The MS of Physics program at WPI combines essential theoretical knowledge of physics principles with boundary-pushing research to equip you with the skills you need to pose and answer important questions and then solve problems in settings as varied as a pharmaceutical lab to a lecture hall.
Our expert faculty members are focused on helping you refine your interests, provide applied learning opportunities that will secure your professional future, and challenge you to make exciting discoveries and create new knowledge.
Many industries seek a physicist’s skills—whether it’s working on applied optics in telecommunications, project work for leading software companies, developing modeling for banks and the financial industry, or even research and development for pharmaceutical companies. WPI has particular strengths in Biophysics and Nanoscience and there are several state-of-the-art facilities available on campus for cutting-edge research.
WPI’s well-rounded approach helps you find your strengths with opportunities for applied learning and targeted research throughout the graduate curriculum. Working collaboratively with our accomplished and curious faculty across all disciplines, you’ll participate on current, cutting-edge research projects tailored to help you reach your specific goals.
Typical course work includes Classical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, and Advanced Electromagnetic Theory. A thesis plan or a directed research project with a qualifying exam is also required. Physics students may guide their own educational path with an Independent Study/Project that lets them choose, design, and follow the path of study that interests them the most.
Physics research at WPI is groundbreaking, collaborative, innovative, and inspiring. In an atmosphere of thrilling discovery and encouragement, students work on faculty research and lead independent research that will sharpen their interests for the next step, whether that’s a career in industry or an advanced degree.
Recent student research topics:
The modern facilities at WPI offer excellent opportunities to perform exciting research and make advances using the latest equipment and instruments like fiber optical tweezers and atomic force microscopy. Some of our innovative research labs include the IPG Photonics Laboratory, the Atomic Force Microscopy Laboratory, the Soft Matter Laboratory, and the Center for Computational Nanoscience.
In my 25 plus years at WPI, I have been actively engaged in teaching and research at a variety of levels. Our Projects Program is the place where these two activities naturally come together, and the Major Qualifying Projects (or senior theses) I have guided over the years have been among my most rewarding experiences.
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Nancy Burnham graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1987 with a Ph.D. in Physics. Her dissertation concerned the surface analysis of photovoltaic materials. As a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory, she became interested in scanning probe microscopy, in particular its application to detecting material properties at the nanoscale.
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I perform experimental and computational (Monte Carlo) research in the field of applied nuclear physics with a focus on Medical and Health Physics. Presently my research group is investigating: the development of a unique technique to enable high-resolution in-vivo functional imaging using neutrons, the adaptation of a 169Yb brachytherapy source to enable localized intensity-modulated radiation therapy, the creation of a field-deployable device for radiological and topological characterization, and are analyzing the time-dependent resuspension of radioactive Am-241 into the atmosphere.
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Marko B. Popovic's research interest ranges from fundamental physics, e.g. particle physics, to human neurosensory-motor organization, engineering robotics systems that assist and augment humans, biomechatronics, and bioinspired engineering. He is the founder and director of Popovic Labs http://users.wpi.edu/~mpopovic/ where researchers study physics, biomechanics, and robotics with the goal of answering how living systems function and to synthesize systems that have resembling architecture and functionality and/or may improve life.
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For me, Physics is like a sandbox. It gives me the opportunity to play and discover, test, be creative, learn something new. At the same time, I am passionate about passing the thrill of discovery to my students. Teaching is a two-way street in which both parties get enriched from each other. I welcome and embrace the partnership. I also believe that college is the biggest and best opportunity in one's life to discover one's calling and do something about it and I invite students to take full advantage of it.
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Professor Wen is an experimental biophysicist who is interested in applying physical methods to understand biological phenomena. By measuring the mechanical properties of living cells and the mechanical interaction between cells and ECM, he aims to understand how cells convert external mechanical signals to internal biochemical signals that govern cellular function, including cell morphology, migration, and differentiation. His research will help to design novel materials for wound healing, tissue engineering, and tumor treatment.
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Kun-Ta Wu is an assistant professor of physics. Before joining WPI, he was a physics lecturer at Brandeis University, where he had previously been a postdoctoral associate. In his research, he investigates interactions among miscellaneous DNA and proteins. He uses proteins such as molecular motors to generate dynamics, as well as DNA to create specific, thermal-reversible interactions. With DNA and proteins, his goal is to advance our understanding of self-organization of active matter as well as to create new bio-inspired materials. He earned a PhD in physics at New York University.
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