A photo featuring staff and students from Lancaster University's Physics Department

About Us

Welcome to the School of Physics and Astronomy at Lancaster University.

We're a community of students, researchers, academics and professional staff brought together by a shared curiosity about how the universe works. Whether we're exploring distant galaxies, probing the strange behaviour of quantum materials, studying the space environment around Earth, or developing technologies for the future, we're driven by a passion for discovery and a desire to make a difference.

Our research spans some of the biggest questions in science, from the smallest quantum scales to the largest structures in the cosmos. We work with partners across the world and play leading roles in international projects and facilities including CERN, the Extremely Large Telescope and the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. It's an exciting environment to be part of, and one where new ideas and new perspectives are always welcome.

That spirit of discovery is at the heart of everything we do. Our undergraduate and postgraduate students learn from academics who are advancing the frontiers of knowledge, and they have opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge research themselves. We believe that the best way to learn science is to be part of it.

Just as importantly, we are a friendly, supportive and collaborative community. Physics and astronomy can be challenging subjects, but they are also incredibly rewarding. We want everyone in our School to feel encouraged to ask questions, share ideas, develop confidence and realise their potential.

Whether you're thinking about studying with us, pursuing postgraduate research, exploring opportunities to collaborate, or simply finding out more about our work, I hope you'll get a sense of the enthusiasm, ambition and sense of community that make the School of Physics and Astronomy such a special place.

Professor Jim Wild
Head of School

Equality and Diversity

We are a friendly department with a warm atmosphere and a dedication to being inclusive, diverse and fair.

The Department of Physics consistently has a higher proportion of female physics professors than the national average (15% vs 12%). We welcome everyone and are strongly committed to fostering diversity within our community as a source of excellence, cultural enrichment, and social strength. Our family-friendly policy includes flexible working hours, maternity and paternity leave policies, and on-campus daycare for under-fives.

Lancaster University and the Department of Physics are also committed to breaking down barriers and improving access to Higher Education through its widening participation programmes.

The equality and diversity committee within the Department of Physics meets regularly to continue to strive for a welcoming, inclusive, diverse and fair department.

The University have appointed an Honorary Researcher who will explore factors underpinning the differing under-representation rates of some diversity groups undertaking physics degrees (such as gender, ethnicity, WP characteristics, etc.) using from Physics student registration data from the last 10 years. The project will use data already held by the University but will be provided to the researcher in an anonymous format. No individual students will be identifiable from the data used in the project. Although this is an internal research project at this point, there is a possibility that we may publish results or look to partner with other institutions to expand the research. Any future publication or partnership with other institutions will maintain the anonymity of the data used in the project.

This research is being carried out as a public task for the purpose of archiving, research and statistics. No decisions concerning individual students will be made in the course of this research project. For further information including the contact details of our Data Protection Officer, please refer to the University’s over-arching Research Privacy Notice. For further details on the research project, please contact Professor Jim Wild.

Athena SWAN Silver Award

Athena SWAN

Athena SWAN was established by the Equality Challenge Unit in 2005 to advance the careers of women in science, technology engineering, maths and medicine. In 2015 the Athena SWAN charter was expanded to other fields and to professional and support roles in Higher Education, and to be inclusive of trans staff and students and to address gender equality more broadly.‌

Lancaster University has held a Bronze Award since 2008, which was renewed in 2012. The Physics Department at Lancaster has been awarded an Athena SWAN Silver award in recognition of its commitment to Athena SWAN’s charter principles, which was renewed in 2022.

Institute of Physics logo

IoP Juno Champion

Just one in five undergraduates and lecturers and one in 25 physics professors in the UK are women. Lancaster University takes part in the Institute of Physics Juno project, which addresses the problem of the very low proportion of women in Physics, especially in more senior academic posts.

The Physics Department has been awarded Juno Champion status in July 2013, but we know that the road does not end there. The good practices and procedures that have led to this prestigious award will continue to be implemented and evolved through the coming years.

These include procedures such as:

  • Identifying discrepancies in the proportion of women applying for academic posts compared with the proportion that receives and accept offers
  • Monitoring staff and student views with regular surveys and questionnaires
  • Setting up the Physics Staff Advisory Committee with elected representatives from different staff groups within the Department

Our most recent Action Plan for Project Juno is available to view.

Contact and Find Us

By post

Physics Department
Lancaster University
Lancaster
United Kingdom
LA1 4YB

By email

General contact

physics@lancaster.ac.uk

Undergraduate admissions

physics-admissions@lancaster.ac.uk

Postgraduate enquiries

physics-postgrads@lancaster.ac.uk

We receive a lot of emails to this address - typically we try and respond within 24 hours, but this can be extended during busy periods.