Harvard University Department of Physics

In 1884, a new physics laboratory opened at Harvard, the first of its kind in the Nation. It was based on the revolutionary idea that "the department of physics in a University must embrace both teaching and investigation" (John Trowbridge, 1877).

From those pioneering days and throughout the Department's long and illustrious history, its faculty and students have been engaged in groundbreaking research and standard-setting instruction, contributing importantly to Harvard's reputation as one of the premier institutions of higher learning in the world. Among Harvard's 43 Nobel laureates, 10 are or were physics faculty members. Today, the latest generation of Harvard physicists continues to bring new insights into the exploration of fundamental problems involving physics at all length scales, and to provide outstanding and innovative educational opportunities to the many talented men and women who enroll in Harvard's flexible undergraduate and graduate programs.
Welcome, New and Returning Students!
Please check your email for Physics department events.
Incoming graduate students should check GSAS Welcome Events page for scheduled activities.



Department News and Updates

Prof. Cumrun Vafa was awarded the Dirac medal of the ICTP.
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics awards the Dirac Medal annually to scientists who have made significant contributions to physics.
Harvard physics undergrads and design students from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan draw the science behind the blue sky...
The exercise was part of a continuing collaborative effort to improve basic science education. This project, called Picturing to Learn, is supported by a National Science Foundation grant and also involves Duke University and Roxbury Community College in Boston. Read the New York Times article.
Save the dates (October 24-25, 2008): INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: 40 Years after Andrei Sakharov's "Reflections on Progress, Peaceful Coexistence and Intellectual Freedom"; Russia Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
The Conference, organized by the Sakharov Program on Human Rights & The Cold War Studies Project at The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies in conjunciton with the Harvard Department of Physics, will take place at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Please consult the Conference website for further information.
"Gelation of particles with short-range attraction"
Harvard Physics grad student Peter Lu, Prof. David Weitz, and colleagues from University of Rome and University of Edinbourgh published a letter in Nature, in which they reported on their study demonstrating that gelation of short-ranged attractive particles is driven by phase separation: P.J. Lu, E. Zaccarelli, F. Ciulla, A.B. Schofield, F. Sciortino, & D.A. Weitz, Nature 453, 499-503 (22 May 2008) | doi:10.1038/nature06931.
Prof. Roy Glauber was awarded the Gold Medal of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas...
at a ceremony in Madrid on April 22, 2008. It is the highest award of Spain's new Ministry of Science.
Prof. Eric Mazur was elected to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen).
For more news items, go to News page
For recent faculty publications, go to Publications page
To search for people in the Department, please go to People page.

Today's Event Calendar

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