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Message From the Chair
Welcome to the web site of the Department of Physics
at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). We
are part of a young, urban university that has made a strong commitment
to excellence in teaching, research, and civic engagement. Our department
shares these commitments and values, and as you tour this web site,
I hope that you will get a sense of the intellectual vitality and
vigor of the department, its enduring interest in the welfare of
its students, and the scope and nature of its contributions to advancing
the state of knowledge in Physics and related subjects.
We are especially proud of our faculty, which consists
of Young Investigator Award recipients (from Office of Naval Research
& National Science Foundation), elected Fellows of professional
societies (such as American Physical Society), members of editorial
boards of journals, panel review members for federal funding agencies,
and chairs and members of various committees in professional organizations.
Members of the faculty are often invited to present their work at
national and international meetings and they maintain a high profile
in their areas of creative scholarship.
The department is the birthplace of the Just-in-Time
Teaching (JiTT) pedagogical initiative, which combines the best
elements of modern teaching practices, such as collaborative learning,
active engagement and the use of web-based technologies. I encourage
you to visit the JiTT
web site to learn more about this teaching methodology that
is now being adopted by several institutions across the nation.
The research emphasis of the department is in the
areas of biological physics, materials science, optics, and physics
education. Faculty engage in a wide variety of theoretical and experimental
work on these topics and their work is supported through external
and internal funding sources. There is also a significant activity
in interdisciplinary areas such as the use of near field optics
to study biological systems. Magnetic resonance based techniques
are the principal tool of the biophysics researchers, and the department
operates a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Center which serves
the needs of scientists within the department and outside. The Optics
groups pursue research in quantum optics where quantum mechanics
is used to elucidate some fundamental aspects of the nature of light,
and in the broad area of nonlinear dynamics and chaos in diode lasers
with applications in chaotic encryption and optical communications.
Research in materials science includes nanotechnology, magnetic
materials, superconductivity and near field optical imaging. A distinguishing
feature of the department is that all undergraduate students participate
in research during their tenure here, and the size of the faculty
and the student body is such that it fosters close interactions
between them. If you are intending to pursue graduate study in our
department, you should feel equally assured that you will be closely
mentored by your advisor. You will be provided research opportunities
in fertile areas at the frontiers of basic science, which will lead
to excellent employment prospects and help you to meet your career
goals and aspirations.
The department tries to foster close connections
with local area schools, and with local industry. Our proximity
to the Indiana University School of Medicine allows the development
of meaningful research collaborations. We have also, on various
occasions, received support from the Eli Lilly & Co., a major
pharmaceutical company in this city. In addition, some faculty members
have long standing research collaborations with major government
laboratories and industrial partners.
We offer the full spectrum of academic degrees,
ranging from the B.S. to the graduate degrees of M.S. and Ph.D.
The curriculum is designed to be in tune with the most modern developments
in physical sciences, and to exploit the expertise of our faculty
in their respective research areas. The undergraduate program is
flexible and so permits the student to tailor a program of study
to meet their needs. Specializations in Biophysics and Applied Physics
are two avenues that a student can pursue during their B.S. Also,
a B.A. in Physics is under implementation and is directed towards
those who wish to pursue a career in a non-Physics area where a
Physics background is nonetheless useful.
The Department offers a unique, dual-degree integrated program in which a student
can, in five years, receive a B.S. in Physics and an M.S. in Mechanical
Engineering. This program is excellent preparation for immediate
employment in an industrial organization, and also for future graduate
work in Physics and Mechanical Engineering. Among its more appealing
features is the prospect of obtaining two degrees in less time than
the conventional route to obtaining the same degrees.
Indianapolis is a cosmopolitan city of moderate
size, temperate climate, and low cost of living. It is also home
to several academic, industrial and government organizations, which,
coupled with its rich sports heritage, provide an ideal mix of intellectual
stimulation and entertainment. I invite you to visit our department
if you are considering the pursuit of a degree here. In the meantime,
please feel free to contact me if you desire some information about
the department. The Chairs of our graduate and undergraduate committees
will also be glad to assist you with inquiries that fall within
their purview.
Gautam Vemuri
Professor & Chairman
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