Merrill Scholars honor mentors at 35th annual ceremony
Forty-three student scholars, including nine from Arts and Sciences, were honored at this year’s 35th Merrill Presidential Scholars ceremony on May 23.
Read More
Unsurpassed in many areas
About Us
The Cornell University Department of Physics, known for the versatility of its program, the breadth of its training, and Nobel Prize-winning work, is unsurpassed in many areas. The presence on campus of a particle accelerator, one of just a few of its magnitude anywhere in the world, contributes to Cornell’s reputation in particle and accelerator physics. The department has more than 40 active professors, approximately 180 graduate students and 65 undergraduate majors, and offers a full range of university-level work in physics, from general education courses for nonscientists to doctoral-level independent research.
Explore the Department
The Bethe Way: Department of Physics Magazine
The Bethe Way is the department's yearly magazine. In it, we share exciting highlights of faculty hires, research breakthroughs, staff changes, teaching reform, faculty awards, and alumni connections.
Physics News
HERACLES beamline to accelerate cathode research
Cornell is breaking new ground in electron beam research with the HERACLES beamline, a state-of-the-art electron gun that mimics the harsh environments of the world’s largest particle colliders.
Read More
CTI announces 2023 Active Learning Postdoctoral Fellowship recipients
These grants provide a unique opportunity for faculty who are new to active learning and want to learn more or for those who want to expand upon initial efforts in implementing these teaching strategies.
Read More
$2.5M in A&S New Frontier Grants supports bold projects
A&S faculty members will delve into questions ranging from quantum computing to foreign policy development and from heritage forensics to effects of climate change.
Read More
Nexus Scholars Program expands research opportunities to 101 students
This summer, 101 students in the College of Arts and Sciences will take part in groundbreaking research on campus with 61 faculty as part of the Nexus Scholars Program.
Read More
Cornell, Google first to detect key to quantum computing future
Eun-Ah Kim and Google researchers report the first demonstration of 2D particles that are key for a promising method of introducing fault resistance to quantum computing.
Read More
Physics professor elected to National Academy of Sciences
A&S physicist Michelle Wang is among four Cornell faculty who were elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in research.
Read More
'In the past four years, I feel I've been “awakened" '
Jeffrey Backus is a physics and mathematics major.
Read More
"On my first day after joining a research group in graduate school a professor said, I hear you’re interested in instrumentation.’ I didn’t know what that was, but I thought I’d better say yes. When people think about physics, they think about a guy with a pencil and paper, but physics is an experimental science.”
- Peter Wittich, Professor and Director, Laboratory of Elementary Particle Physics