Department of Chemistry and Physics

Description of Department

The Department of Chemistry and Physics offers courses leading to the B.S. degree in chemistry and to the B.S. and M.S. degrees in physics. The chemistry program prepares students for employment as professional chemists; for further study in graduate schools; for professional training in medicine, dentistry and/or pharmacy; and for secondary school science teaching. The physics program prepares students employment as professional physicists, for engineering positions, for graduate study in physics and related areas, and for secondary school science teaching. The Department's faculty has a long and productive research history in biomedical matter and hall effect research. Students and faculty participate in local and national professional chemistry and physics organizations.

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Mission of the Department

The Department's mission is to provide quality and challenging academic programs in chemistry and physics. Additionally, the Department seeks to advance the knowledge of chemistry and physics through research and to promote the understanding of chemistry and physics through offering appropriate courses to meet a variety of student needs.

Read the Department's >5-year plan<.

General Objectives

The Department of Chemistry and Physics will:

• Provide the basic training preparing students to become competent professional chemistry and physicists.
• Help students gain knowledge and develop the necessary skills to study chemistry or physics at the doctorate level.
• Prepare students to become secondary school teachers of chemistry or physics.
• Promote research and engage in research activities to advance knowledge.
• Provide appropriate courses for all students seeking or requiring knowledge of chemistry and/or physics.

The Programs

The Chemistry Programs

The Chemistry Major prepares students for further training at the graduate level, professional or medical programs or to perform a variety of functions as scientists in industry and government. The major has four concentrations or options,Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pre-Pharm and Endorsement in Education. A forensics option is currently under revision.

The Physics Programs:

The Physics Major provides basic training for those who plan to enter employment as physicists immediately upon graduation or to pursue graduate study. The Non-Endorsement provides a flexible option that trains persons who want to obtain a physics-based broad liberal arts education. The Endorsement on Education in Physics prepares students to become teachers in secondary schools. The Engineering Physics option is designed to prepare students for careers in engineering and/or advanced study in engineering schools.

The Department offers a program of studies leading to the Master of Science in Physics degree. Current research specialties include fabrication, characterization and computer simulation of nanocrystalline magnetic materials, the study of magnetic properties of materials, including rare-earth alloys and superconductors, by neutron scattering and muon spin rotation, and high-precision bulk magnetic techniques. Additional research capabilities include computer modeling of radiation damage in solids, Hall Effect studies of solids, and medium-energy nuclear physics.

With funding from the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research, VSU has established a Center for Interactive Micromagnetics, in which four faculty and several graduate students are participating. The VSU Magnetism Laboratory houses the world's most precise magnetometer, a differential scanning calorimeter, and a cluster of ten computers that simulate the micromagnetic behavior of magnetically ordered materials. The Mechanical Milling Laboratory houses a puck-and-saucer mill that is used to produce unique nanocrystalline materials, plus an annealing furnace for heat treatment.

The VSU physics program has close relationships with a number of research laboratories, including the NASA Langley (Hampton, VA) and Goddard (Maryland) facilities. Two faculty have Visiting Scientist appointments at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Neutron Scattering Facility in Maryland, and two have similar appointments to the Tri-University Meson Facility (TRIUMF) in British Columbia. The VSU helium dilution refrigerator is housed at TRIUMF, where it is utilized for ultra-low-temperature experiments.

Virginia State University is one of the three founding members of the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA), which has grown to include 41 universities from across the Southeast. SURA operates the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, located in Newport News, Virginia, for the Department of Energy.

Requirements for the Master of Science degree in physics include 30 semester hours of course work (15 of which must be in 500-level physics lecture courses), an original research thesis, plus school-wide requirements.