Physics Major Requirements and Advising

Choose among three Major tracks or a Minor

If you are considering a major or minor in physics, please look at the Physics Majors handbook. This Handbook is your definitive source of information about the options and requirements for pursuing a bachelor's degree in physics. It includes information about honors degrees and the physics minor.  It also contains checklists of requirements for the three degree tracks, which you can also find directly at these links. For majors who entered before Fall 2023:  P-trackA-track, and  G-track and for majors who entered Fall 2023 or later: P-trackA-track, and  G-track. For current students, we suggest copying these to your drive and filling them out when meeting with your advisor.

The basic requirement for the Physics minor is 15 credits at the 200-level and above. Please see the Physics Majors handbook for details.

You can declare a physics major or minor or set up a meeting with the Undergraduate Program Director, available by email at upd@physics.umass.edu, to discuss this further.

Advising

Every student in Physics is assigned a faculty member who will be their academic advisor until graduation. Departmental advisors are charged with helping majors (and potential majors) with career planning, program requirements, curriculum scheduling, independent study projects, and whatever else is on the student's mind.Find your advisor in the list below.

Chief advisor, Contact for transfer and change-of-major students:
Prof. Don Candela, PSB W112
email: upd@physics.umass.edu
 
Honors Coordinator
Prof. Jun Yan
email:yan@physics.umass.edu
Class of 2027:
Professors Ben Brau (LGRT 1040) and Shubha Tewari (HAS 301)  
Class of 2026:
Professors David Kawall (PSB W105) and Lorenzo Sorbo (LGRT 417C) 
Class of 2025:
Professors Guy Blaylock (LGRT 1127B) and Stephane Willocq (LGRT 1042)  
Class of 2024:
Professors Benny Davidovitch (HAS 405B) and Verena Martinez Outschoorn (LGRT 1032)