucknell campus during the ten-week summer program. Campus physics facilities -- On-campus facilities include optical and radio telescopes, as well as laboratories for studies of anti-matter, quantum optics, and nonlinear dynamics. |
