Areas of Study

There are many areas of study that physics students may find interesting. Of course, these include the subfields of physics, but physics applications can also appear in a wide range of other fields as well. At Cornell, a few departments worth exploring are AEP, Astronomy, MechE, ECE, Chemistry, and Biology. We have summarized the major areas of interest below. Each page includes research opportunities in different departments at Cornell, suggestions for relevant courses beyond the core sequence, and other opportunities for engaging with these areas of study.

Course recommendations for each subfield is summarized in the appendix of the “graduate handbook” (known as the yellow book)

Physics research areas:

• Astrophysics, General Relativity and Cosmology
• Biological Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Elementary Particle/Accelerator Physics
• Physics Education Research

AEP research areas:

• Fusion and Plasma Physics
• Quantum Information Science

Other research areas:

• Other research areas