Physics Curriculum

Students of physics become model-builders of everything from black holes, to artificial intelligence, to the hidden patterns of the stock market. The collective knowledge, skills and experiences students gain through the Physics at USD make them highly competitive for prestigious scholastic awards, graduate school admissions and employment at leading technology and engineering companies.

Physics at USD explores how the universe operates, from subatomic scales to the intergalactic. Physics faculty do research on a range of cutting-edge topics including astrophysics, materials technology, plasma science, adaptive optics, computational physics, high-energy physics, alternative energy, biochemical engineering, and molecular and cellular biophysics. Students gain first-hand experience with advanced physics instrumentation including optical tweezers, light-sheet and confocal microscopes, tunable diode lasers, pulsed NMR and vacuum chambers.

Physics majors learn to recognize the fundamental principles that underlie all physical phenomena and question the phenomena that still mystify us. The physics minor provides foundational offerings in physics concepts and a range of elective courses.

Declare a Physics Major!

Explore Physics Courses

Read descriptions of our current physics classes on our Courses page! Not all courses offered will be available every semester. Make sure to check course offerings on the registration portal for each upcoming semester.