Physics and Astronomy

About the Department

The Department of Physics and Astronomy has graduate and post-graduate research programs in theoretical and experimental physics. Students may obtain the MA in Physics or MA in Adolescent Education from Hunter College, and/or the joint PhD degree in Physics from Hunter College and the City University Graduate Center. The doctoral program is designed to train highly qualified research scientists who are fully equipped to teach and to direct research in a wide variety of university and industry programs in physical sciences. The Department offers all levels of graduate courses jointly with the Graduate Center. Faculty of the department are pursuing projects in the forefront of modern research. The focuses include experimental research in astronomy, optics and spectroscopy, biophysics and biomedical optics, nuclear magnetic resonance and renewal energy materials, and theoretical research in nanophysics, quantum information and quantum optics, chemical physics, and time-frequency analysis. The research programs are well funded by nine different government agencies. Many of our faculty members are leaders of their fields, won prestigious awards, and earned international recognition.

Programs and Courses

Programs and Courses in Physics and Astronomy

Program for Teachers of Adolescent Education (Grades 7-12) – Physics MA

See the School of Education section of this catalog for additional information on admission and program requirements.

Adolescent Physics - MA / Advanced Certificate

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics

Hunter College offers Doctor of Philosophy in Physics jointly with the Graduate Center. Students may be accepted into this Program with the approval of the Admissions Committee of the DoctoralProgram in Physics at the Graduate Center.

Students enrolled in the Hunter College MA program who achieve satisfactory records and pass CUNY’s first PhD examination may be admitted to the PhD program subject to the approval of the Admissions Committee of the Graduate Center. Courses taken in the Hunter MA program may be counted as part of the course work required for the PhD. Thesis research toward the doctorate may also be carried out at Hunter College.

Administration and Faculty

Department Office:

1225 North
(212) 772-5248
Secretary: pharris@hunter.cuny.edu

Chair:

Ying-Chih Chen
1238 North
(212) 772-4526
y.c.chen@hunter.cuny.edu

Graduate Adviser for MA and PhD in Physics:

Yuhang Ren
1204 North
(212) 772-5258
yre@hunter.cuny.edu

Adolescent or Teacher Education Program Adviser:

Rodney Varley
1216 North
(212) 772-5252
rvarley@hunter.cuny.edu

Education Adviser:

Stephen Demeo
908 West
(212) 772-4776
sdemeo@hunter.cuny.edu

Faculty

Janos A. Bergou, Professor; PhD, Lorand Eotvos; Intense Field Electrodynamics, Multiphoton Processes, Nonlinear and Quantum Optics, Quantum Information

Ying-Chih Chen, Professor and Department Chair; PhD, Columbia; Laser Physics, Laser Devices, Biomedical Imaging, Photoacoustics

Leon Cohen, Professor; PhD, Yale; Quantum Mechanics, N-Body Self Gravitation Problem,Wave Propagation in Random Media

Kelle Cruz, Assistant Professor, PhD. Pennsylvania; Astronomy, Astrophysics

Noel Goddard, Assistant Professor; PhD, Rockefeller, Biophysics

Steven G. Greenbaum, Professor; PhD, Brown; Magnetic Resonance, Solid State Physics, Renewable Energy Materials

Godfrey Gumbs, Distinguished Professor; PhD, Toronto; Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics, Optical and Transport Properties of Semiconductor Nanostructures

Mark Hillery, Professor; PhD, California (Berkeley); Quantum Optics, Non-linear Optics, Quantum Information

Hyungsik Lim, Assistant Professor; PhD, Cornell; Nonlinear Optics, Biomedical Optics, and Biophysics

Neepa Tatyana Maitra, Associate Professor, PhD, Harvard; Theoretical Chemical Physics, Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory

Yuhang Ren, Associate Professor; PhD, College of William & Mary, Zhejiang University (China), Nonlinear Ultra-fast Laser Spectroscopy, Condensed Matter Physics

Rodney L. Varley, Associate Professor; PhD, Brandeis; Non-equilibrium Statistical Theory of Dense Gases and Liquids, Plasma Physics