The Department of Physics in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University has finalized a new addition to its undergraduate program called Areas of Emphasis (AOEs).

The AOEs encourage students to tailor and expand on the basic requirements for the bachelor of science degree in physics to develop specialized competencies in selected interest areas.

An AOE differs from a minor in the sense that a minor focuses only on one field, whereas the AOE can span more than two disciplines.

Often the argument is that physics is too broad. Weve built on the strengths of both our department and the University as a whole to give our students options for a more applied focus and help to show some of the future careers and graduate school opportunities that are available to them,explained Dr. Earl Scime, department chair.

The department worked to form agreements with the other colleges at WVU to provide their students access to many classes that were not previously available to them. For example, the astro/space physics AOE includes classes such as fluid dynamics, electrical circuits and digital imaging processing, all of which are offered through the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.

On average, AOEs require 24 more credit hours than the basic physics degree, and each requires either a summer research experience (at WVU or another institution) or a capstone experience.

This is not a light-hearted thing,Scime said.The AOEs emphasize research experience, and students choosing an AOE will receive practical in-depth study that will be useful for future employment and graduate study.

The available AOEs are applied physics, astro/space physics, biophysics, computational physics, materials science and medical physics.

For more information, contact Scime at Earl.Scime@mail.wvu.edu or visit the department website at www.as.wvu.edu/phys .