Department of Physics and Astronomy

Program Offerings

http://www.physics.mcmaster.ca/#undergrads
Faculty as of January 15, 2026

CHAIR

Alison Sills

ASSOCIATE CHAIR (GRADUATE)

Duncan O’Dell

ASSOCIATE CHAIR (UNDERGRADUATE)

Miranda Schmidt

ASSOCIATE CHAIR (RESEARCH)

Kari Dalnoki-Veress

DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS

Bruce D. Gaulin/B.Sc. (McGill), Ph.D. (McMaster), Brockhouse Chair in the Physics of Materials, F.R.S.C.
Christine D. Wilson/B.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (California Institute of Technology), F.R.S.C.

PROFESSORS

Cliff Burgess/B.Sc. (Waterloo), Ph.D. (Texas), F.R.S.C.
Soo Hyun Byun/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Seoul National University)
Alan A. Chen/B.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Yale)
Kari Dalnoki-Veress/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Guelph)
Cécile Fradin/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Ecole Normale Supérieure), Ph.D. (Paris VI)
Paul G. Higgs/B.Sc., Ph.D. (Cambridge)
Takashi Imai/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Tokyo)
Sung-Sik Lee/B.Sc. (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Pohang)
Graeme M. Luke/B.Sc. (Queen’s), Ph.D. (British Columbia)
Duncan O’Dell/B.Sc. (Imperial), Ph.D. (Bristol)
Laura C. Parker/B.Sc. (Mount Allison), Ph.D. (Waterloo)
Maikel Rheinstädter/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Universität des Saarlandes)
An-Chang Shi/B.Sc. (Fudan), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Illinois)
Alison Sills/B.Sc. (Western Ontario), Ph.D. (Yale)
Erik S. Sorensen/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Århus), Ph.D. (California-Santa Cruz)
James Wadsley/B.Sc. (Monash), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)

ADJUNCT PROFESSORS

David Fleming/B.Sc. (Mount Alison), M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
James Forrest/B.Sc. (British Columbia), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Guelph)
Martin Smith/B.Sc. (Manchester), Ph.D (Liverpool)
Wytse Van Dijk/B.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Robert Wickham/B.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Chicago)
Christopher Wiebe/ B.Sc. (Winnipeg), M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)

ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS

Robert Cockcroft/B.Sc. (University College London), M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Kevin Diamond/B.Sc. (Waterloo), Ph.D. (McMaster)
Hari Kunduri/B.Sc. (Toronto), M.Math., Ph.D. (Cambridge)
Reza Nejat/B.Sc. (Tehran), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Missouri-Rolla)
Miranda Schmidt/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Guelph)
Sergey Sibiryakov/B.Sc. (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology), Ph.D. (Institute of Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

ASSISTANT PROFESSORS

Patrick Clancy/B.Sc. (St. Francis Xavier), M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Ryan Cloutier/B.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)
Eamonn Corrigan/B.Sc. (Trent), B.Ed. (Queen’s), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Guelph)
Rajabi Fereshteh/B.Sc. (Iran), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Western)
Wenjie Ji/B.Sc. (Tsinghua), Ph.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Christopher Rowley/B.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)

ADJUNCT ASSISTANT PROFESSORS

Jovica Atanackovic/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Fateen Basharat/B. Sc., M.Sc. (University of Dhaka, Bangladesh), Ph.D. (Metropolitan)
Viorica Bondici/B.Sc., Ph.D (Saskatchewan)
Priscilla Dreyer/B.Sc. (McMaster), Ph.D. (Toronto)
Andrei R. Hanu/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Gavin Hester/B.Sc. (Missouri), Ph.D (Colorado) - as of Jan 1, 2026
Robert Hunter/B.Sc., M.Sc, Ph.D (McMaster)
Eric Johnston/B.Sc. (Queens), Ph.D. (McMaster)
Annika Lennarz/B.Sc., Diploma, Ph.D. (Münster)
Baochang Liu/B.Sc. (China), M.Sc. (Brock), Ph.D. (McMaster)
Diana Moscu/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Karin Neilsen/B.Sc. (Denmark), M.Sc-Eramus exchange (Spain), M.Sc. (Denmark), Ph.D. (Denmark)
Karin Stephenson/B.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Ryan Studinski/B.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Christopher Thome/B.MSc. (Western), M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Jeroen Thompson/B.Sc.(Michigan), M.Sc. (Connecticut), Ph.D. (McMaster)
Zin Tun/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Burma), Ph.D. (McMaster)
Heather Marie Young/B.Sc (Waterloo), M.Sc, Ph.D (Western)

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Adrian Kitai/(Engineering Physics) B.Sc (McMaster), Ph.D (New York)
Qiyin Fang/(Engineering Physics) M.Sc., Ph.D. (East Carolina)
Gitanjali Kolhatkar/(Engineering Physics) B.Sc., M.Sc. (Ottawa), Ph.D. (Sherbrooke)
Maureen Lagos/(Materials Science and Engineering) B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Campinas)
Jose M. Moran-Mirabal/(Chemistry and Chemical Biology) B.Sc., M.Sc. (ITESM-Monterrey, Mexico), Ph.D. (Cornell)
Mike Noseworthy/(Electrical and Computer Engineering) B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Guelph)
Muhammed Simsek/(Biology) B.Sc. (Middle Eastern Technical, Turkey), M.Sc. (Rutgers), Ph.D. (SUNY)
Sarah Symons/(Interdisciplinary Science) B.Sc., Ph.D. (Leicester)
Yurij Mozharivskyj/(Chemistry & Chemical Biology), B.Sc, MSc (Ukraine), Ph.D (Iowa)
Robin Zhao/(Civil Engineering) B.Sc. (Waterloo), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Notes Applicable to all Programs Offered by the Department of Physics and Astronomy

The Department offers the following programs:
- Honours Astrophysics
- Honours Medical and Biological Physics
- Honours Physics
These programs consist of a speciﬁed set of basic requirements and a wide choice of electives (including those from outside the Faculty of Science), allowing for interdisciplinary studies or the opportunity to complete a Minor in another subject. Students are encouraged to read the Program Notes of each program for a list of additional sets of courses which are appropriate preparation for graduate studies in Physics, Astronomy, Medical Physics or Biophysics.
Transfer between options may be possible at any time, subject to satisfying the admission requirements.
Admission to Honours Medical and Biological Physics Co-op and Honours Physics Co-op is in Level III.
A Minor in Astronomy or a Minor in Astrophysics is not permitted in the Honours Medical and Biological Physics or Honours Physics programs.
Students with an interest in physics theory or wishing to take additional Level III, IV Mathematics courses should consider MATH 2XA3 , 2XB3 .

B.Sc. Three-Level Degree

A three-level program with a Physics orientation is available through the B.Sc. in Chemical and Physical Sciences .

Programs

Bachelor of Science (Honours)

Bachelor of Science

Chemical and Physical Sciences (B.Sc.)

Minor(s):