Department of Physics

We are one of the UK's top Physics departments and have a reputation for high-quality teaching, driven by outstanding research, performed in an inclusive and welcoming community.

Welcome to the Department of Physics at Durham

The Physics Department is a thriving centre for research and education.

We are proud that our Department closely aligns the teaching and learning experience for its students with the research-intensive values and practices of the University. Research-led teaching is embedded at all levels from first year laboratory reports to our final year MSci flagship individual research projects.

The Department incorporates the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics, is home to the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology and the Institute for Computational Cosmology. The Ogden Centre is also the base for our innovative outreach programme for school children and their teachers.

A graphic showing an on-campus scene of students walking past the modern, glass-sided library building with the University's Physics and Astronomy Top 100 ranking emblazoned on it

Find out more about us

2nd in the Guardian University Guide 2024

3rd for Physics and Astronomy in the Complete University Guide 2024

96% of our research outputs are world-leading or internationally excellent (REF 2021)

3rd in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023

Just got your grades?

We look forward to welcoming you to Physics. Find out what to do next below.

Before you arrive Welcome and Induction

News

Physics Department honours staff excellence with Department Awards

The annual Physics Department Awards for Excellence took place at 2pm on Tuesday 14 September. Held virtually on Zoom this year, there were a series of science talks aimed at all members of the department, followed by the presentation of awards. The awards recognise staff who carry out exceptional work, and go that extra mile.

Stocki image of a winners trophy and confetti

Exciting new studentship exploring the potential of nascent quantum technology

We are excited to announce a new collaboration in the field of quantum computing! Working with Dunnhumby, a global leader in customer data science, this project will fund a postgraduate student to work with Dr Nicholas Chancellor within the Quantum, Light & Matter (QLM) group to explore the potential of nascent quantum technology in solving hard real-world data-science problems.

Durham to power up next generation of fusion scientists and engineers

Researchers in our Physics Department will receive funding for the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Fusion Power from the UK’s biggest-ever investment in engineering and physical sciences doctoral skills.

Prestigious award for future leader Dr Sownak Bose

Durham is a hub for research excellence and our academics prove that year in and year out through their ground-breaking research. We are delighted that Dr Sownak Bose, from the Department of Physics, has been awarded the Future Leaders Fellowship for his research project into Fundamental Cosmology.

Skyrmion Scientists win Postgraduate Prizes

Two Postgraduate students in the Condensed Matter Physics research group, Max Birch and Luke Turnbull, were recently were awarded postgraduate prizes by the Departmental Postgraduate Committee.

Tackling the puzzle of dark matter

Our astronomers are part of an international team that has taken another step towards solving the puzzle of what dark matter might be made of.

The research compared the 'gravitational lensing', or bending of light rays by gravity, by galaxies of different types. Image credit: Bart Delsaert

Astronomers apply their skills to cancer research

You might not think that studying the universe could benefit research into serious illnesses like cancer, but Durham’s astronomers have joined forces with cancer researchers to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Physicists and students from the Physics Department use data modelling to fight the spread of Covid-19

A team led by Prof. Frank Krauss and including Prof. Richard Bower and 8 of our Ph.D. students from the Centre for Doctoral Training in Data-Intensive Science (CDT) have created a simulation in the form of an agent-based model, which describes the spread of an epidemic such as COVID-19 through a virtual population.

Image manipulation of the coronavirus inside the globe

Answering the question of Supergalactic Plane’s missing spiral galaxies

Our cosmologists have found an answer to why spiral galaxies like our Milky Way are largely missing from part of our Local Universe called the Supergalactic Plane.

An elliptical and spiral galaxy sit side by side against a backdrop of space and stars

Skyrmions spinning off the track!

Many possible spintronic applications of skyrmions involve their motion along pre-determined race tracks. Skyrmions can be moved with much lower energy than ferromagnetic domain walls, but there is a problem. Among the many unusual properties of skyrmions is the tendency of their direction of motion to deviate from that of a driving force; the angle by which they diverge is known as the skyrmion Hall angle and is a result of the topology giving rise to a Magnus force in its equation of motion.

Dr Jurgen Schmoll, Astronomer and Instrument Scientist at Durham, captures superb images of partial solar eclipse

Dr Jurgen Schmoll, Astronomer and Instrument Scientist within CfAI and the Department of Physics here at Durham, has captured superb images and timelapse video of today's partial solar eclipse.

Light-bending gravity reveals one of the biggest black holes ever found

A team of astronomers, led by Dr James Nightingale from our Department of Physics, has discovered one of the biggest black holes ever found by taking advantage of a phenomenon called gravitational lensing.