Chairman's Message
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Chairman's Message
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Greetings, The myth that a person with a degree in Physics will have a hard time finding a job is out of date and needs to be retired. Not enough students are signing up to study science or engineering. This is particularly true for Physics. There are not enough B.S. degree graduates in Physics to keep up with the needs of industry. Of course, this means there are also very few students with B.S. degrees to enter graduate school to pursue the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees and so, there are not enough new Ph.D. graduates to replace the retiring faculty members at US universities or to populate the R ∓&nbps;D labs in industry. This is a serious national problem. In June, 2000, industry leaders asked Congress to allow more visas for foreign nationals to enter the US to take jobs in high tech companies. Here is the latest statement from the US Federal Government on this problem as published in The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News, Number 59, June 5, 2000.
| "If current trends persist, our nation may begin to fall far short of the talent needed to spur the innovation process that has given America such a strong economy and high quality of life." -- Dr. Neal Lane, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology |
It is well recognized that America's prosperity is due in large measure to its technological prowess. A White House report warns that this might not continue without stronger programs to augment the nation's science, technology, and engineering workforce.
For all sorts of information about employment of Physicists and what Physicists do see the following American Institute of Physics web pages: http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/states/state.htm or http://www.aip.org/statistics/ or
The second part of the old myth is that Physicists do not receive high salaries. This is also wrong. For tables of salaries for various fields see: http://www.nextwave.org/survey/index.dtl.
If you want more information on why you should study physics, look at the American Physical Society website www.aps.org/jobs/index.cfm.
At Texas Tech University our Physics students and faculty members are recognized for their academic achievements not only in this country, but throughout the world. The department is active in a broad range of teaching and research activities designed to prepare students for the challenges of tomorrow. Graduates of the department have developed successful careers at universities, national laboratories, and in private enterprise. The department offers the Bachelor of Science, the Master of Science, and the Doctor of Philosophy in Physics. There is also an Applied Physics option for the M.S. and Ph.D.degrees. A graduate student may also elect to pursue the MS degree with internship, spending half of the time working for a company as an intern. In cooperation with the College of Engineering, we also offer courses leading to the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics.
The twenty one faculty members of the Department of Physics work together in an environment that fosters a close relationship between the students and the faculty. Our faculty have a strong commitment to both teaching and research. Five faculty members have received university-wide teaching awards.
The department also sponsors a chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) and the corresponding honor society, Sigma Pi Sigma. Our SPS chapter helps to perform the popular Physics Circus and is active in SPS Zone 13 activities. They received "Outstanding Chapter" awards for the years 1998-2002.
The faculty research efforts reinforce the academic environment in the Department of Physics, as our students work alongside faculty members on significant projects. In addition, our faculty members frequently work in conjunction with industry and government laboratories to solve practical problems. Our faculty members have been quite successful in obtaining external funding for their research. The external research funding for fiscal 2003 was more than $2.6 Million from 48 grants and contracts. Other indications of the quality of our research are that in 2003, our faculty published 65 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and presented 78 papers at conferences. They also gave 35 invited colloquia at other institutions.