Undergraduate Women in Physics
Research at MIT
The physics department has four main divisions, and in many ways each division operates like a mini-department with its own colloquium series, degree requirements, funding peculiarities, and sense of community. Besides the divisions within the physics department, inter-disciplinary research centers also contain groups from the physics department.
You can find more information at the MIT physics research website.
Astrophysics
The Astrophysics Division is closely affiliated with the Center for Space Research. Facilities and research groups include:
- Chandra X-ray Observatory
- High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE-2)
- Constellation-X
- George R. Wallace Jr. Astrophysical Observatory
- Gravitation and Cosmology Research Group (LIGO)
- Magellan Optical Observatory
- Low Frequency Array (LOFAR)
- MIT Haystack Radio Observatory
- Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE)
Condensed matter, atomic, and biological physics
The many groups that work in this area are mostly divided between:
- Condensed Matter Theory
- Center for Materials Science and Engineering
- Research Laboratory for Electronics (Atomic Molecular and Optical, Plasma, Quantum-Effect Devices, Surfaces and Interfaces)
Available facilities include:
- Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory
- Neutron and Synchrotron X-ray Scattering Facilities at Brookhaven National Laboratory
Laboratory for Nuclear Science
The Laboratory for Nuclear Science is comprised of many groups. Along with the Center for Theoretical Physics, here are some of the entities that make up this division:
- Bates Linear Accelerator Center
- Electromagnetic Interactions Group
- HERMES - an Internal Polarized Target Experiment
- Lepton-Quark Studies
- Nuclear Interactions Group
- Particle Physics Collaboration
- Relativistic Heavy Ion Group (Phobos)
Plasma physics
The MIT Plasma Science & Fusion Center has a number of research groups and experiments within the subfield of plasma physics: