Physics

The curriculum consists of over 400 different disciplines and practices, divided into blocks, which are chosen by students depending on their areas of research.
 

Examples of main academic courses: 

The blocks on fundamental theoretical and mathematical physics include: 

• Methods of Quantum Field Theory for Many-Particle Systems
• Multiphoton Ionisation of Atoms
• Theory of Quantum Liquids
• Theory of Magnetic Nanosystems
• Methods of Group Theory in Quantum Field Theory
• Theoretical-Field Approach in Elementary Particle Physics
• Relativistic Atomic Theory
• Pseudo-Differential Operators and Boundary Value Problems
• Asymptotic Methods in the Theory of Wave Propagation
• Fundamentals of Statistical Description of Developed Turbulence
• Quantisation of Gravitation Theory

The blocks of experimental physics include: 

• Optics of Low-Dimensional Systems
• Functional Insulator Materials
• Applied Molecular Spectroscopy
• Computer Technologies in Optics, Spectroscopy and Plasma Physics
• Photonics of Nanostructures and Solid Materials
• Photonics of Semiconductor Materials
• Applied Quantum Chemistry
• Computer Technologies in Condensed Systems Research
• Quantum Physics of Nanosystems. Laboratory Practice
• New information Technologies in Optics, Spectroscopy and Plasma Physics
• Materials for Photo- and Optoelectronics
• Computer-Aided Design of Digital Devices for a Physics Experiment. Practicum
• Theory and Technology of Silicon Carbide

The blocks of interdisciplinary physics include: 

• Molecular Biophysics
• Physical Chemistry of Polymers
• Research Methods of Polymers for Medicine and Pharmacology
• Methods of Geophysical Prospecting
• Numerical Simulation of Wave Fields in Anisotropic Elastic Media
• Computer Technologies in Earth Science
• Remote (Active) Sounding of the Atmosphere
• Chemical Physics
• Practicum in Biophysical Methods
• Molecular Physics of Liquid Crystals
• Basics of Physics of Biological Macromolecules
• Introduction to Genetic Engineering
• Computer Technologies in Polymer Science

The blocks of experimental physics on MEGA-Science facilities include: 

• Sources of Neutron and Synchrotron Radiation
• Theory of Interaction of Neutron Radiation with Matter
• Laboratory Practicum in Nuclear Physics
• Techniques for Experimental Investigation of Condensed Matter Using Neutrons and Synchrotron Radiation
• Theory of Interaction of Synchrotron Radiation (X-Rays) with Matter
• Heavy Ion Reactions
• Quark Structure of Hadrons
• Simulation of Neutron Instruments and Neutron Scattering Processes

The curriculum also includes the following general courses:

• English for Professional Communication
• Scientific Seminar
• Digital Culture: Technology and Security
• Business Administration

• The master's programme ‘Physics’ at St Petersburg University is one of the most copious in terms of the list of possible research areas of physics programmes in our country: students are given a choice of almost 20 different majors. Graduates of the master's programme ‘Physics’ can continue their professional training and research activities in their chosen research team and study in doctoral programmes at St Petersburg University.
• The school of thought at the Faculty of Physics at St Petersburg University has existed for almost a century and is renowned both in Russia and abroad. Our physics graduates work at leading universities and research institutes in Russia and throughout the world.
• Students build their individual educational trajectories that cover not only selected branches of physics, but also interdisciplinary areas. Training and research supervision are carried out by high-calibre professors, each of whom combines teaching and research activities. Students work on professional, expensive scientific equipment and have access to computing resources at the St Petersburg University Research Park, which is one of the best free access centres among all Russian universities. 
• Students present their research findings at conferences and participate in international internship programmes. Active students engaged in research are involved in conducting investigations supported by grants from research foundations and are co-authors of papers in scientific journals. Physics students participate in the St Petersburg University Project Workshop in engineering and IT projects on: developing unmanned aerial vehicles; robotics, materials science; and biotechnology. Students in the Physics academic programme regularly become winners of the SPbU Start-up contest.

• Wave electromagnetic and acoustic processes and their research methods
• Computational physics and automated scientific applications
• Quantum mechanics of atoms, molecules and solids
• Coherent optics
• Coherent phonons and nuclear magnetic resonance in solids
• Magnetic resonance – Physical aspects and applications
• Modelling and monitoring of planetary atmospheres
• Molecular biophysics
• Molecular optics
• Neutron and synchrotron physics
• Optical spectroscopy of solids
• Statistical theory of inhomogeneous systems
• Theoretical and applied spectroscopy of molecular systems
• The theory of interaction of elementary particles and quantum field theory
• Tomographic imaging technologies in modern medical diagnostics
• Physics of the Earth
• Physics of polymers and liquid crystals
• Physics of semiconductors and dielectrics
• Solar-terrestrial physics
• Physical optics and lasers
• Photonics of heterogeneous and condensed systems
• Experimental and theoretical study of atomic nuclei properties
• Electronics of nanosystems

• The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (Darmstadt, Germany)
• The Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics (Heidelberg, Germany)
• The Institute of Modern Physics (Lanzhou, China)
• The Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany)
• The Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Wuhan, China)

• The Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics (Germany)
• Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (Finland)
• The University of Iceland, the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (Iceland)

Our graduates can work as

• Design engineer
• Head of design engineering department
• Expert in research and engineering
• Specialist in computer-aided design of technological processes

Organisations where our graduates work

• National Research Center 'Kurchatov Institute’
• The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
• State corporations: ROSCOSMOS, ROSATOM
• Institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences: St Petersburg Department of Steklov Mathematical Institute, Institute of Macromolecular Compounds, Ioffe Institute
• R&D and production organisations: JSC Atomenergoproekt, JSC Gidropribor, Krylov State Research Centre
• IT companies: Google, Yandex, Doctor Web, Siemens, EURECA