Graduate Research

Graduates of the Department of Physics’ Ph.D. program have participated in high-level research that often dramatically impacts the course of their careers. Many even go on to make groundbreaking discoveries in the field.

For example, while at UAB, Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green worked with Prof. Sergey Mirov on using nanotechnology to target cancer cells. She would go on to become one of fewer than 100 Black women physicists in the U.S. and make discoveries that could forever change treatment for cancer patients.

The graduates of the Physics Ph. D. program found jobs:

• In Research and Development departments, at companies such as ProPlate, Dynetics, Fujitsu, Georgia Tech Research Institute, and Relativistic Expression
• As Data Scientists, at companies such as Shipt, Avigo Solutions, or Regions Bank  
• As University Faculty, at King AbdulAziz University, Samford, Birmingham Southern College, Cincinnati State, and Berry College
• As Staff or Postdocs in National Laboratories, such as Lawrence Livermore, Sandia, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
• As Postdoctoral Researchers in Universities, such as CREOL, University of Central Florida, Penn State, University of Colorado, UAB Radiology, and UAB Biomedical Engineering

Research Areas

As a graduate student in the Department of Physics, you will have the opportunity to choose between three focused research areas where the UAB Physics department has developed excellence and national and international recognition. You can perform your Ph.D. work on research topics that may include the following:

Computational and Theoretical Physics

Experimental Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

Experimental Optical and Terahertz Spectroscopy and Laser Physics