Graduate Studies in Physics
Positions are available for both MSc and PhD Physics students at the University of Lethbridge. The U of L Physics Department is research intensive – all regular faculty hold Discovery Grants from NSERC. Our department consists of 10 professors and 3 academic assistants, complemented currently by postdoctoral researchers and other research support staff. In Spring 2020, we will have 10 graduate students, a number we are working to increase. A significant number of undergraduate students are also involved in faculty research.
Find out more about current research areas.
Physics graduate study at the U of L offers the advantages of a small, dynamic, expanding department in a smaller university (~8K undergrads), in a small, pleasant city (population ~80K) close to the beautiful Rocky Mountains, with a very reasonable cost of living. Both undergraduate and graduate students enjoy the benefits of extensive and interactive supervision.
Faculty research areas cover a wide variety of topics. Listed below are the department members with independent research programs.
Dr. Saurya Das is a theorist with interests including general relativity, quantum gravity, black hole physics and thermodynamics, quantum computation and quantum information theory.
Dr. Arundhati Dasgupta's research interests are in the area of quantum gravity. She has used coherent or semi-classical states in quantum gravity to explain physics of black holes and the origin of their thermodynamic behavior.
Dr. David Naylor is an experimental astrophysicist. He is playing major roles in two large astronomy initiatives, one space-based (SPIRE) and the other ground-based (SCUBA2).
Dr. Steve Patitsas is an experimenter in surface physics. His group has built a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), now being used to manipulate individual molecules.
Dr. Adriana Predoi-Cross does laboratory spectroscopic studies of molecular species of atmospheric and astrophysical interest.
Dr. Behnam Seyed-Mahmoud is a geophysicist who studies the dynamics of the Earth’s core and exploration geophysics.
Dr. Locke Spencer is a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Experimental Astrophysics.
Dr. Masami Tatsuno's experimental research is aimed at understanding how REM and non-REM sleep contribute to memory consolidation.
Dr. Ken Vos is a theoretical condensed-matter physicist, working on the theory of strongly correlated electron systems, which include high temperature superconducting materials.
Dr. Mark Walton is a theoretician, who studies conformal field theories, their applications to string theory, and other topics in mathematical physics.
All students admitted to the graduate program can expect excellent financial support. There are opportunities to compete for more generous support in the form of postgraduate scholarships at both the national NSERC and provincial Alberta Ingenuity and Alberta Heritage Fund level.
Applications for M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs require preliminary discussion with prospective faculty advisors. Feel free to e-mail any of the members above, or contact the department chair of graduate studies.
Previous/Retired Faculty
Dr. Keramat Ali - Professor Emeritus
Dr. David Siminovitch - Professor Emeritus
Current Graduate Students Spring 2020 (supervisor):
M.Sc. Supervisor
Adam Christiansen David Naylor
Mustafa Hemeida Mark Walton
Tony Huber David Naylor
Alissa Kuhn Ken Vos
Akash Patel Arundhati Dasgupta
Ph.D. Supervisor
Christopher Benson Locke Spencer
Mitja Fridman Saurya Das
Md. Kamruzzaman Behnam Seyed-Mahmoud
Jeremy Scott Locke Spencer
Vasil Nikolaev Tordorinov Saurya Das
Graduates (supervisor):
MSc Graduates
Jakovljevic, Cvjetan, MSc Physics, 1996 (M. Walton)
Habot, Simon, MSc Physics, 1998 (D. Siminovitch)
Gom, Bradley, MSc Physics, 1999 (D. Naylor)
Smith, Graeme, MSc Physics, 2000 (D. Naylor)
Chapman, Ian, MSc Physics, 2003 (D. Naylor)
Tahic, Margaret, MSc Physics, 2004 (D. Naylor)
Schofield, Ian, MSc Physics, 2005 (D. Naylor)
Zhou, Jiamin, MSc Chemistry, 2005 (D. Naylor)
Ahmadi, Morteza, MSc Physics, 2006 (S. Das)
Horn, Steven, MSc Physics, 2006 (S. Patitsas)
Lindner, John, MSc Physics, 2006 (D. Naylor)
Liu, Weiming, MSc Physics, 2006 (S. Patitsas)
Maraghechi, Pouya, MSc Physics, 2006 (S. Patitsas)
Tipper, J. Mark, MSc Physics, 2006 (K. Vos)
Okeke, Nnamdi, MSc Physics, 2006 (M. Walton)
Querel, Richard, MSc Physics, 2007 (D. Naylor)
Vasudeva, Anildev, MSc Physics, 2007 (A. Predoi-Cross)
Yadav, Suraj, MSc Physics, 2007 (K. Vos)
Dahl, Regan, MSc Physics, 2008 (D. Naylor)
Jones, Scott, MSc Physics, 2012 (D. Naylor)
Ibrahim, Amr, MSc Physics, 2011 (A. Predoi-Cross)
Makiwa, Gibion, MSc Physics, 2011 (D. Naylor)
Zhang, Yuan, MSc Physics, 2011 (D. Naylor)
Rahmati, Shohreh, MSc Physics, 2012 (A. Dasgupta)
Sidhu, Steve MSc Physics, 2012 (M.Walton/S. Das)
Nzikou, Michel, MSc Physics, 2013 (B. Seyed-Mahmoud)
Rozario, Hoimonti, MSc Physics, 2013 (A. Predoi-Cross)
PhD Graduates
Spencer, Locke, PhD Earth and Physical Science, 2008 (D. Naylor)
Belchev, Borislav, PhD Physics, 2010 (M. Walton)
Querel, Richard, PhD Physics, 2010 (D. Naylor)
Ali, Ahmed Farag, PhD Physics, 2011 (S. Das)