School of Physics & Astronomy
Welcome to the School of Physics and Astronomy
We are a highly prestigious Physics department with 135 year history of nationally and internationally leading research and teaching. Over 60 academic and academic related staff, 25 support and technical staff and 70 research students, combine with 500 undergraduates to form a lively community, part of an established research-focused university.
Protein tug-of-war
Protein molecules curl up like tangled balls of string; to find out how they work, you have to unfold them. If they were balls of string, you would pull on each end - and that's exactly what Dr Lorna Dougan and her colleagues are doing here at Leeds, using atomic force microscopes. It's like a tug-of-war, but on a tiny scale: protein molecules need just a few hundred piconewtons to stretch them out to a few tens to hundreds of nanometres long.
Latest News
Paid Research Placements for our Undergraduates
Are you in the 2nd or 3rd year of your degree and would like to get some research experience? The School of Physics & Astronomy will be sponsoring its talented, enthusiastic students to spend summer 2012 working in research groups within the School. The deadline for applications is 8th January 2012.
Postgraduate Research Open Evening – 7th December 2011
Interested in finding out more about studying for a PhD in the School of Physics and Astronomy? Well, come along to our Open Evening to hear about our ground-breaking research and priority projects, about scholarships and studying at postgraduate level, and about how to apply. Refreshments will be available.
New date set: Stoner Colloquium on The Genuis of Michael Faraday
A new date has now been set for the Stoner Colloquium with Sir John Meurig Thomas which was postponed in November 2011. The talk on "The Genius of Michael Faraday" will take place on Thursday 23rd February 2012 at 6.15pm. All Stoner Colloquia are open to the public.
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I was really surprised at how demanding the course was - and that not all physics people are geeks!
Sammy Stanley, BSc Physics 2011