School of Physics & Astronomy
What's special?
Many
of our current students tell us they chose to study here
because of the location and the standing of the University.
St Andrews is a beautiful historic town of some 15,000
people, situated on the Fife coast. There is a splendid
quality of life here, with larger centres of population
readily accessible. The town is also famous as
the "Home of Golf", and is periodically host
to the British Open Golf Championships. The
University is Scotland's first, dating back to 1410, but
has also got a strong forward-looking vigour. The
University usually does very well in the UK-wide league
tables. University accommodation is more-or-less
guaranteed for all entrant students who apply in time,
and some students choose to spend all their time here
in the University residence system. The 6000
students bring a tremendous vitality to the town during
term time, with a host of student-run organisations providing
sporting, social, cultural, and academic activities. As
St Andrews is able to attract some of the best minds,
entry grade requirements are higher than in many other
Universities, but we welcome those with academic potential
from all backgrounds.
But
many of our students also tell us that they were attracted
by the characteristics of this School. The School's
teaching of physics was assessed by the Scottish Higher
Education Funding Council as being excellent,
the top grade. The same report also commented on
the outstanding facilities here. In 2003
and 2004 two national newspapers each rated our School
to be the top physics department in Scotland and amongst
the top few in the UK (similar tables in recent years
have us bouncing around a bit, but at the time of writing
(August 2007) our School has again come top in Scotland
and 5th in the UK in The Good University Guide. We
suggest taking all such league tables with a pinch of
salt). Essentially all our teaching is done in the
building shown in the photograph and the adjoining mathematics
building. The same buildings contain library, computing,
and research facilities for the School. The new
Medical Sciences Building is currently being built adjacent
to our building, between where the camera was for taking
the above photo and the School. In the summer of 2009
a number of the teaching spaces in the building have been
completely rebuilt.
The
University Observatory is some ten minutes walk from our
main site, in the middle of the University playing fields.
These domes contain, amongst other telescopes,
the largest operational optical telescope in the UK.
The relatively small size of the School means that there can be real interaction between students and staff. For example, in second and third year physics classes weekly tutorials consist of four or five students with one member of staff. Lecture classes are also relatively small, ranging from about 90 students down to groups of just a few. Well-equipped teaching-laboratories and the observatory allow students to explore their science. The teaching staff are proud to have the reputation of being accessible to students, and enjoy explaining the excitement of physics and astronomy to their students.
Although
the School is relatively small, the 30 or so academic
staff work with a further ~40 research staff and a similar
number of PhD research students on an exciting range of
internationally recognised research programmes.
In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise our School was
rated as equal second physics department for research
in the UK, and top in Scotland. Our research, which ranges
from fundamental science to real-world applications,
is summarised elsewhere in these pages. Our School
is a member of the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance,
which aims to strengthen further the physics research
across Scotland's universities through collaboration and
additional investment. All final year students undertake
a major project, which is usually done in conjunction
with one of the research groups. This image is an artist's
impression of what was the most earth-like planet yet
found around another star. The St Andrews team played
a major part in finding this cold rocky planet, the discovery
of which was reported early in 2006.
Other recent research highlights include:-
- the theoretical prediction of the optical equivalent of black holes, and what might happen at their event horizon
- the theoretical prescription for an "invisibility cloak"
- the theoretical prediction of quantum levitation
- the first imaging of debris-discs around solar-type stars, achieved using mm-wave observations
- the detection of planets close to the end of their life around a star
- the development of an "esr" spectrometer, which can probe the structure of materials with a resolution some 20 times better than that generally available.
- work using mm-waves to monitor the ground around volcanos
- the development of a laser-based device for detecting methane gas
- injection of genes into cells through laser-induced transient holes in the cell membrane
- the development and use of electrically-conducting polymers to generate light for treating skin cancer.
- extreme slowing of light in micro-structured semiconductors
- the generation and study of "collective quantum states" of matter, where 1023 electrons behave as a coherent group in exotic conducting oxides
Physics opens the door to many careers. There are many opportunities in physics-based industry and research, as well as a wide range of more general careers where the physicist's way of thinking is highly desirable. The destinations of recent physics graduates from across the country are available at the CSU & AGCAS website. Please note that if you click on this physics careers link you leave our pages.
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Last updated BDS 9.09
