This program provides a positive experience of physics and encourages students to foster and maintain an intellectual curiosity in the discipline. We encourage/educate our students to become active, lifelong and autonomous learners with good prospects of employment in economic sectors requiring analytical skills or for further study of the subject. Our students will become well grounded in the fundamentals of physics with an appreciation of more specialised knowledge and the current frontiers of research. Our learning environment emphasises laboratory work at all stages, combining in-class, project and problem-solving work including data analysis and programming. Our students will be imbued with professional values including scientific integrity and ethical behaviour, and the ability to communicate complex information effectively. Assessment is based on individual work, group work, work in the laboratory, project work including student presentation and written report.

 

1 - On successful completion of the programme, students will have acquired a good understanding of the core of physics (as defined by the Institue of Physics degree accreditation document), and students will appreciate the current boundaries of scientific knowledge.
2 - Students will be able to tackle problems in physics and formulate an appropriate solution
3 - Students will be able to use mathematics to describe the physical world
4 - Students will be able to plan, execute and report the results of an experiment or investigation
5 - Students will be able to compare results critically with predictions from theory
6 - Students will have acquired communications skills
7 - Students will have acquired analytical skills
8 - Students will have acquired IT skills
9 - Students will have acquired personal skills, the ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team, interact constructively with other people, and show leadership in their area of expertise.
10 - Students will have acquired ethical behaviour, including critical thinking, understanding of arguments and consequences, and scientific integrity
11 - Students will be flexible, able to adapt and contribute to the experimental aspects in any research and development team.

Students’ performance will be reviewed at the end of the academic year. Students who fail 50% or more of their registered modules, and who fail to progress to the next stage of their programme, will be identified under the UCD Continuation – Academic progress policy. Students’ performance will continue to be reviewed in subsequent trimesters and students will be invited to meetings with the College of Science office for support and guidance.

Where the rate of progression and performance over two academic years is deemed unacceptable, a case will be submitted to the Governing Board for review. A recommendation for discontinuation may be the outcome of this review.

As Stages 3 and 4 have the most dynamic components of the programme, and the material studied previously may no longer be relevant, a student who has been away from the programme for a significant period should be required to register again to Stage 3. The upper limit for completion of Stages 3 and 4 should be six years if they choose to do 120 credits with 20 in each year.

The UCD Physics degree is an accredited Physics degree and recent Physics graduates have pursued careers areas such as energy technology, medical physics, meteorology, advanced materials (e.g. semiconductor industry), Geoscience, ICT and financial industries, and semi-state bodies such as EPA’s Office of Radiological Protection. 

Graduates are also eligible to apply for MSc programmes in Nanobio Science, Space Science & Technology, Nanotechnology, Medical Physics or Meteorology, or for PhD programmes in Ireland and abroad in diverse areas such as Radiation Physics, Physics of Advanced Materials, Atomic Physics, Particle Physics and Astrophysics.

Students take 5 core modules. Overall, 50 programme credits must be completed in Stage 3. Students may select 10 credits from elective modules or alternatively, additional modules can be selected from the BSc programme.

Students take 4 core modules (35 credits) and five option modules (25 credits).

Module ID	Module Title	Trimester	Credits
Stage 3 Core Modules
PHYC30300	Advanced Laboratory I	2 Trimester duration (Aut-Spr)	20
PHYC30020	Classical Mechanics and Relativity	Autumn	5
PHYC30030	Quantum Mechanics	Autumn	5
PHYC30070	Electromagnetism	Spring	5
PHYC30080	Optics & Lasers	Spring	5
Stage 3 Core Modules
Stage 3 Options - A)MIN1OF: Students must take PHYC20100 if not taken in stage 2, otherwise they must take PHYC30050
PHYC20100	Thermo & Stat Physics	Autumn	5
PHYC30050	Condensed Matter Physics	Autumn	5
Stage 3 Options - A)MIN1OF: Students must take PHYC20100 if not taken in stage 2, otherwise they must take PHYC30050
Stage 3 Options - B)MIN1OF: If not taken in Stage 2 students must take ACM20030. If ACM20030 had been taken in Stage 2, students must take PHYC30090 in Stage 3. PLEASE NOTE: Students wishing to take PHYC40110 Medical Physics in stage 4 must take PHYC30090 in stage 3
ACM20030	Computational Science	Autumn	5
PHYC30090	Nuclear Physics	Spring	5
Stage 3 Options - B)MIN1OF: If not taken in Stage 2 students must take ACM20030. If ACM20030 had been taken in Stage 2, students must take PHYC30090 in Stage 3. PLEASE NOTE: Students wishing to take PHYC40110 Medical Physics in stage 4 must take PHYC30090 in stage 3
Stage 3 Options - C)MIN0OF: Students are required to complete 50 programme credits (cores/options) in Stage 3. Additional modules may be selected from the list below or alternatively, students may select 10 credits from elective modules to complete Stage 3.
ACM30220	Partial Differential Equations	Autumn	5
PHYC30100	Stellar Astrophysics & Astronomical Techniques	Autumn	5
Stage 3 Options - C)MIN0OF: Students are required to complete 50 programme credits (cores/options) in Stage 3. Additional modules may be selected from the list below or alternatively, students may select 10 credits from elective modules to complete Stage 3.
Stage 4 Core Modules
PHYC40960	Physics Project	2 Trimester duration (Aut-Spr)	10
PHYC40970	Advanced Laboratory II (15)	2 Trimester duration (Aut-Spr)	15
PHYC40020	Applied Quantum Mechanics	Autumn	5
PHYC40080	High Energy Particle Physics	Autumn	5
Stage 4 Core Modules
Stage 4 Options - A)MIN0OF: If not taken in Stage 3, students MUST TAKE PHYC30050 and PHYC30090 in Stage 4.
PHYC30050	Condensed Matter Physics	Autumn	5
PHYC30090	Nuclear Physics	Spring	5
Stage 4 Options - A)MIN0OF: If not taken in Stage 3, students MUST TAKE PHYC30050 and PHYC30090 in Stage 4.
Stage 4 Options - B)MIN3OF: Students should select a minimum of 3 Option modules from the list below. Students who are required to register to the Programme Core PHYC30050 or PHYC30090 should only register to 4 modules from this list. Students who are required to register to both PHYC30050 and PHYC30090 should select 3 modules from this list. Students who take ACM41040 must also take ACM40750.
ACM40750	Gen Relativity & Black Holes	Autumn	5
PHYC30100	Stellar Astrophysics & Astronomical Techniques	Autumn	5
PHYC40120	General Relativity & Cosmology	Autumn	5
PHYC40470	Computational Biophysics and Nanoscale Simulations	Autumn	5
PHYC40930	Ultrafast Soft X-ray Photonics	Autumn	5
PHYC41070	Techniques in Biophysics	Autumn	5
ACM30200	Mathematical Fluid Dynamics I	Spring	5
ACM41040	GR and Gravitational Waves	Spring	5
PHYC40030	Galaxies, Observational Cosmology & the Interstellar Medium	Spring	5
PHYC40110	Medical Physics (Selected Topics)	Spring	5
PHYC40200	Quantum Theory of Condensed Matter	Spring	5
PHYC40210	Applied Optics	Spring	5
PHYC40360	Theoretical Astrophysics	Spring	5
PHYC40650	Advanced Statistical Physics	Spring	5
PHYC40800	Quantum Field Theory	Spring	5
Stage 4 Options - B)MIN3OF: Students should select a minimum of 3 Option modules from the list below. Students who are required to register to the Programme Core PHYC30050 or PHYC30090 should only register to 4 modules from this list. Students who are required to register to both PHYC30050 and PHYC30090 should select 3 modules from this list. Students who take ACM41040 must also take ACM40750.

		Award		GPA
Programme	Module Weightings	Rule Description	Description
BHSCI001	Stage 4 - 70.00% Stage 3 - 30.00%	Standard Honours Award	First Class Honours	3.68	4.20
			Second Class Honours, Grade 1	3.08	3.67
			Second Class Honours, Grade 2	2.48	3.07
			Pass	2.00	2.47