Program Overview

Why choose this course

We’re home to fantastic astronomy facilities. These include our teaching and outreach telescopes that you’ll use to get hands-on observation experience, as well as high-performance computing and GPU clusters.

There are two unique aspects to both our physics and astronomy courses:

Our award-winning Professional Training placements:

• Within the BSc physics and astronomy course, the option to take a paid Professional Training placement in industry gives you invaluable hands-on experience to enhance your employability.
• On our MPhys, you’ll take a year-long, masters-level integrated research placement. This can be in one of our world-leading research groups or at one of our international partner institutions.

Our focus on undergraduate research and innovation:

• All undergraduates have the opportunity to apply for paid 8-10 week summer research placements in our research groups and those of our South East Physics Network partners.
• We offer in-house ‘research and innovation’ and ‘enterprise’ grants that students can apply for to fund a research placement, attend a conference or develop a new business idea.

What you will study

Our Physics with Astronomy courses teach you the core elements of traditional physics – from classical mechanics and electromagnetism to quantum mechanics.

You’ll then specialise in astronomy, studying the formation and evolution of stars, planets, galaxies and the Universe as a whole. You’ll learn about the search for life beyond Earth, gravitational waves, and the nature of dark matter and dark energy.

You’ll also be able to carry out a research project in one of our world-leading research groups.

Formal lectures are complemented with work in our specialist radiation laboratories, which have recently been refurbished and enlarged at a cost of £2.7m. As an undergraduate student you’ll use these labs to undertake experiments related to the Nuclear and Particle Physics module.

You can apply to study for either a BSc or an MPhys. The latter is a direct route to a masters qualification, known as an integrated masters. If you study for an MPhys, you’ll spend a year doing integrated research before returning for your final masters-level modules.

Physics with astronomy placements

BSc students can take a Professional Training placement, which adds real value to their learning experience.

Over the years, we’ve placed our students with many big-name companies and laboratories. These include:

• Airbus Defence and Space
• BAE Systems
• IBM UK Ltd
• Merck
• National Physical Laboratory
• Tesla Engineering Ltd
• TOPTICA Photonics.

Your personal tutor and the Professional Training tutor will discuss your interests and abilities with you in the second year, and support you in applying to our extensive database of potential employers.