Research

In the Physics Department, students gain hands-on research experience with department faculty, innovative equipment and scientists from some of the world's top institutions. For more than a century, the department has spearheaded important discoveries in our labs and fostered generations of researchers, systems engineers, environmental scientists and biomedical engineers. Outside the department, our faculty hold leadership roles with partner institutes around the world, offering students unparalleled research and employment opportunities. 

With lab groups across many interest areas, undergraduate and graduate students can build their research experience and present, publish and win awards for their work. Research is ongoing in experimental and theoretical nuclear physics, experimental and theoretical physics of living systems, and high-energy astrophysics.

 


“[The university] combines the academic environment and also the research environment because GW is located in a hub of educational institutions and research centers. … The people that exist at and near the university are such fantastic scientists and personalities.”

 

Chryssa Kouveliotou
Professor of Astrophysics

 


Faculty by Research Area

 

Research Facilities

The Physics Department operates out of historic Corcoran Hall and the state-of-the-art Science and Engineering Hall (SEH). Labs are outfitted with cutting-edge equipment. The department also partners with researchers from other sciences at SEH, and faculty collaborate with many of the country's top research institutions located in the Washington, D.C., area.


Physics Making Headlines

President Ellen M. Granberg and Provost Christopher Alan Bracey congratulated GW's 2025 Distinguished Scholars on Tuesday, April 22

GW Recognizes Top Scholars at 2025 Academic Honors Ceremony

President Granberg and Provost Bracey congratulated the students who earned Outstanding Academic Achievement Awards, as well as nine Distinguished Scholars. Quinn Stefan, Physics major, was one of...

CCAS Showcase Spotlights Student Research: 20 physics projects were presented

More than 200 undergraduate and graduate students across disciplines displayed their scholarly work at the third annual CCAS Research Showcase.

Department of Physics, CCAS seal

Study: Presidential Elections Bring Online Hate Communities Together

Neil Johnson, Professor of Physics, co-authored the study "How U.S. Presidential elections strengthen global hate networks"

GW Physics Professor Received Lifetime Achievement Award

Professor of Physics Chryssa Kouveliotou, a pioneer in the field of astrophysics, is the recipient of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s (ASP) most prestigious award, the Catherine Wolfe Bruce...