Overview
Award-Winning Faculty Members at the City College of New York Educate Physics Students Through Research
The City College of New York (CCNY) is the first college of The City University of New York (CUNY). CCNY is a comprehensive teaching, research, and service institution with a diverse community. CCNY gives students an education focused on research and improving life for the larger community. The CCNY's Department of Physics combines research, teaching, and service to educate students in a culture of rational and logical analysis. This equips students to deal with any situation using their understanding of the laws of physics and the physical world.
The Department of Physics advances the frontiers of knowledge in physics through creative research by its students and faculty. Previous students and faculty in CCNY's physics department have gone on to hold important industrial and governmental physics positions, with three alumni even winning the Nobel Prize for Physics. The current faculty includes members of the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering, fellows of the American Physical Society, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Optical Society of America, and the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
CCNY Physics Graduate Students Work Toward a Master's Degree in Physics With the Option to Transfer to a Ph.D. Program
Students in the graduate physics program work toward a Master of Arts degree based on a core curriculum that focuses on the important foundations of physics: mathematical methods, analytical dynamics, electromagnetic theory, and quantum mechanics.
If students in the program decide that a Master of Arts is insufficient for their purposes, they can usually transfer to the Ph.D. program at CUNY on another campus by taking and passing a special examination. This option provides the students with an important element of flexibility.
The Ph.D. program is heavily research-focused in areas that include astrophysics; atomic and molecular physics; elementary particle and high-energy physics; cryophysics; geophysics and fluid dynamics; laser physics and quantum optics; materials science; nuclear physics; organic insulator radiation damage; solid state and condensed matter physics; photonics; relativity; thin film superconductor physics; theoretical plasma physics; and other principal areas of modern theoretical and experimental physics.
Students studying physics at CUNY schools may also work with respected affiliated physics institutions, such as Bell Laboratories and the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Graduate Students at CUNY Can Receive Financial Assistance Through Institutional Support, Federal Aid, and State Aid
The Graduate Center at CUNY attempts to give each student the necessary financial assistance to make completion of the program a reality. All students may apply for sufficient aid to finance their graduate education through a number of channels. The Graduate Center offers multi-year award packages for incoming students, including the Chancellor's Fellowships, Science Fellowships, CUNY Science Scholarships, and the Minority Access Graduate Network program. The Graduate Center also offers a number of more general institutional awards, such as standard university fellowships that doctoral programs distribute to their students as they deem appropriate. In order to qualify for financial aid from the Graduate Center, students must be making satisfactory progress toward their degrees.
Due to their important research, many graduate students in the department of physics may also find financial support from external funding sources such as private foundations, unions, and government agencies. The Office of Sponsored Research helps students and faculty members find grant-funded scholarships and privately funded fellowships available to graduate students. In addition, the Office of Student Affairs conducts periodic counseling workshops on applying for external fellowships and makes application materials available for some of the major grants. Every effort is made to ensure that students can fund their education.
In many cases, students take jobs to help pay tuition expenses. Graduate students may take adjunct teaching positions and research assistantships on other campuses within the CUNY system or under the auspices of faculty-sponsored research grants. The Student Employment Program also funds a limited number of jobs each year in the administrative offices of the Graduate Center, the Mina Rees Library, and Information Technology.
Located in the Middle of Manhattan, City College of New York Offers Students an Exciting Learning Environment
CCNY is dedicated to giving all students access to higher education while maintaining its demanding standards of academic excellence. Located in Upper Manhattan, the City College campus stretches from 131st to 141st Streets, right in the middle of New York City. The campus is a mix of modern architecture and original neo-Gothic buildings that have been designated as state and national landmarks.
CCNY has more full-time doctoral students than all other CUNY colleges. It offers a wide variety of social and athletic activities through which its graduate students can be involved in the community. This includes over ninety campus clubs, organizations, and sports. Students at CCNY are also able to take courses at other branches of the CUNY system, as well as taking advantage of occasional exchange programs with international universities.
