Department of Physics

Welcome to the Department of Physics

The Department of Physics at IIT Dharwad started functioning from July 2016 with an aim to train and support young Engineering undergraduate students on the basic topics in Physics through the courses like Modern Physics, Electromagnetism, and basic Physics Laboratory. The department has also provided an opportunity to learn several interdisciplinary and advanced topics in Physics like, Astrophysics for Engineers, Introduction to Quantum Information and Computation, Classical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, etc, through elective courses at higher semesters. In 2018, the Department started its dedicated PhD program and at present several PhD students are working in various research fields. The institute has started a B.Tech. in Engineering Physics Program from 2021-22 academic year. It is an innovative collaborative program involving courses offered from the Department of  Physics, Electrical, Electronics and Communication Engineering (EECE), Mechanical Materials, and Aerospace Engineering (MMAE)  together with a choice of elective courses which give the student career and research options in Physics or Engineering. We have also started the Integrated and Interdisciplinary BS-MS dual degree program from Autumn 2022-23 semester. These two programs will allow the department to offer several advanced courses in Physics. There are ongoing research projects funded by external funding agencies in the department. The faculty in the department are regularly publishing research articles in Science Citation Index (SCI) Journals. 

The broad areas of research activities in the department are as follows: 

• Astrophysics 

• Nonlinear optics, Optical parametric oscillators, Frequency combs, High-power coherent sources; Trace-gas sensing, Laser physics and systems, Laser-matter interactions 

• Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 

• Quantum Information Theory and its interface with Quantum Optics; Many-Body Physics; Relativistic Quantum Information; Quantum Communication; Quantum Computation.

• Experimental Condensed Matter Physics: Superconductivity, Magnetism and Single Crystal Growth; 

Materials Science: Thin films and Photovoltaics