Department of Physics and Astronomy

Events and Announcements

• Congratulations to 
  • Ana Oprisan - College-wide Distinguished Teaching Award
  • Sorin Oprisan - College-wide Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Award
• Observatory public events, Third-Friday Open Houses and other information. Also on Facebook.
• Colloquium is on Thursdays, at 1:40 pm, in room 126 RHSC, during the academic year. 
• Our Handbook for students.
• CofC Undergraduates, Professor Discover New Extrasolar Planet:  Dr. Joe Carson, and students talk about it.
• The School of Sciences and Mathematics Research Poster Session is held annually in April.

Greetings from the Chair

Greetings and Welcome to the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the College of Charleston.  A degree in physics opens up a world of career options in areas such as engineering, space exploration, computers, energy, medicine, design and development, military, communications, economics, law, teaching, management and administration, to name a few. 

Our award winning department has been growing steadily in the number of its students and faculty with teaching and research interests spanning a broad range of topics from nanostructures to the intricacies of the universe. Students have opportunities to undertake internships and cutting-edge research (paid/unpaid, experimental/theoretical/computational) with our committed and diverse internationally-recognized faculty members. We are happy to speak with prospective students. Look over our programs and contact the faculty member that is aligned with your interests.

We offer degrees in physics, astronomy, and astrophysics, as well as concentrations and minors in energy production, biomedical physics, computational neuroscience, and meteorology. See the Handbook for details. You can also do a physics cognate in the Discovery Informatics major.

Should you have any questions or would like to have a tour of the department, please feel free to contact me or my colleagues.

With Very Best Regards,

Narayanan Kuthirummal, "NK"

Research Opportunities

Undergraduate research opportunities are available in areas such as applied physics, astrophysics, atmospheric physics, biophysics, and computational physics within the department as well as academic year and summer research appointments elsewhere. Our annual Research Poster Session showcases research activities throughout the school.

A Request from the Chair

Over the years, the College, Alums, and the Public have been very supportive of our programs. However, we need more help in order to build new programs and facilities, and to further enhance the student learning experience. Any contributions will be of immense help!  Thank you for making a contribution to the Department of Physics and Astronomy.