Department of Physics

The Physics department offers two ways to fulfill the writing-intensive curriculum (WIC) requirement in the major.

PH317 - Experimental Physics:

PH317 offers an in-depth experience with a few experiments, coupled strongly to the writing experience, just like the thesis option.  PH317 is currently offered in Winter term and enrollment is limited to 12 students.  More information about PH317, including how it operated under COVID-19 conditions in W2021, is available at https://physics.oregonstate.edu/ph317-experimental-physics-w2021.

PH403 - Thesis

Possible Thesis Projects for 2021/2022 & PH317 preference are at this link.

PowerPoint slides from the WIC presentation on 10 November 2020.

Overview of the thesis: Many Physics majors complete a senior thesis. The thesis can be based on experimental work in a laboratory, computational work using workstations or supercomputers, or theoretical work with paper and pencil. The ability to conduct research and to disseminate the results is the hallmark of a scientist. Research results need validation, so they are shared with the community to be examined, verified, and expanded upon. The written form is important because it is a permanent record, and allows other researchers to carefully critique the details of the work. We therefore connect the senior research project and thesis with the University’s WIC requirement. Each year, a WIC Culture of Writing award is made. Students participate in a departmental mini-conference at the end of spring term to give oral presentations of their work. The senior thesis also  fulfills the Honors College thesis requirement, and the "Undergraduate Research Fellow" transcript notation.

Thesis presentations, June 2016

Presentation on June 12, 2008

Timeline: First year, sophomore year: Look for research opportunities, begin research if possible; attend informational presentation in junior class in mid-late Fall term (watch calendar for details), attend senior presentations at the mini-conference in finals week of Spring term Junior year: Research projects underway, attend informational presentation in junior class in mid-late Fall term (watch calendar for details), attend senior presentations at the mini-conference in finals week of Spring term. Senior year (or final year of 5-year program): Continue research, enroll in PH403 for 1 unit in each of Fall, Winter, Spring. Complete thesis, give oral presentation in finals week of spring term.

Research: Research projects are usually under the supervision of a Physics Department faculty member, but physics-related research projects with faculty supervisors from other departments are common. In either case, register for PH401 (Research). Off-campus internships or REU projects (Research Experience for Undergraduates) are excellent avenues for conducting research. If you exercise this option to fulfill the research/thesis requirement, you must discuss it with the PH403 instructor before you go.  It is important that the off-campus mentor agrees ahead of time that the project is of appropriate scope and is willing to keep in contact through the year. You must also arrange to have an OSU faculty member be a local mentor.

Students should begin their research early, using freshman and sophomore years to explore research opportunities. Visit faculty members in their offices, browse their websites, talk to other students in the department, look at lists of former projects, attend presentations in the department to find out what type of research would be interesting to you. Find out about internships and summer research opportunities on and off campus. Organize meetings through SPS to educate yourselves about possibilities, invite faculty to speak about their work. You will gain the most from your research experience if it is sustained over a longer period, but you should plan to be working on a project no later than the spring of your junior year.

The physics major requires 3 units of PH401 (Research). There are separate sections for each research advisor. A typical timeline for PH401 research is 1 unit in the Spring of the Junior year and 1 unit in each of Fall and Winter of the Senior year. If you do research off-campus, the PH401 requirement may be replaced with other physics courses; discuss with the undergraduate advisor.

Previous senior thesis projects are listed below
OSU thesis WIC guidelines
NSF REU sites
SULI internships (Department of Energy)
NASA Internships (Fall, Spring, Summer and academic year deadlines)
OSU Undergraduate Research: Research opportunities, funding, events
College of Science SURE-Science awards (summer research $$)

Thesis: PH403 (Thesis) concerns the writing aspect of the research, and students enroll in 1 unit of PH403 in each of Fall, Winter and Spring of the senior year. You will need permission from the Physics office to register. These three total credits satisfy the OSU Writing Intensive Course (WIC) requirement of the OSU Baccalaureate Core requirement. Students meet weekly as a group to write a thesis proposal and to critique and revise their writing. They also discuss and write about issues relating to ethics, types of science writing, and logical presentation of ideas. In Winter and Spring, activities focus on the thesis itself, including significant time devoted to the writing and revision of the thesis. Steady progress and continual peer and advisor review are expected throughout. A typical thesis is about fifteen to twenty pages, or about 3,000 to 5,000 words. The goal is to have the thesis ready by week 6 of Spring term. This means that research should be substantially complete by the end of Winter term of the senior year.

Mini-Conference: After the written thesis is complete, class time is devoted to preparing 10-minute oral presentations, the standard at physics conferences. In the final week of Spring term, there is a mini-conference where students give oral presentations on their projects to the department.

Questions? Talk to the PH403 instructor or head advisor. Scroll to the end of the page for answers to common questions about the WIC and the senior thesis. For thesis advisors from outside departments, detailed information about the advisor's role is available.