The Department of Physics offers both an undergraduate program in physics and a PhD program in the general area of condensed matter.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES
The entrance requirement to the undergraduate program is the Finnish national high-school diploma including a major in mathematics or equivalent. The five-year program leading to a "magister" degree is geared to give the student a solid basis in physics with the idea of an easy subsequent specialization in whatever engineering environment he or she may drift into. We stress the importance of minor subjects and recommend courses in, for example, biological sciences, in addition to the obviously important mathematics and computer science. Other choices, such as chemistry or electronics, are available. An important option is Physics Education for a teaching career in the Swedish-language secondary schools of the country. There is also a program of Technical Physics jointly run with the School of Chemical Engineering. Technical Physics consists of basic studies in chemical engineering with an iron ration of physics at the end. Finally there is the possibility of specializing in medical physics.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Graduates from our PhD program have found employment in public and private research institutions, as teachers in engineering colleges and experts in various government regulatory and patent offices as well as in industrial product development. The employment profile of graduates with only the first degree is largely similar with the exception of academic research. Among our "magisters" there are people working at nuclear power stations and in hospitals and others in the service of various businesses selling, say, computers or research equipment.