Dear pupils, high-school graduates, and future students,
It is my great pleasure to introduce the Faculty of Physics at the University of Rijeka.
Higher education in physics in Rijeka began in 1964 with a four-year teacher education programme in Mathematics and Physics initiated by Prof. Branimir Marković. This programme continued within the Department of Physics at the former Pedagogical Faculty, and later at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Rijeka. From 2007 to 2022, research and teaching in physics were organised within the Department of Physics of the University of Rijeka, and since 2022 the institution has been known as the Faculty of Physics.
Teaching at the Faculty takes place in modern, well-equipped facilities on the University Campus at Trsat. It is organised through a three-year undergraduate university study programme in Physics and five two-year graduate university study programmes, which, in accordance with the principles of the Bologna Process, build upon the various tracks of the undergraduate programme. Three of these are teacher education programmes: Physics and Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science, and Physics and Philosophy. The graduate programme in Physics is research-oriented and includes three study tracks: Solid State Physics, Astrophysics and Elementary Particle Physics, and Physics and Environmental Science. A new graduate programme in Medical Physics is planned. The interdisciplinary graduate programme in Materials Engineering and Physics is delivered jointly by the Faculty of Physics and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Rijeka.
The Faculty of Physics completed its educational vertical in 2017 by establishing the University Postgraduate (Doctoral) Study Programme in Physics. The programme is modelled on modern European doctoral studies, focusing on the scientific research contribution of doctoral candidates and oriented toward areas in which the Faculty has well-developed and internationally recognised research activities (condensed matter physics, elementary particle physics, and astrophysics).
Teachers from the Faculty of Physics also deliver physics courses at other faculties of the University of Rijeka and organise and conduct lifelong learning programmes: the Programme for Acquiring Missing Knowledge, Skills, and Competences for Admission to the Graduate University Programme in Engineering and Physics of Materials, and the Specialised Programme in Natural Sciences and Mathematics for Primary School Teachers.
Researchers at the Faculty of Physics, together with collaborators from other scientific institutions and in cooperation with the Centre for Micro- and Nanosciences and Technologies, conduct experimental scientific research in laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art research instruments acquired through EU funds and national scientific projects – equipment that is unique in this part of Europe. Modern experimental and computational facilities, combined with highly competent experimental and theoretical physicists as teachers and mentors, enable physics students to master contemporary knowledge and technologies oriented toward the challenges of the future.
I therefore invite you to join us and embark on a remarkable journey that spans a wide range of topics – from the study and application of nanostructures to the exploration of phenomena in the distant universe.
Prof. Rajka Jurdana-Šepić, PhD
Dean of the Faculty of Physics, University of Rijeka