Welcome from Acting Dean Joseph Rudnick
Our faculty members are among the most active and innovative in the nation, and a large number are world leaders of their own area of science. Since 1960, we have had 4 Nobel Laureates (all but one of the five Nobel Laureates who have made UCLA their home) and 18 members of the National Academy of Sciences. One was just knighted by the Queen of England. The work of Divisional faculty is recognized internationally and supported by competitive grants from federal funding agencies and private foundations. In 2005-06, total funding for the Division from federal and other extramural sources agencies exceed $72 million. We are equally committed to excellence in education. The curriculum offered to our stu-dents covers the full range of topics in science, from the classical and foundational, to the most exciting cutting edge and interdisciplinary topics. As one of the central academic units of a great public university, we pride ourselves in providing wide access to an unexcelled scientific education. Our students have access to faculty members who are leading researchers in their own fields and who are, as well, exceptional teachers. Our graduates go on to fulfilling careers in all fields of endeavor. With considerable pride in the faculty, staff and students in the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences, I invite you to peruse this website and further explore what we have to offer. |
The Division of Physical Science is dedicated to exploring the frontiers of human knowledge, to addressing the most pressing needs of society and to educating the citizens who will contribute to the economic, social and intellectual vitality of our state, country and world. Faculty, students and scientific staff in the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences explore our physical universe, seeking to discover and elucidate the patterns, the relations and the consequences of the principles that govern the workings of the world in which we live. Their focus is on the smallest of all known objects; the subatomic particles of which atoms and nuclei are built. They also probe the largest structures yet observed, in the form of galaxies and galactic clusters. They synthesize extraordinary compounds, characterize the molecules that constitute the building blocks of living organisms, probe the earth’s core, look into the processes that control both weather and climate and study the oceans. They send satellites into orbit to explore the physics of the aurora borealis, they investigate the origins of planets, particularly of our own solar system and they probe the center of our galaxy to discover the properties of the supermassive black hole residing there. Members of this Division are key players in the newly-formed California Nanosystems Insitute. The Division is also home to mathematicians and statisticians who work at the frontiers of pure and applied mathematics. Topics of research include the state of the art in image reconstruction and brain mapping and the extraordinary properties of numbers.