With over $1
million in recent grants
for renovation and research, the
Department of Physics at Hope College is one of the leading undergraduate
physics departments in the country. Student-faculty collaborative
research has been funded by
- industry,
- the
National Science Foundation,
- Research Coporation for Science Advancement,
- NASA,
- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute,
- The
Pew Foundation,
- The Midstates Consortium for Math and Science,
- the
Michigan Space Grant Consortium.
This
department is often cited as a model in the preparation of scientists
for graduate study.
Introductory courses are taught in the General Physics Lab. Advanced
students cut their teeth in the advanced
lab.
Upon joining
the department, physics majors are invited to join a group. The
groups in the Hope Physics Department are
Physics
is an investigative science testing theory against experimental
measurements. It is the student-faculty research programs that set
Hope Physics apart from that at most schools. All of the research grants and all
of the equipment grants support the education of undergraduates
exclusively. You need to be neither a graduate student nor a senior
to get your hands dirty being a physicist in this department. Whether running experiments
on campus, at national laboratories or at international laboratories,
Hope's physics majors are given the responsibilities and privileges
of graduate researchers.
- Introductory
labs teach research methods to freshmen so they can begin their
scientific careers immediately.
- Many
physics majors receive summer financial support. This includes
budget for materials and equipment as well as the most important
part - a stipend!
- By,
or more likely before, your senior year you will be a full collaborator
with a faculty mentor. Physics majors present papers at national
meetings. They are co-authors in scientific journals.
The result is that our
graduates are sought out by the leading graduate schools and
by an extensive variety of industrial and government employers.
|
