In an academic world densely populated with (separate) Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics departments, APAM is unique in housing both disciplines, Materials Science and Engineering and Medical Physics programs within a single, unified, structure.

We have found that this arrangement promotes cross-fertilization of ideas, collaborative work and multidisciplinary research; it results in a vibrant, healthy, growing department that is able to deal with emerging problems rigorously and efficiently. Researchers from all disciplines collaborate on a diverse set of projects such as advanced computational analysis, nanoscience, energy and the environment, imaging and non-destructive testing, atmospheric and earth sciences, optical physics, condensed matter and materials physics, and biophysics and biomathematics. APAM faculty work closely with each other and with researchers from other departments, schools, national laboratories and companies within and outside the United States. Many hold joint appointments with other departments.

Our department conducts distinct undergraduate and graduate programs in the core disciplines of Applied Mathematics, Applied Physics and Materials Science and Engineering. The Medical Physics Program culminates in a Master of Science degree. The Certificate of Professional Achievement in Medical Physics program is available to post-graduate researchers from qualified institutions. All students are exposed to research conducted in all disciplines through different venues, giving them broad-based preparation and an appreciation for collaborative, multi-disciplinary, problem solving. This, we believe, is the way research should be done and will be done in the future.


Marc Spiegelman
Chair of the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics

Photo of Marc Spiegelman, APAM Chair

Marc Spiegelman

APAM Deparatment Chair
Arthur D. Storke Memorial Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Professor of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics