Physics and Astronomy

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The Department of Physics and Astronomy provides facilities for students intending to proceed to the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees.

Enquiries: 905 525-9140 Ext. 24558
E-mail: pa_grad@mcmaster.ca
Website: http://www.physics.mcmaster.ca

Faculty / Fall 2026

Distinguished University Professors

Bruce D. Gaulin, B.Sc. (McGill), Ph.D. (McMaster), F.R.S.C.
Christine D. Wilson, B.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Caltech), F.R.S.C.

Science Research Chair

Graeme M. Luke, B.Sc. (Queen’s), Ph.D. (British Columbia) / Acting Chair

Professors

Clifford Burgess, B.Sc. (Waterloo), Ph.D. (Texas), F.R.S.C.
Soo Hyun Byun, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Seoul National University)
Alan Chen, B.Sc. (Toronto), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Yale)
Kari Dalnoki-Veress, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Guelph)
Cecile Fradin, B.Sc., Ph.D. (Paris) / Joint appointment with Biochemistry
Paul Higgs, B.A., Ph.D. (Cambridge) / Joint appointment with Biochemistry
Takashi Imai, B.Sc., Ph.D. (Tokyo)
Sung-Sik Lee, B.Sc. (Korea Adv. Inst. of Science and Technology), Ph.D. (Pohang)
Duncan O’Dell, B.Sc. (Imperial), Ph.D. (Bristol) / Associate Chair and Graduate Advisor
Laura Parker, B.Sc. (Mount Allison), Ph.D. (Waterloo) 
Maikel C. Rheinstadter, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Saarland, Germany)
An-Chang Shi, B.Sc. (Fudan), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Illinois)
Alison Sills, B.Sc. (Western), Ph.D. (Yale) 
Erik Sorensen, B.Sc., M.Sc. (Aarhus), Ph.D. (U.C. Santa Cruz)
James Wadsley, B.Sc. (Monash), Ph.D. (Toronto)

Associate Professor

Patrick Clancy, B.Sc. (St.Francis Xavier), M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Hari Kunduri, B.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Cambridge) / Joint appointment with Mathematics & Statistics
Sergey Sibiryakov, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Moscow)

Assistant Professor

Ryan Cloutier, B.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)
Fereshteh Rajabi, B.Sc. (Tehran), M.A. (Wesleyan), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Western)
Christopher Rowley, B.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)

Associate Members

Adrian Kitai (Engineering Physics)
Gitanjali Kolhatkar (Engineering Physics)
Maureen Lagos (Material Science and Engineering)
José Moran-Mirabal (Chemistry and Chemical Biology)
Yurij Mozharivskyj (Chemistry and Chemical Biology)
Muhammed Simsek (Biology)
Benzhong Zhao (Civil Engineering)

Adjunct Members

James Forrest, B.Sc. (British Columbia), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Guelph)
Gavin Hester, B.Sc. (Missouri), Ph.D. (Colorado)
Annika Lennarz, Ph.D. (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität)
Rob Wickham, B.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Chicago)
Chris Wiebe, B.Sc. (Winnipeg), M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)

Professors Emeriti

William E. Harris, B.Sc. (Alberta), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto), F.R.S.C.
Fiona E. McNeill, B.Sc. (Edinburgh), Ph.D. (Birmingham)
Ralph E. Pudritz, B.Sc. (British Columbia), M.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D.(British Columbia)
Douglas L. Welch, M.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)

Research in Physics and Astronomy

Opportunities for research are described in detail on the web at http://www.physics.mcmaster.ca/. The areas of research are concentrated in the following fields:

Astrophysics - A. Chen, R. Cloutier, W. Harris, L. Parker, R. Pudritz, F. Rajabi, A. Sills, J. Wadsley, D. Welch, C. Wilson.
Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics - D. O’Dell.
Computational and Theoretical Physics - C. Burgess, W. Ji, S. Lee, D. O’Dell, R. Pudritz, F. Rajabi, A. Shi, S. Sibiryakov, A. Sills, E. Sorensen, J. Wadsley.
Condensed Matter Physics - P. Clancy, B. Gaulin, T. Imai, W. Ji, S. Lee, G. Luke, E. Sorensen.
Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics - K. Dalnoki-Veress, C. Fradin, P. Higgs, M. Rheinstadter, A. Shi.
Medical and Health Physics - S.H. Byun, F.E. McNeill, C. Rowley.
Nuclear Physics Experiment - A. Chen.

Programs

• Physics and Astronomy, M.Sc.

• Physics and Astronomy, Ph.D

• Physics and Astronomy Courses

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