Apr 02, 2025  
2024-2025 Catalog 
    
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2024-2025 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Physics, Computation and Data Science Emphasis, B.S.

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Physics, Computation and Data Science Emphasis, B.S. Four-Year Course Plan  

Requirements for the Physics Major

To receive the B.S. in Physics, students must adhere to General Education   and School of Natural Sciences Requirements . The Physics program consists of 78-85 units with a minimum of 24 courses (12 lower division and 12 upper division) designed to give all students a common foundation of core knowledge specific to the discipline, plus breadth in an application area.

Lower Division Major Requirements [42 Units]

Chemistry Requirement [4 units]

Complete the following course:

Computer Science Requirement [4 units]

Complete one of the following courses:

Mathematics Requirement [20 units]

Complete the following five mathematics courses:

Physics Requirement [14 units]

Complete the following lower division physics courses. Note that registration in PHYS 008 and PHYS 009 also requires registration in a corresponding Lab and Discussion. 

Upper Division Core Physics Courses [28 Units]

Complete all of the following courses:

Senior Thesis Requirement [4-5 Units]

All students are required to complete a senior thesis usually based on independent research performed under the tutelage of a faculty advisor. Typically, this research is the culmination of a student’s emphasis track (see below). The thesis advisor may be a faculty member in either physics or another discipline, allowing for the possibility of cross-disciplinary research projects. To complete the thesis, a student must take (at least) 2 units of PHYS 195  and 2 units of PHYS 196 , typically in the fall and spring, respectively, of the senior year. Note that PHYS 196  can only be taken once, and PHYS 195  can be repeated.

Alternatively, students with an industry focused career in mind may choose to complete this requirement with the Engineering Capstone Design Courses where the student will work in multidisciplinary teams on completing design projects presented by industrial partners.

Requirements for Computation and Data Science Emphasis [11-12 Units]

Computation and Data Science focuses on computational analysis and simulation of physical systems as well as extracting physically meaningful results from large or complex data sets. These techniques allow students to use high powered computing to understand the world around us with applications from astrophysics to biology and public health to business.

Required Computation and Data Science Courses [8 units]

Complete the following courses:

Additional Elective Course [3-4 units]

Complete at least one additional course from this list. Other courses may be substituted with assigned faculty advisor approval.

Transfer Students

To be admitted to the Physics major transfer students must meet the following requirements:

Applicants will, at the time of admission have completed at minimum each of the following courses (or their equivalent) with a “C-” or better:

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