I am pleased to inform you that Waterloo’s Department of Physics and Astronomy is ranked number one in Canada and number 38 in the world by the 2024 Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects. This continues our department’s steep upward trajectory in the world rankings over the past decade and places us among the elite departments in the world. This honour is a tribute to hard work by world-class faculty, staff, and students performing research and teaching of the highest order, all enabled by a sharp, dedicated, and efficient administrative staff.
- Rank of Physics & Astronomy in undergraduate enrolment (2019-2020) in North America: 4
- Top four ranking institutions in undergraduate Physics & Astronomy enrolment in North America: U. Washington (208), Illinois Urbana-Champaign (146), California, Berkeley (145), U. Waterloo (140)
- Rank of Physics & Astronomy in graduate enrolment (2020) in North America: 5
- Top five ranking institutions in North America in graduate physics enrolment: Illinois Urbana-Champaign (324), Colorado, Boulder (309), California, Berkeley (274), MIT (262), Waterloo (255)
- Number of international Physics undergraduates at Waterloo in 2021-2022: 207
- Number of incoming undergraduate women physics majors at Waterloo in 2022: 60
Waterloo is an exciting and welcoming place to learn and do research in Physics and Astrophysics. Evidently that view is widely shared. If you are considering us, visit and give us a look. Let us convince you to come to Waterloo.
Rob Hill
Chair, Physics & Astronomy
News
Entangled photon source gearing up for International Space Station
A single-photon detector and counting module (SPODECT) recently designed and built by Waterloo’s Quantum Photonics Lab for the International Space Station (ISS) will be used to verify quantum entanglement and test its survivability in space.
What comes after quantum?
Quantum theory, the physics of the very small, helps us to understand nature and our world by explaining and predicting the behaviour of atoms and molecules. Researchers at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) are interested in what comes after quantum theory, specifically the possibility of a broader theory that replaces quantum theory as a more complete description of nature.
Donna Strickland inducted into the National Academy of Sciences
Donna Strickland, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo and Nobel laureate in physics, was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), considered the most prestigious honorary scientific society in the United States.