Physics

Welcome to the CSU Physics Department

The CSU Physics Department provides high-quality, affordable, and flexible education. Alumni of the department are highly successful in obtaining employment at leading institutions (e.g. NASA, Intel, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, UH, GE, Philips, CERN, National Renewable Energy Lab) and prestigious graduate programs (e.g. Johns Hopkins U., Carnegie Mellon U., CWRU, Caltech). To learn more, please check the Physics alumni career highlights.

The department provides extensive opportunities for student engagement. These include faculty-coordinated research, involvement in teaching activities, and a nationally recognized Society of Physics Students (SPS) Chapter. The latter provides leadership, participation in student life, networking, and service opportunities for interested students.

Department Highlights:

• Degree offerings: Minor; Bachelor of Arts (BA); Bachelor of Science in Physics (BS and BS Honors); Bachelor of Science in Physics & CS (BS and BS Honors); and Master of Science (MS).
• Student support through scholarships and paid experiential learning opportunities.
• The number of BS/BA degrees awarded is 2^nd largest among the public universities in Northeastern Ohio (AIP Statistics - 3-year average 2022/2023/2024).
• The number of MS degrees awarded is tied for 3^rd largest among all universities in Ohio (AIP Statistics 2024).
• Host of a National Science Foundation-sponsored site for Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) since 2017.
• More than $4.5M in external funding for research projects that involve undergraduate students through grants from NSF, DOE, NIH, Research Corporation in the last fifteen years.
• An award-winning chapter of Society of Physics Students (SPS): 11 Marsh White Awards from the American Institute of Physics for science outreach; distinguished as Outstanding  SPS Chapter (top 1-3%) for more than 12 years.
• Student excellence: in the last decade, 3 University Valedictorians; 4 College Valedictorians (3 COSHP & 1 Engineering); 1 YWCA Dr. Jennie S. Hwang Award (a first for a CSU student); and 1 Distinguished Alumni Award were Physics majors.

Contact:

• Chair & Graduate Program Director - Petru S. Fodor
• Undergraduate Program Director - Kiril Streletzky
• General Inquiries: Department of Physics