About the Department

Message from the Chair

Lin Oliver, Department Chair

Lin Oliver, Department Chair

Welcome to the Physics Department at the University of Arkansas! I invite you to explore our undergraduate and graduate degree programs, our excellent and diverse research activities, the outstanding faculty, staff, and students who are here to serve you, and the many other events and activities in the life of our department.


Our International Reputation and Stellar Faculty

We have a strong international reputation in nanoscience and quantum materials, condensed matter physics, computational physics, quantum optics and quantum information, astrophysics, and biophysics including neuro-physics.

Our research faculty consists of more than twenty regular faculty, a few teaching faculty, and many research faculty and postdoctoral associates. Nearly all of our faculty mentor both graduate and undergraduate students.

Our faculty currently are fellows and serve as editors of major journals, including:

Last year our department had more than $3.5 million in research expenditures, and published well over 100 refereed journal articles, many in top-tier scientific journals such as Physical Review Letters and Nature.  

About Our Ph.D. Graduates

Recent graduates of our Ph.D. program have taken postdoctoral positions at:

  • Harvard University,
  • University of Wisconsin at Madison,
  • Brookhaven National Laboratory, and 
  • the Naval Research Laboratory just to name a few.

Others have taken positions at companies such as the Intel Corporation and Raytheon.

About Our Undergraduates

Recent graduates are currently in grad programs at:

  • California Institute of Technology, 
  • Columbia University,
  • Georgetown University,
  • University of California at Santa Barbara,
  • University of Maryland,
  • University of Oklahoma,
  • University of Texas, and
  • University of Colorado, to name only a few.

Others have gone on to work at companies such as Google and IBM. Some are in medical school, and others are in the U.S. military.

About the City of Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas

The University is located in Fayetteville, an environmentally friendly town of about 75,000 people in the beautiful Ozark Mountains. It enjoys a vibrant cultural life and a moderate climate with extended spring and fall seasons and an occasional snow day in winter.

Fayetteville makes top 5 list of best places to live for third year in a row
  – Fayetteville Flyer, April 10, 2018

Amenities and notable attractions in the Northwest Arkansas (NWA) region include:

  • Over 100 miles of bike trails, connecting the entire region
  • Multiple nearby state parks, lakes and rivers
  • The internationally renowned Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
  • Exceptionally low cost of living

Again, thank you for stopping by and please contact us if you have any questions about the University, our department, or any of our programs.