Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics

About You

Are you the type of person who enjoys understanding the details of how current technologies work? Would you like to use this understanding to develop new technologies and applications? Do you want to have flexibility in choosing your career?  If so, this programme might suit you.

Why Study Applied Physics in UL?

In short, the top reasons for studying applied physics at UL are:

1. A pragmatic balance between fundamental and applied aspects of physics.

2. Strong emphasis on problem-solving skills making graduates highly desirable as employees in industry, academia and research.

3. Strong engagement in research ensuring that graduates are up to date with the latest developments in applied physics.

4. Outstanding links with local industry for cooperative placement, collaborative research and employment.

5. A friendly, collaborative, and highly collegial environment that stimulates innovative thinking and promotes the highest standard of accomplishment in tackling challenges.

The UL link with industry is one of the strongest in Ireland. With both directly funded and state-sponsored active collaborative research, the Department of Physics at UL is working with companies such as Analog Devices, COOK Medical, Intel, and BorgWarner. In addition to advancing science and developing new products, this engagement also creates employment opportunities for the graduates of the BSc in Applied Physics course. UL’s pioneering Cooperative placement programme also ensures that the graduates are engaged with industry from an early stage of their career and can adapt to the high levels of skill and professionalism required in industry.

Faculty members teaching this course are deeply involved in research and are continually generating scientific breakthroughs and next generation technologies. The Department has an outstanding track record in scientific publications, patents and generation of intellectual property. Examples of scientific advances and technological innovations pioneered in the Department include piezoelectricity in synthetic bone material, infrared nanoscopy, and vanadium redox flow batteries.

Many of the Department’s faculty members are also members of the Bernal Institute, one of the leading research institutes in Ireland, which houses nationally unique microscopy, spectroscopy and process infrastructure. Students gain access to this infrastructure through undergraduate laboratory courses and fourth year projects.

The programme is four years in duration.The first two years provide you with a strong foundation in the following areas:

• Mechanics
• Thermodynamics
• Optics
• Electromagnetism
• Modern Physics
• Experimental Physics
• Chemistry
• Electronics
• Computing
• Mathematics

The third and fourth years of study provide core material in the following areas:

• Quantum Mechanics
• Semiconductors
• Nanotechnology
• Computational Physics
• Medical Instrumentation

An important element of the final year is an Applied Physics project which gives you the opportunity to study a problem in depth. During the Spring Semester and Summer of third year a period of Cooperative Education gives you the experience of the application of Physics in an industrial environment.

For further details, go to www.physics.ul.ie

Entry to this program is through LM125: Batchelor of Science in LM125: Batchelor of Science in Physics (Common entry). Before the end of Semester 1, you will have chosen to pursue a degree in Applied Physics or Mathematics and Physics. Outlined below is the Applied Physics route from Semester 2. 

Please refer to the Entry requirements for

LM125: Bachelor of Science in Physics (Common Entry) 

The Applied Physics degree grants flexibility and freedom in choosing a career. Applied physics has the obvious advantage over pure physics courses, for example astrophysics, in that our graduates are better positioned to fill lucrative industrial roles.

Many of our graduates, for instance, are employed by market leaders such as Intel Ireland, Analog Devices, and ASML. 

Applied Physics is sufficiently broad in scope that our graduates are working throughout the high technology sector in areas including computer software (Google, Avaya), electronics (Molex, Microsemi), enterprise services (Accenture, SAP), and medical devices (Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, and Stryker).

Recent graduates have established careers in areas like;

• Semiconductor Devices and Microelectronics
• Lasers and Optoelectronics
• Sensors
• Telecommunications
• Materials Science
• Geophysics
• Bio and Medical Physics
• Energy

Follow-on Study

Our graduates have a good understanding of mathematics and experimental techniques allowing further study to MSc and PhD levels in various areas of science, engineering, mathematics and even quantitative areas of finance and economics.

Want to find out more about possible careers with this degree? Click Here