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• Rutherford Physics Building, Room 108
• 3600 University Street
• Montreal QC H3A 2T8
• Telephone: 514-398-6477
• Email: chairsec.physics [at] mcgill.ca
• Website:

Physics is in many ways the parent of the other natural sciences and its discoveries and laws continually affect their development. Its range and scope extend in space and time from subnuclear particles to the universe itself. The subfields of physics such as mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity, atomic physics, and quantum mechanics, to mention but a few, permeate all other scientific disciplines. People trained in physics are employed in industry, government, and educational systems where they find many challenges as teachers, researchers, administrators, and in the rapidly developing area of scientific business.

The two main undergraduate programs in physics at McGill are the Honours and the Major. The Honours program is highly specialized and the courses are very demanding. This program is appropriate for students who wish to make an in-depth study of the subject in preparation for graduate work and an academic or professional career in physics. The three multidisciplinary honours programs—in Mathematics and Physics, in Physics and Chemistry, and in Physics and Computer Science—are even more specialized and demanding. They are intended for students who wish to develop a strong basis in both physics and the other discipline and are intended as preparation for graduate work and a professional or academic career. Although these programs have a bias for theoretical work, they are broad enough and strong enough to prepare students for further study in either experimental physics or respectively mathematics, chemistry, or computer science.

The Major program, on the other hand, offers a broad training in classical and modern physics and yet leaves room for the student to take a meaningful sequence of courses in other areas. It is intended primarily for students who wish to pursue careers in fields for which physics provides a basis. However, this program also provides a preparation for graduate studies.

It is possible for students to transfer from the Major program to the Honours program after the first year of studies; see Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) - Major Physics (63 credits).

There are also a number of other major programs, offered jointly with other departments:

• Atmospheric Sciences and Physics;
• Physics and Computer Science;
• Physics and Geophysics;
• Physiology and Physics;

and minor programs:

• Electrical Engineering, available only to students in the Physics Major;
• Minor in Physics.

The Concentration program allows students a greater focus in biological physics. There is also a core Physics component of the Liberal Science program, for students less interested in a specialized education.

Students from outside of the Province of Quebec will ordinarily register in the Science Freshman program. Physics offers two sequences of courses for this program, described below.

The list of pre- and corequisites is not absolute. In many cases, permission of the Department may be sought to have a specific prerequisite waived. The procedure is to ask the professor in charge of the course to review the request for such a waiver. The prerequisites of the 100-level courses are described in the following section entitled Science Freshman program.

Students interested in any of the Physics programs should contact the for an adviser.

A Science Major Concentration in physics is available to students pursuing the B.A. & Sc. degree. This Major Concentration is described in Bachelor of Arts & Science > Undergraduate > Browse Academic Units & Programs > Physics (PHYS).

IYS is a pregraduate work experience program available to eligible students and normally taken between their U2 and U3 years. For more information, see Science Internships and Field Studies.

The following programs are also available with an internship component:

• Major in Physics
• Major Program in Atmospheric Science and Physics
• Major Program in Physics and Computer Science
• Major Program in Physics and Geophysics
• Honours in Physics
• Honours Program in Physics and Chemistry
• Honours Program in Physics and Computer Science
• Honours Program in Physics and Mathematics

Students entering McGill with a Quebec CEGEP profile in Science will normally begin their programs in Physics with courses at the 200 level.

Students without this profile should normally take courses PHYS 131 and PHYS 142 if they have previously taken physics at the high school level and should be taking differential calculus concurrently with PHYS 131 and integral calculus concurrently with PHYS 142. Those students who have not previously taken physics at the high school level and who intend to do programs in the Biological Sciences may instead take courses PHYS 101 and PHYS 102. All students are expected to have reasonable fluency in algebra, geometry, and trigonometry at the high school level. If this is not the case, then MATH 112 should be taken concurrently with PHYS 101. Those for whom this is not necessary are advised to take MATH 139 concurrently with PHYS 101.