Physics

Career potential

Physics is the study of the structure and interaction of matter and energy, and it plays a role in all aspects of our daily lives. Physics can be used to explain everything from how automobile airbags inflate to the ways electrons or black holes behave.

By majoring in physics at the University of North Texas, you can prepare for a career with aerospace and automobile manufacturers, computer software companies, electrical equipment manufacturers, engineering services firms, and independent research and development laboratories. The armed forces, the departments of Defense and Commerce, national laboratories and NASA employ physics graduates in research careers.

You may teach high school physics or work for a company that manufactures technical equipment. A major in physics also can prepare you for medical school or a graduate program in physics or a related field, such as engineering or astrophysics. A bachelor's degree in physics will qualify you for some beginning research and development jobs. A master's degree and possibly a doctoral degree are required for most advanced research or university teaching positions.

UNT's Career Center can help you prepare to pursue your career. The center has information about jobs and employers, and the staff can help you with resume and letter writing, job search strategies, and interview preparation.

Majoring in physics

As a physics major, you will study laws of mechanics and how objects move; thermal physics, or properties of heat and energy; principles of electricity and magnetism; mathematical methods of physics; physics of the atom and nucleus; quantum mechanics; and statistical physics. You may take an electronics course in which you will build modern digital and analog circuits. If you plan to become a researcher in physics, you may want to take additional courses in an area of specialization - electronics, nuclear physics, optics or quantum mechanics.

Faculty members in the Department of Physics are dedicated teachers and researchers. Three faculty members have been named Regents Professors for outstanding research and teaching. Regents Professors devote at least half of their teaching load to introductory-level courses. One faculty member has received a President's Council University Teaching Award.

Many faculty members are known as experts in their fields. Some of their areas of expertise are determining the age of archaeological artifacts, studying electronic properties of artificially structured material and analyzing nuclear reactions. Faculty members have written several books and hundreds of journal articles about physics.

UNT's Society of Physics Students is one of the most active student chapters in Texas. The group often goes on field trips and invites guest speakers to meetings. Students in the society sponsor the Physics Olympics each spring for high school students in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

Getting hands-on experience

As a physics major, you may apply for a part-time research assistantship to work with a faculty member and graduate students on a project. You will get research experience and may receive academic credit.

Physics faculty members work in several UNT research centers and laboratories. The Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Nanostructural Materials Research finds solutions to problems in materials science such as impurities that might alter or ruin the performance of a semiconductor. The Ion Beam Modification and Analysis Laboratory houses a particle accelerator capable of analyzing the atomic composition of material to the parts-per-trillion level. Researchers at the Center for Nonlinear Science pursue an understanding of the physical complexity of nature and the change from order to chaotic behavior.

You may also have the opportunity to work in the Department of Physics as an academic assistant in the instructional physics laboratories or at the astronomy observatory and planetarium.

Upon completion of 12 semester hours at UNT with at least a 2.5 GPA, you may work in a job related to your major through UNT's Cooperative Education and Internships office. You may earn academic credit and money and gain valuable work experience.

Preparing for UNT

If you are a high school student, we suggest you prepare for college by becoming computer proficient and taking:

• English … 4 years
• Math … 4 years
• Social science — economics, geography, government, history … 4 years
• Science … 3 years
• Foreign language … 3 years
• Fine arts … 1 year

To prepare for the physics major, include chemistry and physics in your high school science courses, and algebra, pre-calculus and calculus in your math courses.

You will need to take courses in most of these subjects under the university core curriculum required of all undergraduates, in addition to your major courses. Talk with your high school counselor about preparing for college, including the entrance exams (SAT Reasoning Test or ACT) that you should take during your junior year.

As a benefit for transfer students, UNT participates in the Texas Common Course Numbering System. This system makes it easier to transfer credits for general academic courses from one Texas institution to another.

If you're attending a Texas community college, you should consult the UNT Transfer Guide, the UNT Undergraduate Catalog and an academic counselor/advisor to discuss your degree plan. Proper planning will help you receive the maximum amount of transfer credits.

Charting your path with academic advising

Faculty members in the physics department will help you each semester to select courses necessary to earn your degree. Visit the department office in the Physics Building, Room 110.

Curious about courses and other features of this major?
See the current catalog.